NAMES OF THE DAYS OF THE WEEK.
By S. J. Hersum
The following extract from William Francis Collier’s “History of the British Empire,” p. 45, shows the origin of the names of the days of the week:— “When the Anglo-Saxons settled in Britain, they were the slaves of a gross and absurd idolatry, which prevailed among all the Northern tribes of Europe. They dedicated each day of the week to a particular deity; and we still name the days after their fashion. Sun dæg (Sunday) and Moon dæg (Monday) were set apart for the worship of the great lights of heaven; Tuiscaes dæg (Tuesday), Wodenes dæg (Wednesday), Thores dæg (Thursday), and Freyaes dæg (Friday), were sacred to Tuisca, Woden, Thor, and Freya; while Saturnes dæg (Saturday) was devoted to the service of Saturn, a god borrowed from the Roman mythology.” NOTE.—We think it hardly correct to say that the names of the days of the week originated with the Anglo-Saxons. The foregoing extract shows how the names have received their present forms in our language. The Anglo-Saxons were simply carrying out in their own tongue what the old Chaldeans had done twenty-two hundred years before Christ, namely, dedicating the seven days of the week to the seven principal heathen deities. See Philip Smith’s History of the World, vol. i. pp. 205, 211.—Ed.