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.
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