If you have been following the meaning of the days of the week series, you would have read through Monday to Wednesday; how the ancient Greeks arrived at a name for each day of the week by assigning a “planet” to each of the days; and how these days were translated by the Norse and Anglo-Saxons into what we know and call them by till this day.
This week, our attention shifts to Thursday – rather aptly! – and I am sure it will not come as a surprise to you if I mentioned the connection between this day and the hammer-wielding Thor of Norse mythology. Why not sit back as we go back some millenia into human history?
Origin of the Name
This day in Latin was known as “Die Jovis” meaning “Day of Jupiter” when translated. Jupiter was also known as Jove or Zeus to the ancient Greeks – who represented the god of thunder and lightning.
This was translated by the Norse into Þūnresdæg. Þunor meant thunder or its personification. It also represented the Germanic god known in Modern English as Thor, who was the parallel of Jupiter. This name would later come to be known in Old and Middle English as Thur-es-dye or Thuresday, meaning “Thor’s Day”
The naming of this day in most other Indo-Aryan languages was also influenced by the Greek culture. For example, in most of the languages of India, the word for Thursday is Guruvar – var meaning day, and guru being the style for Bṛhaspati, who was the guru to the gods and regent of the planet Jupiter.
In Thai, the word is Wan Pharuehatsabodi – referring to the Hindu deity Bṛhaspati, also associated with Jupiter. The Greek influence in naming this day in Chinese, Japanese and Korean remains as on other days.
Quick Facts
1. As with other days of the week; Slavic languages do not employ the Greek term in naming this day because of its pagan origin. Languages like Slovak, Russian, Bosnian, Polish, Ukranian, Croatian and such, use the title “fourth day” – that is counting from Monday.
2. It is the fifth day in Portugese, Arabic, Greek and Hebrew.
3. In the United States, Thanksgiving is usually on a Thursday – the fourth one in November. And in the United Kingdom, General Elections are usually held on Thursdays.
4. According to the tradition of Christendom, the Thursday before Easter is called “Maundy or Sheer Thursday”. It is believed that the Last Supper was eaten by Jesus with his disciples on this day.
And this concludes the gist on how Thor came to be associated with Thursday. Did you know that this day is called “Ojo ru” in Yoruba? What is it called in your native tongue? Care to share?
