Wēodmōnaþ or Ƿēodmōnaþ (modern English: Weed (or Grass) Month) was the Anglo-Saxon name for the month of August.[1]
The name was recorded by the Anglo-Saxon scholar Bede in his treatise De temporum ratione (The Reckoning of Time), saying that "Vueod-Monath is the month of weeds, as this is the time when they grow most abundantly"[2]
Ƿēodmōnaþ is also explained in Menologium of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles:
"Agustus mōnaþ on ūre geþēode wē nemnaþ Wēodmōnaþ, for ðon ðe hī on ðam mōnþe mǣst geweaxaþ."[3]
"The month of Agustus we call the weed month in our language, for these grow most in this month.”
See also edit
References edit
- ^ Cockayne, Thomas. "The shrine: a collection of occasional papers on dry subjects" p.110
- ^ Beda Venerabilis, "Chapter XV, De mensibus Anglorum", De Temporum Ratione,
Vueod-monath mensis zizaniorum, quod ea tempestate maxime abundent.
- ^ Bosworth, Joseph (2014). "Weód-mónaþ". In Thomas Northcote Toller; Christ Sean; Ondřej Tichy (eds.). An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary Online. Prague: Faculty of Arts, Charles University.