Monday’s child is fair of face,
Tuesday’s child is full of grace,
Wednesday’s child is full of woe,
Thursday’s child has far to go,
Friday’s child is loving and giving,
Saturday’s child works hard for his living,
And the child that is born on the Sabbath day
Is bonny and blithe, and good and gay.
nursery rhyme

In the 21st century, we rarely think about the fact that the workaday names of the week in English are derived from the names of ancient gods or planets. But they are.

The Naming of Our Days
The Greeks named the days of the week after the sun (Sunday), the moon (Monday) and the five known planets, which were in turn named after the gods Ares, Hermes, Zeus, Aphrodite, and Cronus.

The Greeks called the days of the week the Theon hemerai, or ‘days of the Gods’. The Romans substituted their equivalent gods for the Greek gods: Tuesday was named for Mars, Wednesday for Mercury, Thursday for Jove (Jupiter), Friday for Venus, and Saturday, Saturn. The two pantheons are very similar.

Most Latin-based languages still connect each day of the week with one of the seven ‘planets’ of ancient times: Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. The link with the sun has been broken in French, but Sunday was called dies solis (day of the sun) in Latin.

Some Asiatic languages (for example, Hindi, Japanese, and Korean) have a similar relationship between the weekdays and the planets.

English has retained the original planets in the names for Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. (Saturn, Sun, and Moon). For the four other days, however, the Roman gods that gave name to the planets in the romance languages were at some point replaced by the Germanic peoples with the names of Anglo-Saxon or Nordic gods. The gods chosen had similar qualities to the Greek and Roman gods.

Monday
The name comes from the Anglo-Saxon monandaeg, ‘the moon’s day’. This second day was sacred to the goddess of the moon.

Tuesday
Our Tuesday comes from Tiu’s day. Tiu (Twia) is the English/Germanic god of war and the sky. He is identified with the Norse god Tyr. At the time of the Vikings, Tyr had to make way for Odin, who became the god of war himself. Tyr was by then regarded as Odin’s son

He is the boldest of the gods, who inspires courage and heroism in battle. Tyr is represented as a man with one hand, because his right hand was bitten off by a gigantic wolf. His attribute is a spear; the symbol of justice, as well as a weapon.

Wednesday
Our Wednesday was Woden’s day. Woden is the chief Anglo-Saxon/ Teutonic god. Woden is the leader of the Wild Hunt. Woden is identified with the Norse God Odin, who is a god of war and death, but also the god of poetry and wisdom. He hung for nine days, pierced by his own spear, on the world tree.

Here he learned nine powerful songs, and eighteen runes. Odin can make the dead speak to question the wisest amongst them. Odin is accompanied by two wolves to whom he gives food, as he consumes only wine. Odin has only one eye, which blazes like the sun. His other eye he traded for a drink from the Well of Wisdom, and gained immense knowledge.

Thursday
Our Thursday is Thor’s day. Thor is the Norse god of thunder. He is represented as riding a chariot drawn by goats and wielding the hammer Miˆlnir.

He is a son of Odin and Jord, and one of the most powerful gods. He is married to Sif, a fertility goddess. His mistress is the giantess Jarnsaxa.

Thor was usually portrayed as a large, powerful man with a red beard and eyes of lightning. Despite his ferocious appearance, he was very popular as the protector of both gods and humans against the forces of evil. He even surpassed his father Odin in popularity because, contrary to Odin, he did not require human sacrifices.

Friday
Friday comes from Freya’s day. The root Freo is from the Germanic frijaz meaning ‘beloved, belonging to the loved ones, not in bondage, free’. Freya (Fria) is the Teutonic goddess of love, beauty, and fecundity (prolific procreation).

In Germany, Freya is similar to, and may be a different form of, Frigg, the Teutonic goddess of clouds, the sky, and conjugal (married) love. She is the wife of Odin and one of the foremost goddesses of Norse mythology. She is the patron of marriage and motherhood, and the goddess of love and fertility.

Frigg’s attributes are the precious necklace of the Brisings, which she obtained by sleeping with four dwarfs, a cloak (or skin) of bird feathers, which allows its wearer to change into a falcon, and a chariot pulled by two cats. She has a reputation of knowing every person’s destiny, but never unveils it.

Saturday– Saturn’s day
Saturn is the Roman and Italic god of agriculture and the consort of Ops. He is believed to have ruled the earth during an age of happiness and virtue.

Sunday
The name comes from the Latin dies solis, meaning ‘sun’s day’– the name of a pagan Roman holiday. It is also called Dominica (Latin), the Day of God.

The Romance languages, which are derived from the ancient Latin language (such as French, Spanish, and Italian), retain the root. (French: dimanche; Italian: domenica; Spanish: domingo).

It is common Jewish and Christian practice to regard Sunday as the first day of the week. However, the fact that, for example, Russian uses the name ‘second’ for Tuesday, indicates that some nations regard Monday as the first day.

In international standard ISO-8601, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has decreed that Monday shall be the first day of the week.

The ‘day of rest’ for Jews is Saturday, for Christians is Sunday, and for Muslims is Friday.
Irish Days of the Week

Irish days mostly had a very different origin from English days. Monday is still An Luan (day of the moon), while Tuesday is An Máirt (day of Mars). Wednesday is An Céadaoin (day of the small fast), Thursday is An Déardaoin (day between two fasts), Friday is An Aoine (day of the fast), Saturday is still An Satharn (day of Saturn), and Sunday is An Domhnach (the day of the Lord).

Next time you make an appointment, you might reflect on the history of the date in your diary.

Above: Despite being a bad-tempered and vengeful individual, Thor (pictured above with his favourite hammer) had a day of the week named after him.