The seven days of the week are named in honour of the sun, the moon, and five of the planets.
The five planets are Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus and Saturn. These are the Roman names
of Roman gods and goddesses. And these were the only five planets that the people of long
ago knew about. These ancient people believed that the sun, the moon, and the five planets
took turns ruling over the days. And the seven days from sun’s day to the next sun’s day
became the week.
The day ruled by the sun was called sun’s day, and became Sunday. Similarly, moon’s day
became Monday, and Saturn’s day became Saturday. However, the days ruled by Mars,
Mercury, Jupiter, and Venus did not become “Mars’s day,” “Mercury’s day,” “Jupiter’s day,”
and “Venus’s day.” They became Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. These names
came from the Vikings, also known as the Norsemen. Tui was their god of war. So Tui’s day
became Tuesday. Woden was their chief god, and so Woden’s day became Wednesday.
Thor was their god of thunder, so Thor’s day became Thursday. Finally, Friday came from
Frigg’s day. Frigg was the wife of Woden and the goddess of the sky.
