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=> Etymology and the origins of Easter traditions

Etymology and the origins of Easter traditions
Posted by Tiglath (Guest) - Friday, April 27 2007, 5:07:50 (CEST)
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Etymology and the origins of Easter traditions

In his De temporum ratione the Venerable Bede wrote that the month Eostur-monath (April) was so named because of a goddess, Eostre, who had formerly been worshipped in that month. In recent years some scholars have suggested that a lack of supporting documentation for this goddess might indicate that Bede assumed her existence based on the name of the month.[14] Others note that Bede's status as "the Father of English History," having been the author of the first substantial history of England ever written, might make the lack of additional mention for a goddess whose worship had already died out by Bede's time unsurprising. The debate receives considerable attention because the name 'Easter' is derived from Eostur-monath, and thus, according to Bede, from the pagan goddess Eostre, though this etymology is disputed.[15]

Jakob Grimm took up the question of Eostre in his Deutsche Mythologie of 1835, noting that Ostara-manoth was etymologically related to Eostur-monath and writing of various landmarks and customs which he believed to be related to a putative goddess he named Ostara in Germany. Critics suggest that Grimm took Bede's mention of a goddess Eostre at face value and constructed the parallel goddess Ostara around existing Germanic customs, noting the absence of any direct evidence for a goddess of this name. Amongst other traditions, Grimm attempted to connect the 'Osterhase' (Easter Bunny) and Easter Eggs to the putative goddess Ostara/Eostre. He also cites various place names in Germany as being possible evidence of Ostara, but critics observe that the words for 'east' and 'dawn' are similar in their roots, which could mean that these place names simply referred to either of those two things rather than a goddess.

However, the giving of eggs at spring festivals was not restricted to Germanic peoples and could be found among the Persians, Romans, Jews and the Armenians. They were a widespread symbol of rebirth and resurrection and thus might have been adopted from any number of sources.


[edit] Easter alleged a Babylonian festival
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Please help Wikipedia by adding references. See the talk page for details.

Some suggest an etymological relationship between Eostre and the Babylonian goddess Ishtar (variant spelling: Eshtar) and the possibility that aspects of an ancient festival accompanied the name, claiming that the worship of Bel and Astarte was anciently introduced into Britain, and that the hot cross buns of Good Friday and dyed eggs of Easter Sunday figured in the Chaldean rites just as they allegedly do now.[citation needed] These claims fail to account for a complete lack of any evidence of transmission from Mesopotamia through the rest of Europe to Britain. Instead, they posit a sudden appearance in the British Isles without any effects or records anywhere in the intervening continent. Such claims are more likely to be an example of a false etymology.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pascha#Etymology_and_the_origins_of_Easter_traditions



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