According to the historian Bede the Venerable (673?-735), writing in chapter 13 of his De temporum ratione, the heathen Anglo-Saxons called the third and fourth months "Rhedmonath" and "Esturmonath" after their goddesses Rheda and Eostra respectively. Rheda, except for the brief citation above, has been forgotten.
Eostra (Ostara) has fared somewhat better, although there is little direct evidence of her and her followers.
The following views, advanced by Jacob Grimm in his Deutsche Mythologie (1835), are generally held by Germanic scholars:
- April, in Anglo Saxon, Old High German, and some modern German dialects, is called "Ostara's month."
- All cultures living in temperate (or winter dominated) climates celebrate the coming of spring with major rituals and festivals. One of the most important of spring festivals among pre-Christian Germanic tribes apparently was dedicated to the goddess Ostara, whose name suggests "east" and thus "dawn" and "morning light."
- The name of Ostara's (Eostra's) festival was transferred to the celebration of Christ's resurrection when Anglo-Saxon and German heathens converted to Christianity. Thus, unlike other European cultures, English and German Christians still attach the name of a heathen goddess to their most sacred holiday: Easter or Ostern. In other European languages the holiday's name is based on the Hebrew word "pasah," to pass over, thus reflecting the Christian holiday's Biblical connection with the Jewish Passover.
- In addition to the name, other popular Easter customs also have heathen origins:
- The belief in the curative properties of water drawn early on Easter morning. These beliefs were common in Germany into the nineteenth century.
- The veneration (if now only playful) of rabbits and hares.
- The decoration of eggs (obvious fertility symbols).
- Place names suggest that Ostara was venerated throughout ancient Germany and Denmark.
- Although neither the Prose Edda nor the Poetic Edda mentions Ostara, both works refer to a male dwarf named Austri, whose name also means "east."
The English and German words for "Easter" derive from the name "Ostara," the Germanic Goddess of Springtime. All other European words for "Easter" derive from the Hebrew word "pasah," to pass over, thus reflecting the Christian holiday's Biblical connection with the Jewish Passover.
| English | Easter |
| German | Ostern |
| Latin | Pascha |
| Italian | Pasqua |
| French | Pâques |
| Danish and Norwegian | Påske |
| Swedish | Påsk |
| Icelandic | Páske |
Revised November 6, 1996.
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