Gegaderung
Gegaderung => Old English Language => Topic started by: David on February 04, 2016, 09:01:36 PM
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Some time ago some-one asked whether the names for the days of the week came from Anglo-Saxon or Norse. I was satisfied that most of the names came from Anglo-Saxon but I did wonder about Thursday. It seemed closer to Thor’s day than Thunor’s day. I believe that I had tracked Thunor’s day to Þunresdæġ or possibly Þuresdæġ. Now I can go a step further.
Today I was reading Campbell’s “Old English Grammar” and in§393 he says that in late West Saxon the genitival –es was dropped or shortened to –s after a long syllable so that Sæternesday > Sæternday and Þuresdæġ > Þursdæġ. Now in the Anglo-Saxon period we have Þunoresdæġ > Þunresdæġ > Þuresdæġ > Þursdæġ.