Norse Mythology
Like most languages, the Swedish names of the days of the week have their roots in mythology:
Monday – MÃ¥ndag – MÃ¥ne – Moon
Tuesday – Tisdag – Tyr – One-handed God of Battle and Bravery
Wednesday – Onsdag – Odin – Chief God of Wisdom and War; God of Generally Being A Badass and Wielding a Giant Sword In Final Fantasy IV
Thursday – Torsdag – Tor – Thor (son of Odin), Norse God of Thunder and Lightning
Friday – Fredag – Frej – Freya, Norse God of Fertility
Saturday – Lördag – Löga – Old verb meaning “to wash”
Sunday РȘndag РȘl РSun
I find it kind of cool that religion has been such a profound part of human history that even the most literally every day words originate from religions.
And washing.
Â
2 comments2 Comments so far
Leave a reply
I guess the link between religion and washing is made explicit in that old aphorism:
“Cleanliness is next to Godliness.” And in terms of the days of the week, the washing day is right next to Sunday. Hmmmm …. does that explain how Sunlight detergent got its name? A blend of the two right there.
Which kind of leads us to one of the most important aphorisms for healthy living:
“Always wear clean underwear.”
You make an interesting point. I hadn’t considered things so literally before.