h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Apart from wishing it was...

Friday in the Norse sense can't be associated with Frigga without dispute. I have always been taught that it stems from Frey/Freya rather than Frigg.

If anyone has any reference to anything backing up this claim, I would be very interested.

In current times Friday in Danish/Norwegian/Swedish is Fredag, which is closer to Frö/Frey/Freya than to Frigg.

And in these languages, Saturday has nothing to do with Saturn (it's Lördag in Swedish), but is related to an old norse word for wash.

Anyway, having had this discussing elsewhere on the BBC, I would be very interested in any comments that might pop up here.

I didn't write this entry, but the etymology sources I tend to use are Etymology Online and the OED.

EO prefers Frigg to Freya for the derivation of the word Friday - see http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=Friday

As you say, Freya was perhaps a closer match to the god Venus/Aphrodite in some mythologies. Compare the links to Freya and Frigg from that page.

As to Saturday, well, read EO for yourself: http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=Saturday

They certainly mention the Norse bath-day, but I don't see how the word 'Saturday' would have come from this.

Icy

Thanks for your post Icy!

I think that's where the Norse and the OE goes off into separate directions.

It's interesting though that (if I'm reading the link you posted correctly)it seems like Frigg gave name to Friday where Frey/Freya gave name to Fredag (current name for Friday).

But then again, oncould argue that the O.N. frijadagr could be frigg or Freya (j is pronounced as an English y as in "day"). Or is that just me being awkward?

I agree, Saturday is more than likely completely unrelated to the O.N word for bath. The current Swedish/Danish/Norwegian "Lördag/lørdag" has nothing to do with the word Saturday. Apart from being the local name for the day. Confused? Then my work here is done.

On a tangent/related issue; I never thought the old norse folks were very clean (as per custom in those days, people just didn't wash much)... but they must have been, seeing as they had a day of the week dedicated to it.

Can't speak to Scandanavian bathing habits but am aware that as late as the 17th century, long after the days of the week were sorted out (but still adjusting to the new Roman calendar), people used to have an undershirt sewn on to their bodies in the autumn which was not removed until Spring. (See: the Diary of Samuel Pepys 1660-1669)

~jwf~

It's easy to apply our retrospective view to how these terms came about, but it was an age when very little was recorded in writing. What survives was generally written by monastery scribes, and may not be a first-hand account. Also, I would guess that we had as many dialects as we had valleys.

Maybe it's a bit like archaeology - digging up a particular pot in one location doesn't tell us anything, but collectively over a large number of sites we begin to form a picture.

Yes, I like the idea of 'bath day'. I can imagine the Vikings wanting to look their best before they boarded the longships.

Yes, everything makes sense in hindsight, sorta...

Quote "Yes, I like the idea of 'bath day'. I can imagine the Vikings wanting to look their best before they boarded the longships."

What a brilliant mental picture! I just had the feeling of a lot of my ancestors dropping their mead horn wherever they may be at the moment lol

Language is in general a tricky subject, because it's quite subjective and if you have no tradition of written sources you get a lot of "first syllable... sounds like... dog?"

Very good point about dialects, I think I will go do some research on that subject (i.e ask people I know from various parts of Scandinavia/United Kingdom).