77 HOW THE DAYS GOT THEIR NAMES

I never know what day it is

Unless I hear the name;

Today, tomorrow, yesterday

To me seem all the same.

And so I'm glad they named the days,

A long, long time ago.

I'll tell you how it came about,

For every child should know.

In old times, folks had lots of gods;

The greatest was the sun.

Our Sunday got its name from him.

The week had now begun.

The “Moon-day”next was named, to please

The moon-god, so they say.

Its name is Monday now. I guess

That one “o”slipped away.

Our Tuesday's name comes from Tiu

(You spell it T-u-e),

Who was the old-time god of war.

A god to fear was he!

Old Woden was another god,

The god of wisdom bright.

Old Woden's day is Wednesday now;

Be sure you spell it right.

And Thursday gets its name from Thor,

The god of thunder, loud.

The old folks had no “lightning-day”—

They feared the thunder-cloud!

Our Friday comes from Frigedaeg.

That may seem strange, I know.

It got its name from Woden's wife.

A long, long time ago.

Old Saturn was the god of plants,

The friend of girl and boy;

For Saturday was named for him,

The day of children's joy.

Those old-time folks had fifty gods

Almost, it seems to me.

If they had named a day for each,

How long the week would be!

Word list

wisdom: being smart from experience

fear: being afraid or frightened of something

You Practice

A) Answer the following questions.

1) Which god was the greatest?

2) Which day was named after the god of war?

3) How do we know that gods were important a long time ago?

4) Who is someone you know who is wise?

5) Why do you think Saturday was a children's day of joy?

B) Rhyme time—Find words in the poem that rhyme with these words.

1) shout - a _ _ _ _

2) dress - g _ _ _ _

3) speak - w _ _ _

4) snow - a _ _

5) bend - f _ _ _ _ _

C) True or false? Read these sentences carefully. Write true or false for each one.

1) _____ Monday was named after the Sun.

2) _____ All the gods have days named after them.

3) _____ Woden is the god of war.

4) _____ Saturn is a plant.

5) _____ The greatest god was the Moon.