Английская Википедия:Early Germanic calendars
Шаблон:Short description The early Germanic calendars were the regional calendars used among the early Germanic peoples before they adopted the Julian calendar in the Early Middle Ages. The calendars were an element of early Germanic culture.
The Germanic peoples had names for the months that varied by region and dialect, but they were later replaced with local adaptations of the Julian month names. Records of Old English and Old High German month names date to the 8th and 9th centuries, respectively. Old Norse month names are attested from the 13th century. As with most pre-modern calendars, the reckoning used in early Germanic culture was likely lunisolar. As an example, the Runic calendar developed in medieval Sweden was lunisolar, fixing the beginning of the year at the first full moon after winter solstice.
Months
The Germanic calendars were lunisolar, the months corresponding to lunations. Tacitus writes in his Germania (Chapter 11) that the Germanic peoples observed the lunar months.
The lunisolar calendar is reflected in the Proto-Germanic term Шаблон:Wikt-lang "month" (Old English Шаблон:Wikt-lang, Old Saxon Шаблон:Wikt-lang, Old Norse Шаблон:Wikt-lang, and Old High German Шаблон:Wikt-lang,[1] Gothic Шаблон:Wikt-lang[1][2]), being a derivation of the word for "moon", Шаблон:Wikt-lang — which shares its ancestry with the Greek mene "moon", men "month", and Latin mensis "month".
Days and weeks
Tacitus gives some indication of how the Germanic peoples of the first century reckoned the days. In contrast to Roman usage, they considered the day to begin at sunset, a system that in the Middle Ages came to be known as the "Florentine reckoning". The same system is also recorded for the Gauls in Caesar's Gallic Wars.
- "They assemble, except in the case of a sudden emergency, on certain fixed days, either at new or at full moon; for this they consider the most auspicious season for the transaction of business. Instead of reckoning by days as we do, they reckon by nights, and in this manner fix both their ordinary and their legal appointments. Night they regard as bringing on day."[3]
The concept of the week, on the other hand, was adopted from the Romans, from about the first century, the various Germanic languages having adopted the Greco-Roman system of naming of the days of the week after the classical planets, inserting loan translations for the names of the planets, substituting the names of Germanic gods in a process known as Шаблон:Lang.
Calendar terms
The year was divided into a summer half and a winter half, as attested in Old English and medieval Scandinavian sources. In Scandinavia this continued after Christianization; in Norway and Sweden the first day of summer is marked by the Шаблон:Ill (14 April) and the first day of winter by the Calixtus Day (14 October).[4]
The month names do not coincide, so it is not possible to postulate names of a Common Germanic stage, except possibly the names of a spring month and a winter month, Шаблон:Wikt-lang and Шаблон:Wikt-lang. The names of the seasons are Common Germanic, Шаблон:Wikt-lang, Шаблон:Wikt-lang, Шаблон:Wikt-lang, and Шаблон:Wikt-lang for "spring" in north Germanic, but in west Germanic the term Шаблон:Wikt-lang was used. The Common Germanic terms for "day", "month" and "year" were Шаблон:Wikt-lang, Шаблон:Wikt-lang and Шаблон:Wikt-lang. The latter two continue Proto-Indo-European Шаблон:Wikt-lang, Шаблон:Wikt-lang, while Шаблон:Wikt-lang is a Germanic innovation from a root Шаблон:Wikt-lang meaning "to be hot, to burn".
A number of terms for measuring time can be reconstructed for the proto-Germanic period.
| Term | Proto- Germanic |
Old English |
English | Scots | West Frisian |
Dutch | Low Saxon |
German | Old Norse |
Icelandic | Faroese | Swedish | Norwegian | Danish | Gothic | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nynorsk | Bokmål | |||||||||||||||
| Day, 24-hour period |
*dagaz | dæġ, dōgor |
day | day, dey |
dei | dag | Dag | Tag | dagr, dǿgn/dǿgr |
dagur | dagur | dag, dygn |
dag, døgn/døger |
dag, døgn |
dag, døgn |
𐌳𐌰𐌲𐍃 |
| Night | *nahts | niht | night | nicht | nacht | nacht | Nacht | Nacht | nátt | nótt | nátt | natt | natt | natt | nat | 𐌽𐌰𐌷𐍄𐍃 |
| Week | *wikǭ | ƿiċe | week | wouk | wike | week | Wekke | Woche | vika | vika | vika | vecka | veke | uke | uge | 𐍅𐌹𐌺𐍉 |
| Month | *mēnōþs | mōnaþ | month | month | moanne | maand | Mohnd (maond) | Monat | mánaðr | mánuður | mánaður | månad | månad | måned | måned | 𐌼𐌴𐌽𐍉𐌸𐍃 |
| Year | *jērą | ġēar | year | year, ear |
jier | jaar | Johr (jaor) | Jahr | ár | ár | ár | år | år | år | år | 𐌾𐌴𐍂 |
| Time, Period, Interval | *tīdiz | tīd | tide | tide | tiid | tijd | Tiet | Zeit | tíð | tíð | tíð | tid | tid | tid | tid | *𐍄𐌴𐌹𐌳𐌹𐍃 |
| Time, Period, Hour | *tīmô | tīma | time | time | tími | tími | tími | timme | time | time | time | *𐍄𐌴𐌹𐌼𐌰 | ||||
| Spring | *langatīnaz | lencten | Lent | Lentren | linte | lente | Lent | Lenz | *𐌻𐌰𐌲𐌲𐌰𐍄𐌴𐌹𐌽𐍃 | |||||||
| Spring | *wazrą- | voorjaar | vár | vor | vár | vår | vår | vår | vår | *𐍅𐌰𐌶𐍂 | ||||||
| Summer | *sumaraz | sumor | summer | simmer | simmer | zomer | Sommer | Sommer | sumar | sumar | summar | sommar | sommar/sumar | sommer | sommer | *𐍃𐌿𐌼𐌰𐍂𐍃 |
| Autumn/Fall | *harbistaz | hærfest | harvest | hairst | hjerst | herfst | Harvst | Herbst | haustr | haust | heyst | höst | haust | høst | høst | *𐌷𐌰𐍂𐌱𐌹𐍃𐍄𐍃 |
| Winter | *wintruz | ƿinter | winter | winter | winter | winter | Winter | Winter | vintr/vetr | vetur | vetur | vinter | vinter/vetter | vinter | vinter | 𐍅𐌹𐌽𐍄𐍂𐌿𐍃 |
Month names
Medieval
Bede's Latin work De temporum ratione (The Reckoning of Time), written in 725, describes Old English month names. Bede mentions intercalation, the intercalary month being inserted around midsummer.[5]
Charlemagne (r. 768–814) recorded agricultural Old High German names for the Julian months.[6] These remained in use, with regional variants and innovations, until the end of the Middle Ages in German-speaking Europe and they persisted in popular or dialectal use into the 19th century. They probably also influenced Fabre d'Eglantine when he named the months of the French Republican Calendar.
The only agreement between the Old English and the Old High German (Carolingian) month names is the naming of April as "Easter month". Both traditions have a "holy month", the name of September in the Old English system and of December in the Old High German one.
A separate tradition of month names developed in 10th-century Iceland, see #Icelandic calendar.
| Julian month | Old English[7] | Old High German |
|---|---|---|
| January | Шаблон:Lang "After Yule", or "Second Yule" | Шаблон:Lang |
| February | Шаблон:Lang ('mud month,' Bede: "the month of cakes, which they offered in it to their gods." Either the cakes looked like they were made of mud due to their color and texture, or literally it was the month of mud due to wet English weather) | Шаблон:Lang[8] |
| March | Шаблон:Lang "Month of the Goddess Hrēþ" or "Month of Wildness"[9] | Шаблон:Lang "spring month" |
| April | Шаблон:Lang "Easter Month", "Month of the Goddess Ēostre" or "Month of Dawn"[10] | Шаблон:Lang "Шаблон:Lang"; see also Шаблон:Lang |
| May | Шаблон:Lang "Month of Three Milkings"[11] | Шаблон:Lang "pasture month" |
| June | Шаблон:Lang "Before Midsummer", or "First Summer" | Шаблон:Lang "fallow month" |
| — | Шаблон:Lang "Third (Mid)summer" (leap month) | — |
| July | Шаблон:Lang "After Midsummer", "Second Summer" | Шаблон:Lang "hay(making) month" |
| August | Шаблон:Lang "Weed month" | Шаблон:Lang "harvest month" |
| September | Шаблон:Lang "Holy Month" | Шаблон:Lang "wood month" |
| October | Шаблон:Lang "Winter full moon", according to Bede "because winter began on the first full moon of that month [of October]." | Шаблон:Lang "vintage month" |
| November | Шаблон:Lang "Blót Month", "Month of Sacrifice" or "Month of bloodshed" (probably a reference to the slaughter of livestock for the winter. Compare with Welsh: Tachwedd - Slaughtering, and Finnish Marraskuu "Moon of death") | Шаблон:Lang "autumn month" |
| December | Шаблон:Lang "Before Yule", or "First Yule" | Hailag-mānod "holy month" |
Modern
The Old High German month names introduced by Charlemagne persisted in regional usage and survive in German dialectal usage. The Latin month names were in predominant use throughout the medieval period, although the Summarium Heinrici, an 11th-century pedagogical compendium, in chapter II.15 (De temporibus et mensibus et annis) advocates the use of the German month names rather than the more widespread Latin ones.[12]
In the late medieval to early modern period, dialectal or regional month names were adopted for use in almanacs, and a number of variants or innovations developed, comparable to the tradition of "Indian month names" developed in American Farmers' Almanacs in the early 20th century. Some of the Farmers' Almanacs' "Indian month names" are in fact derived from continental tradition.[13] The Old English month names fell out of use entirely, being revived only in a fictional context in the Shire calendar constructed by J. R. R. Tolkien for use in his The Lord of the Rings.
Шаблон:More citations needed section
| Julian month | Old High German | Middle High German | Dutch[14] | West FrisianШаблон:Citation needed[15] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | Шаблон:Lang ("winter month") | Шаблон:Lang[16] | Шаблон:Lang ("tanning month") | Шаблон:Lang ("fore month") |
| February | Шаблон:Lang
("horning") |
Шаблон:Lang[16][17] | Шаблон:Lang ("month of gathering"), Шаблон:Lang ("bissextile month") | Шаблон:Lang ("filthy, unclean month") |
| March | Шаблон:Lang
("spring month") |
Шаблон:Lang ("spring month"), Шаблон:Lang ("dry month")[18] | Шаблон:Lang ("spring month") | Шаблон:Lang ("spring month") |
| April | Шаблон:Lang ("Easter month") | Шаблон:Lang ("Easter month")[19] | Шаблон:Lang ("grass month" = French Republican Prairial) | Шаблон:Lang ("grass month") |
| May | Шаблон:Lang ("pasture month") | Шаблон:Lang ("month of joy")[20] | Шаблон:Lang ("month of joy"), Шаблон:Lang ("flower month" = French Republican Floréal), Шаблон:Lang ("Mary's month") | Шаблон:Lang ("bloom month") |
| June | Шаблон:Lang ("fallow month") | Шаблон:Lang ("fallow month")[21] | Шаблон:Lang ("summer month"), Шаблон:Lang, Шаблон:Lang ("woad month"), Шаблон:Lang ("weed month") | Шаблон:Lang ("summer month") |
| July | Шаблон:Lang ("hay [making] month") | Шаблон:Lang ("hay [making] month")[22] | Шаблон:Lang ("pasture month"), Шаблон:Lang ("hay month") | Шаблон:Lang ("hay [making] month") |
| August | Шаблон:Lang, MHG arn-mânôt
("harvest month") |
Шаблон:Lang ("harvest month") | Шаблон:Lang ("harvest month" = French Republican Messidor; the word oogst "harvest" itself comes from Latin Augustus), Шаблон:Lang ("corn month") | Шаблон:Lang ("harvest month"), Шаблон:Lang ("flea month") |
| September | Шаблон:Lang
("wood month") |
Шаблон:Lang ("autumn month")[23] | Шаблон:Lang ("autumn month"), Шаблон:Lang ("barley month"), Шаблон:Lang ("oats month") | Шаблон:Lang ("autumn month") |
| October | Шаблон:Lang
("vintage month") |
Шаблон:Lang, Шаблон:Lang ("vintage month"),[24] Шаблон:Lang,[23] Шаблон:Lang ("yellowing")[25] | Шаблон:Lang ("wine month"), Wijnoogstmaand ("vintage month" = French Republican Vendémiaire), Шаблон:Lang ("sowing month") | Шаблон:Lang ("wine month"), Шаблон:Lang ("sugar beet month") |
| November | Шаблон:Lang ("autumn month") | Шаблон:Lang ("winter month"),[16][26] Шаблон:Lang[23][27] | Шаблон:Lang ("slaughter month"), Шаблон:Lang ("blood month"), Шаблон:Lang ("fog month" = French Republican Brumaire), Шаблон:Lang ("month of pork feeding") | Шаблон:Lang ("slaughter month") |
| December | Hailag-mānod ("holy month"), MHG heilmânôt | Шаблон:Lang ("Christ month"), Шаблон:Lang ("holy month")[16][27] | Шаблон:Lang ("winter month"), Шаблон:Lang ("Midwinter month"), Шаблон:Lang ("snow month" = French Republican Nivôse), Шаблон:Lang ("Christmas month"), Шаблон:Lang ("Yule month"), Шаблон:Lang ("wolves' month"), Шаблон:Lang ("dark month") | Шаблон:Lang ("winter month"), Шаблон:Lang ("Yule month") |
Icelandic calendar
A special case is the Icelandic calendar developed in the 10th century which, inspired by the Julian calendar, introduced a purely solar reckoning with a year having a fixed number of weeks (52 weeks or 364 days). This necessitated the introduction of "leap weeks" instead of Julian leap days.
The old Icelandic calendar is not in official use anymore, but some Icelandic holidays and annual feasts are still calculated from it. It has 12 months, of 30 days broken down into two groups of six often termed "winter months" and "summer months". The calendar is peculiar in that each month always start on the same day of week. This was achieved by having 4 epagomenal days to bring the number of days up to 364 and then adding a sumarauki week in the middle of summer of some years. This was eventually done so as to ensure that the "summer season" begins on the Thursday between 9 and 15 April in the Julian calendar.[28] Hence Шаблон:Lang always starts on a Friday sometime between 8 and 15 January of the Julian calendar, Шаблон:Lang always starts on a Sunday between 7 and 14 February of the Julian calendar.
- Шаблон:Lang ("Short days")
- Шаблон:Lang (mid October – mid November, "slaughter month" or "Gór's month")
- Шаблон:Lang (mid November – mid December, "Yule month")
- Шаблон:Lang (mid December – mid January, "fat sucking month")
- Шаблон:Lang (mid January – mid February, "frozen snow month")
- Шаблон:Lang (mid February – mid March, "Góa's month")
- Шаблон:Lang (mid March – mid April, "lone" or "single month")
- Шаблон:Lang ("Nightless days")
- Шаблон:Lang (mid April – mid May) Harpa is a female name, probably a forgotten goddess. The first day of Harpa is celebrated as Шаблон:Lang, the First Day of Summer
- Шаблон:Lang (mid May – mid June, another forgotten goddess)
- Шаблон:Lang (mid June – mid July, "sun month")
- Шаблон:Lang (mid July – mid August, "hay business month")
- Шаблон:Lang (mid August – mid September, "two" or "second month")
- Шаблон:Lang (mid September – mid October, "autumn month")
Many of the months have also been used in Scandinavia, the Norwegian linguist Ivar Aasen wrote down the following months in his dictionary,[29] coming in this order: Jolemåne-Torre-Gjø-Kvina, of which two are identical to Iceland, and one is similar. They have developed differently in different regions. Þorri is pronounced tærri, torre and similar, and can mean both the moon after Yule-month, or be a name for January or February.[30]
See also
Notes and citations
External links and references
- Northvegr article on dating Шаблон:Webarchive
- Facts and Figures: The Norse Way General information on old Germanic culture, including time.
- Шаблон:In lang Old High German dictionary, including month names
- Шаблон:In lang Old Norse dictionary, including month names
- Шаблон:In lang Old English dictionary, including month names
- Anglo-Saxon month names
Шаблон:Anglo-Saxon paganism Шаблон:Germanic peoples Шаблон:Calendars Шаблон:Authority control
- ↑ 1,0 1,1 Шаблон:Cite book
- ↑ Month Online Etymology Dictionary
- ↑ Шаблон:Lang
- ↑ Шаблон:Cite book
- ↑ Beda Venerabilis, De Temporum Ratione, Chapter 15, "De mensibus Anglorum" Шаблон:Webarchive
- ↑ Vita Karoli Magni, Ch. 29: Mensibus etiam iuxta propriam linguam vocabula imposuit, cum ante id temporis apud Francos partim latine partim barbaris nominibus pronunciarentur. See also Julian Calendar: Month names
- ↑ Frank Merry Stenton, Anglo-Saxon England, Oxford University Press, 1971, 97f.; M. P. Nilsson, Primitive Time-Reckoning. A Study in the Origins and Development of the Art of Counting Time among the Primitive and Early Culture Peoples, Lund, 1920; c.f. Stephanie Hollis, Michael Wright, Old English Prose of Secular Learning, Annotated Bibliographies of Old and Middle English literature vol. 4, Boydell & Brewer Ltd, 1992, p. 194.
- ↑ This name of February, the only name in the list without the "month" suffix, is explained by König, Festschrift Bergmann (1997), pp. 425 ff. as a collective of horn, taken to refer to the antlers shed by red deer during this time. Older explanations compare the name with Old Frisian horning (Anglo-Saxon hornung-sunu, Old Norse hornungr) meaning "bastard, illegitimate son", taken to imply a meaning of "disinherited" in reference to February being the shortest of months. Шаблон:Cite book
- ↑ Шаблон:Cite book
- ↑ Шаблон:Cite book
- ↑ Шаблон:Cite book
- ↑ Rolf Bergmann, Stefanie Stricker, Die althochdeutsche und altsächsische Glossographie: Ein Handbuch, Walter de Gruyter, 2009, p. 667.
- ↑ Mysteries of the Moon by Patricia Haddock ("Great Mysteries Series", Greenhaven Press, 1992) gave an extensive list of "Indian month names" along with the individual tribal groups they were supposedly associated with (repeated in The Moon Book by Kim Long, 1998, 102ff.). Haddock supposes that certain "Colonial American" moon names were adopted from Algonquian languages (which were formerly spoken in the territory of New England), while others are based in European tradition (e.g. the Colonial American names for the May moon, "Milk Moon", "Mother's Moon", "Hare Moon" have no parallels in the supposed native names, while the name of November, "Beaver Moon" is supposedly based in the Algonquin).
- ↑ These archaic or poetic Dutch names are recorded in the 18th century and were used in almanachs during the 19th century. Neue und volständige Hoogteutsche Grammatik of nieuwe en volmaakte onderwyzer in de hoogduitsche Spraak-Konst (1768), 173f.
- ↑ Шаблон:Cite web
- ↑ 16,0 16,1 16,2 16,3 In MHG, any of the months November, December, January and (more rarely) February was also given the name hartmân, hartmânot "hard month". Lexer, Mittelhochdeutsches Handwörterbuch s.v. "hart-mân".
- ↑ Hornung survived in southern German dialects, and in the 19th century was also used officially in Switzerland as a synonym of February. Grimm, Deutsches Wörterbuch, s.v. "Hornung".
- ↑ Middle High German lenzemânot, survived in modern German usage only in poetic or archaizing language, e.g. Schiller in a dedication: Mannheim den 14. des lenzmonats 1785. Grimm, Deutsches Wörterbuch, s.v. "Lenzmonat", "Dörrmonat".
- ↑ Middle High German ôstermânôt; occasional modern use in poetic language, Herder in dem blühnden ostermonat, da die erde neu sich kleidet. Grimm, Deutsches Wörterbuch, s.v. "Ostermonat".
- ↑ OHG winnimanoth "pasture month", from an old word winni "pasture". The name does not seem to survive into MHG, but is revived in the 16th century (from the Carolingian month list), but etymologized as wunnemânôt "month of joy" (Bas. Faber 1587: maius, der may, a frondibus Carolus Magnus den wonnemonat, id est mensem amoenitatis olim nuncupavit). This reinterpreted revived form becomes a popular poetic name of May in modern German. Grimm, Deutsches Wörterbuch, s.v. "Wonnemonat".
- ↑ Remains in 15th to 16th century use, brachmonat, brachmon. Grimm, Deutsches Wörterbuch, s.v. "Brachmonat".
- ↑ Remains in 16th century use (Luther: am zehenten tage des heumonds). Grimm, Deutsches Wörterbuch, s.v. "Heumonat".
- ↑ 23,0 23,1 23,2 MHG herbestmânôt. Herbstmonat "autumn month" remains a productive compound which may refer to any month in autumn (September, October or November). Occasionally numbered as erster, anderer, dritter Herbstmonat. Herbstmond is revived as a name of September in 18th-century almanachs. Grimm, Deutsches Wörterbuch, s.v. "Herbstmonat", "Herbstmond".
- ↑ MGH winman, wynmanot MLG wijnmaand, survived into early modern use only in very rare Westphalian wynmaent. Шаблон:Lang specifically as the translation of the Vendémiaire of the French Republican Calendar. Grimm, Deutsches Wörterbuch, s.v. "Weinmonat".
- ↑ A pseudo-archaic innovation of the early 20th century. O. Behaghel Zs. f. dt. Bildung 10 (1934) 76.
- ↑ A name of January in Alemannic and Frisian; in MHG more generally any month in winter. As a name of November (the first month of winter) in 12th-century glossaries, and more widely during the 14th to 18th centuries. Grimm, Deutsches Wörterbuch, s.v. "Wintermonat".
- ↑ 27,0 27,1 MGH wolfmânôt for November or (more rarely) December. Benecke, Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, s.v. "wolfmânôt".
- ↑ Mapping Time by E.G. Richards
- ↑ Шаблон:Cite book
- ↑ Шаблон:Cite web
