Hreðmōnaþ

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

References

  1. ^ Cockayne, Thomas. "The shrine: a collection of occasional papers on dry subjects" p.59
  2. ^ 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.
  3. ^ 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.