Pagan Hordes: Calendar Facts

Days of the week in England used to be Latin-based as a result of the four centuries of Roman presence there.  With the Norman Conquest the intention was to blot out this southern influence using the Germanic equivalents to replace the Latinate.

• Sunday: the first day in Latin was named after the Sun (Solis dies).
• Monday: the second day was named after the Moon (Lunae dies).
• Tuesday: the third day was named after Mars (Martis dies).
• Wednesday: the fourth day was named after Mercury (Mercurii dies).
• Thursday: the fifth day was named after Jupiter, or Jove (Jovis dies).
• Friday: the sixth day was named after Venus (Veneris dies).
• Saturday: the seventh day was named after Saturn (Saturni dies).

'The Latin names of the Planets were simple translations of the Greek names, which in turn were translations of the Babylonian names, which go back to the Sumerians. The languages of Western Europe all (except Portuguese) reflect names based on the names of the naked eye planets, which included the Sun and the Moon, either in a Latin version or a corresponding Germanic version.'

• '. .the 1st, 2nd, and 7th days are still named after the Sun, Moon, and Saturn, respectively. 
• Tuesday is named after Tiw, a god of law, but also said to be a god of war, which would match up to Mars.
• Wednesday is named after the king of the gods, who was Wotan in ancient German and Odin in Norse mythology. This has no obvious correspondence to Mercury, though Odin as a god of wisdom might suggest the role of Mercury in association with learning, and in Late Antiquity with esoteric knowledge.
• The 5th day, Thursday, named after Jupiter, who is a thunder god, in Latin, is named after a Germanic thunder god, well known as "Thor" in Norse mythology.
• The 6th day, Friday, looks like the name (Fria or Freya) of a Germanic love goddess, which would correspond to Venus (fri-, as in "friend," is a cognate of philein, "to love," in Greek), though the day is also said to be named after the goddess Frigg, who is also a goddess of love, and of the hearth (which would be Vesta rather than Venus in Rome).'

SOURCE:  Friesian School