Days of the Week

We worked on building a calendar today. Evan wanted to know how the days of the week got their names.

Here's what we found out:
In English, the days of the week come from either Norse or Germanic gods and goddesses.

Sunday: "Day of the Sun" going back to pagan sun worship rituals
Monday: "Day of the Moon"
Tuesday: "Tyr's Day," refers to Tyr, a god of combat and heroic glory in Norse mythology and Germanic paganism
Wednesday: The day of the Germanic god, Wodan, more commonly known as "Odin," who was the highest god in Norse mythology.
Thursday: Named for Thor, the Norse god of thunder.
Friday: Named for Frige, the Germanic goddess of beauty, who is a later incarnation of the Norse goddess Frigg.
Saturday: The only day of the week to retain its Roman origin in English, it is named after the Roman god Saturn.

If you look back at the Old English way of spelling most of these days of the week, you'll see the god or goddess' name in the word. Also, in many other languages, the days of the week mean different things, but are most often connected with Roman gods and goddesses.