The Arkansaw traveler., 1885-10-03
Names of she Days and Months. Fannie Fuge, la KAowledge.l

lFannas fuget n knowtedge.i Il All our boys and girls kno@ the names cf our days and uaonths but how many sf them can scil the origin of these names l--4Aat is. where they came from and why they were given. Suppose we talk little about 1t; and then, whenever you speak of the months or days, try to recall the facts that have caused us to use these names.
 | The English language Is mixture of Saxon and Norman French coming to us through our Eoglish ancestors, the early settlers ot the Un,,ed States. AS long ago as the fifth century aEer the birth of our Savior, a fierce people. called the Saxons, completely oveEsan and conquered the islands of GFeat Britain; and their lan. Guage, religion and customs very soon took the place of those of the Br,ons they had sahdaed These SAxans were nAgan& and worshiped the sun, the moon and great number of other idols, which they called gods. AS they wished to incul- cate belief in thetr false religion. they named the days of the week ater some oi the more prominent subjects of thei, worship and to this day tseSe names have been retained though in a slig Atly modl- fled form.
 As they devoted the frs, day of the
 week es specially to the worship ot the sun, they called the day Sun dctg, or Sunday, as we have it. Their idol, intended to
 pegsona,e the sun, had bust of man. and held with nutstIetched arms heD
 wheel before his breast. The whole ass
 pecs was very fierce, and the figure was
 placed on a lofty pedestal, so as 10 be
 seen at grea, distance.
 The second day, being sst apart for the
 worship of the moon, they called Moons doeg, or Noun day, nos Monday. The
 idol by which they represented the moon was in the form of a woman. with very
 long ears. She was clothed in shott
 dress and hood and held the moon in her hand.
 They had also an idol named Tuises, ] who vas al first worsh ped as the father l of the reuionlc race, but later AS the Son , of the Earth. He was represented IS a yer erable sage, with mid CouptenauCc, } and was clothed in the sk,n of some ani nal, and held sceptre in his nigh, hand To this god the Stxons dedicated toe , third day, calling il ruisco doeg, which
 we have gradually soitened down 10 Tues
 day.
 The name of the fourth day was Wod
 ems doeg, whence wc derive our Wedpes- day. Woden or Odin was the supreme i. god cf the Notsemen, or men of the north : of whom the Saxons were d part and iheir
 mythology IS cniehG made up ot the won , deriul featS of this iavoslte idol. Ills m age was ot fierce, wa,-liKe aspect. and he , held a huge sword in his right hand, which was uplitied as if ready 10 strike down his foes.
 Wodcns eldest son was Thor, who,
 next t0 his parents, was esteemed as the
 greatest oi gods. both by the Slxons and Danes Ia appearance he IS the most
 distinguished of all iheit idols, andis re-
 present. d as sea ed on throne with 4 royal scep,re iu his hand, and his head
 adorned with golden 1rown, in which are SC twelve brightly gleaming stars The hth day was devoted to his worship, i, and thence called rhov's docg, or Thurs
 day
 Friday, or Friga's doeS, derives ia name from Friga, the wife ot Woden and i. the mother of Thor. Sac, like her bus baud and son, was iavouic with all the
 Norsemen and the different clans wed with each other in m akIng the most cost [ ly sacrifices 70 her Shc was represented with sword in aef ris hand aud DOW
 in ner left-the hrst for Conquest, second tor defense.
 roe Saxons dedicated the seventh or
 las, day of the week, to Scatter or SAeine, calling it Seater's do.g, or Saturday, as
 we now express II. This idol was shown with lean face and figure, his head un- , covered, and his long garments g,rt about , the waist, thus sym oolizlng inc binding ,os ether of the seven days; while the i, wheel tn one hand and the pail Of ffuts and h,wers in the other, are supposed to
 repre sent, the former the pass ,se of tune, and the latter the result of the week , labor.
 The names of our months we derive
 from the K ,maos, who corquered Gfeat , Br ian very soon after the com neoce- ment of the Christian era January Is named from Janus, two.iaced RIman
 idol, to indicate that it points tosard the
 sld season jus' finished, aud the De~ one
 inst begun. February was namet by
 Romulus, from Februs, the mother of
 Mars, and March from Mas, the god oi
 war himself April rece,yes iIs name from Apure, to open, because then the earth opens her oosom to pour forth her long hidden treasures. May ~As SD called
 from Maio, the mother of Mercury, and une from Juno, the ~ife of Jupiter, all
 f4vorite de,t,es of the Romans. ily was
 named by Mark Antony. m honor "f the celebrated Roman emperor, J iIius Car 4r,
 the first of h nafion ~ho al emp,ed the
 cor quest of CTca, Britain. August, which
 means grand or great, receive1 it's nam in compliment to asoshe. Rtm.n em-
 peror, called Octavius Aukustas Sep-
 ,ember was namei from Ssptem, the ssv- enth {; October from Otto. the eighth November from Noven, the ninth. and
 Decembrr from Deem, the tenth month
 of the Roman year As m At,er of con
 venience the names have been res4ioed
 thongh inappropriate according to our