Hrēðmōnaþ (modern English: Rheda’s month) was the Anglo-Saxon name for the month of March.[1]
The first definition of the name explains that:
“On ðæm þriddan mōnþe on geāre biþ ān and þrittig daga and se mōnþ is nemned on lǣden martius and on ūre geþeōde hrēdmōnaþ.” [2]
“In the third month in the year are one-and-thirty days, and the month is called in Latin martius, and in our language, hrédmónaþ.”
The Anglo-Saxon scholar Bede explains the name in his treatise De temporum ratione (The Reckoning of Time), saying "Rhed-monath is named for the goddess, to whom they sacrificed in this month.”[3]
See also
edit
References
edit- ^ Cockayne, Thomas. "The shrine: a collection of occasional papers on dry subjects" p.59
- ^ Bosworth, Joseph (2014). "hreð-mónaþ". In Thomas Northcote Toller; Christ Sean; Ondřej Tichy (eds.). An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary Online. Prague: Faculty of Arts, Charles University.
- ^ Beda Venerabilis, "Chapter XV, De mensibus Anglorum", De Temporum Ratione,
Lida dicitur blandus, sive navigabilis, quod in utroque mense et blanda sit serenitas aurarum, et navigari soleant aequora.