If you look at the modern English calendar, the names of the days have come from multiple sources. Originally, the Romans assigned days to the Sun, the Moon and the five planets visible in the night sky, which they associated with various gods. Sunday was dedicated to the Sun. As the Sun was deemed the most important celestial body and the source of light, its day was considered the start of the week. In modern work culture, Sunday is generally a holiday, so Monday is considered the start of the week, but earlier Sunday had this tag.
Monday was named after the Moon, the second most prominent celestial body visible from the Earth. The following day was named after Mars, the Roman God of war. Later, the Norse people had a different God in Mars’s place—Tiw or Tyr, a one-handed God of combat and justice. The day began to be called Tiw’s Day, which evolved into Tuesday. The Romans named the next day after Mercury, the Roman messenger God. Later, the Norse replaced it with Woden or Odin—the supremely clever, and often disguised ruler of the Norse Gods. His day was called Woden’s Day and later came to be called Wednesday.
Thursday was originally named by the Romans after Jupiter, the Roman God of thunder and the sky. In Norse mythology, the God of thunder is the famous Thor. His day was called Thor’s day or Thursday. Friday was named after the Roman Goddess of love and beauty, Venus, but later the Norse named it after their own Goddess of love, marriage and motherhood—Frigga or Freya. Freya’s day, in the course of time, became Friday.
Interestingly, Woden, Thor and Frigga were related to each other. Woden's wife was Frigga, and his eldest son was Thor. Woden lived in a beautiful city in the sky. To reach it, one had to ride or walk the whole length of the rainbow, as it arched from land to land. In a resplendent dwelling called Fensalir lived Woden’s wife and family. It is said that Woden, Thor and Frigga still live upon the earth and are bound by loving ties.
However, they can never meet, for only one comes to earth at a time. At midnight, Woden, the father, leaves, and Thor, his son, stays with us till another midnight. Then Frigga, the mother, comes for a single day, but she never can see her son nor her husband again.
Saturday was named after Saturn, the Roman God of agriculture and time. Somehow, the Norse did not have an exact equivalent God in their mythology, and this day continued to be called Saturn’s day or Saturday.
