It’s in human nature to tell stories and in many ways, our stories—our mythologies—work their way into every aspect of our daily lives, from meme culture to the language we speak. You may be familiar with some of the words derived from the names of Greek and Roman gods and characters (herculean, echo, narcissist, to name a few). But some of the words with similar …
For many English-speaking folks, the odds of encountering the French names for the days of the week are pretty low. Sure, you might encounter the French Mardi (Tuesday) every year during Mardi Gras (“Fat Tuesday” in English), but other examples are few and far between. So, if you feel like your vocabulary is missing that certain je ne sais quoi, then maybe a tiny little …
Yes, it’s true, there’s a wild story behind the god who lends his name to Tuesday: Tiu, also sometimes spelled Tiw. Tiu’s remarkable myth even involves women with beards (more on that in a bit). But, the past 1,000 years or so have not been kind to this Germanic divinity. Who is Tuesday named for? Tuesday comes from the Old English tīwesdæg, meaning “Tiu’s day.” Tiu …
