Hreðmōnaþ

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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[]

  • Germanic calendar
  • Anglo-Saxon
  • Old English

References[]

  1. ^ Cockayne, Thomas. "The shrine: a collection of occasional papers on dry subjects" p.59
  2. ^ Bosworth, Joseph. "An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary Online." Hreð-mónaþ. December 16, 2013. Accessed September 20, 2014. http://bosworth.ff.cuni.cz/019754.
  3. ^ Chapter XV, De mensibus Anglorum. "Rhed-monath a deo illorum Rheda, cui in illo sacrificabant, nominatur.”
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