Every time you say ‘Thursday,’ you’re naming the thunder god. Four days of the English week honor gods the Vikings also worshipped: Tyr, Odin (Woden), Thor and Frigg. The names are older than the Vikings, though. They were coined centuries earlier among the Germanic peoples, whose languages were still closely related and who shared these gods. Monday and Sunday keep the moon and sun, and Saturday kept its Roman god, Saturn.
When Did this Begin?
The seven-day planetary week, with each day ruled by the sun, the moon or one of five planets, spread through the Roman world from Hellenistic astrology by the first century A.D. (Before that, Romans used an eight-day market cycle.) Germanic peoples probably adopted it from the Romans, though Professor Jackson Crawford allows they may have taken it from the Greeks. According to Crawford, they named the days sometime before the 300s or 400s, while English and German were still one language, by swapping in their own gods for the Roman ones.
Tuesday Is Tyr’s Day
Tuesday belongs to Tyr (Old English Tiw), matched with Mars, god of war. In Snorri, Tyr is Odin’s son; the Eddic poem Hymiskvida makes him the son of the giant Hymir.
Wednesday Is Woden’s (Odin) Day
For reasons that are unclear, Odin was equated with Mercury. He became the namesake for the fourth day of the week. Odin has many names, including Wotan and Woden.
Thursday Is Thor’s Day
Thor took up Jupiter’s mantle and the fifth day of the week. Jupiter and Thor are both gods of thunder and lightning.
Friday is Frigg’s Day
The Romans gave the sixth day to Venus. The English matched her with Frigg (Old English Frige), Odin’s wife. Some scholars think Frigg and Freyja were once a single goddess, which is why you’ll sometimes read that Friday is ‘Freya‘s day.’
Hot Water Day
In Old Norse, Saturday was laugardagr, ‘washing day’ or ‘bath day.’ Remember the Danes who, an English chronicler grumbled, bathed every Saturday? (Read more in our post on Viking hygiene.)
So the next time you’re glad it’s Friday, thank Frigg. Which day is your favorite? Tell us in the comments.
