Some evidence for interpretatio germanica exists in the Germanic translations of the Roman names for the days of the week from Roman deities into names of approximately equivalent Germanic deities:
Monday, the day of Mēnô (Máni; Mōna; Māno), the moon (as male), was earlier the day of Luna, the moon (as female)
Tuesday, the day of Tīwaz (Týr; Tīw; Ziu), was earlier the day of Mars, god of war
Wednesday, the day of Wōdanaz (Odin, Óðinn; Wōden; Wuotan), was earlier the day of Mercury, god of travelers and eloquence
Thursday, the day of Þunraz (Thor, Þórr; Þunor; Donar), was earlier the day of Jupiter, god of thunder. The name is derived from Old Englishþunresdæg and Middle EnglishThuresday (with loss of -n-, first in northern dialects, from influence of Old NorseÞórsdagr), meaning "Thor's Day", after the Norse god of Thunder, Thor. The hammer-wielding Þunraz may elsewhere appear identified with the club-wielding Hercules
Friday, the day of Frijjō (Frigg; Frīg; Frīja), was earlier the day of Venus, goddess of love
In most of the Romance languages, which derive from Latin, days of the week still preserve the names of the original Roman deities, such as the Italian for Tuesday, martedì (from the Latin Martis dies).
The one exception to the use of Germanic gods is Saturday, which retains the name of a foreign god, possibly because there was no obvious Germanic substitute. The name of the day is associated with Saturn in many West Germanic languages; such as the English "Saturday", the West FrisianSaterdei, the Low GermanSaterdag, and the Dutchzaterdag all meaning Saturn's day.[1]
Dissenting viewedit
Simek emphasizes the paucity of evidence for a widespread interpretatio germanica, as opposed to the well-attested opposite interpretatio romana, and notes that comparison with Roman gods is insufficient to reconstruct ancient Germanic gods, or equate them definitively with those of later Norse mythology.[2]
interpretatio, germanica, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, a. This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Interpretatio germanica news newspapers books scholar JSTOR April 2024 Learn how and when to remove this template message Interpretatio germanica is the practice by the Germanic peoples of identifying Roman gods with the names of Germanic deities According to University of Bonn philologist Rudolf Simek this occurred around the 1st century AD when both cultures came into closer contact Contents 1 Names of days of the week 2 Dissenting view 3 See also 4 ReferencesNames of days of the week editSome evidence for interpretatio germanica exists in the Germanic translations of the Roman names for the days of the week from Roman deities into names of approximately equivalent Germanic deities Sunday the day of Sunnǭ Old Norse Sunna Sol Old English Sunne Old High German Sunna the sun as female was earlier the day of Sol the sun as male Monday the day of Meno Mani Mōna Mano the moon as male was earlier the day of Luna the moon as female Tuesday the day of Tiwaz Tyr Tiw Ziu was earlier the day of Mars god of war Wednesday the day of Wōdanaz Odin odinn Wōden Wuotan was earlier the day of Mercury god of travelers and eloquence Thursday the day of THunraz Thor THorr THunor Donar was earlier the day of Jupiter god of thunder The name is derived from Old English thunresdaeg and Middle English Thuresday with loss of n first in northern dialects from influence of Old Norse THorsdagr meaning Thor s Day after the Norse god of Thunder Thor The hammer wielding THunraz may elsewhere appear identified with the club wielding Hercules Friday the day of Frijjō Frigg Frig Frija was earlier the day of Venus goddess of loveIn most of the Romance languages which derive from Latin days of the week still preserve the names of the original Roman deities such as the Italian for Tuesday martedi from the Latin Martis dies The one exception to the use of Germanic gods is Saturday which retains the name of a foreign god possibly because there was no obvious Germanic substitute The name of the day is associated with Saturn in many West Germanic languages such as the English Saturday the West Frisian Saterdei the Low German Saterdag and the Dutch zaterdag all meaning Saturn s day 1 Dissenting view editSimek emphasizes the paucity of evidence for a widespread interpretatio germanica as opposed to the well attested opposite interpretatio romana and notes that comparison with Roman gods is insufficient to reconstruct ancient Germanic gods or equate them definitively with those of later Norse mythology 2 See also editInterpretatio graeca Interpretatio romanaReferences edit Saturday Online Etymological Dictionary Retrieved 25 March 2019 Simek Rudolf 2007 Dictionary of Northern Mythology Translated by Hall Angela D S Brewer p 174 ISBN 978 0 85991 513 7 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Interpretatio germanica amp oldid 1217736123, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
