Day’s of the Week – Monday

**Day’s of the Week – Monday**

Monday, in almost all cultures/languages (the ones I have researched anyway), is named after the moon or a god/goddess of the moon eg.

English: Moon, Monday;

Latin: Moon = Luna, Monday = dies Lunae;

Ancient Greek: Moon (Goddess) – Selene, Monday – hēméra Selḗnēs

French: Moon = Lune, Monday = Lundi,

Norse: Moon = Máni, Monday = Máni.

In Norse, the story goes: Mundilföri had children so beautiful that he named them after the Sun (Sól, the girl) and Moon (Máni, the boy). According to the 3rd poem in the Poetic Edda, Vafþrúðnismál, they soar the heavens every day so that humans can tell time. Apparently, the gods were appalled at the arrogance of Mundilföri for naming his children in such a way, that they (Máni and Sól ) were condemned to ride chariots pulling the actual heavenly bodies of the Sun and Moon while being chased by wolves though the skies until they are caught and eaten at Ragnarök. Máni is being chased by the wolf, Hati, his travels and the dodging of Hati are reflected in the phases of the moon. Máni has help from two children Bil and Hjúki, whose names roughly translate to decrease and increase respectively, it is believed these children are the waxing and waning of the moon and the tides on earth (it is also believed that they might be the inspiration of the nursery rhyme “Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water”) Máni is associated with seiðr (witchcraft), curses, blessings, protection and fortune telling. (Some) Other names include Man in the Moon, Moon, Waxer, Waner, Year-Teller, Mock-Sun, Fengari, Glamour, Haster, Crescent, Glare

Ref: The Poetic Edda, The Prose Edda, Jackson Crawford, http://ydalir.ca/norsegods/mani sacred-texts.com/neu/pre/pre05.htm

Article by Shawna Shannon