LL-L "Lexicon" 2005.08.31 (12) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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L O W L A N D S - L * 31.AUG.2005 (12) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
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From: Leslie Decker <leslie at volny.cz>
Subject: LL-L "Lexicon" 2005.08.31 (10) [E/German]

> From: Gary Taylor <gary_taylor_98 at yahoo.com>
> Subject: LL-L Lexicon
>
> Hi all
>
> thought I'd start a new topic.
>
> Looking through an Old English dictionary I discovered the names of the
> months as follows:
>
> January : æfterra Géola (after yule)
> February: SolmónaD (mud month)
> March: Hlýda / HréDmónaD (loud/quick/victory??? month)
> April: EastermónaD (Easter (non-Christian) month)
> May: Drímeolce / DrímilcemónaD (dry milk???)
> June:æærra LíDa / MidsumarmónaD / SéremónaD (early
> mild??? month / midsummer month / dry month)
> July:æfterra LíDa (later mild month)
> August:Rugern / WéodmónaD (rye-harvest month /
> grass(weed) month)
> September:HáligmónaD / HærffestmónaD (Holy month /
> Harvest month)
> October:WinterfylléD (Ripe for winter)
> November:BlótmónaD (month of sacrifice)
> December:æærra Géola / Géol / GéolmónaD (Yule etc)
>
> Ok my questions are what are the exact translations of
> the ??? months?; what makes September so Holy and
> November a time of Sacrifice? and what's that about a
> victorious March and dry milk May???; and are there
> Lowlands languages that still use pre-Christian month
> names?
>
> [I know in North Frisian it's:
> J: ismoune (ice)
> F: biikenmoune (beacon)
> M: uursmoune (Spring)
> A: gjarsmoune (grass)
> M: krülemoune (flower)
> J: samermoune (Summer)
> J: foodermoune (hay)
> A: beeridmoune (harvest)
> S: härfstmoune (Autumn)
> O: stormmoune (storm)
> N: Mistmoune (mist)
> D: jülmoune (yule) ]
>
> Gary
>
> http://hometown.aol.com/taylor16471/myhomepage/index.html

This is of course not lowlands, but many Slavic languages,including Czech,
preserve pre-Christian months.  Here's one explanation I've found of them:

Leden - icy month (led = ice)
 Únor - month of ice-floes plunging (nořit se = plunge)
 Březen - month of pregnancy (many animal females are pregnant) (březí =
pregnant)
 Duben - month of oak leaves growing (dub = oak)
 Květen - blooming month (květ = bloom, flower)
 Červen - month of cherries turning red (červený = red)
 Červenec - month of fruit and grain ripening (červený = red)
 Srpen - harvest month (srp = sickle)
 Září - month of leaves turning (zářit = shine)
 Říjen - month of deer belling (říjet = bell, rut)
 Listopad - month of falling leaves (list = leaf, padat = fall)
 Prosinec - month of hog-killing (originally prasinec, prase = hog)

I've heard differing explanations for Unor, Cerven, Cervenec, Zari, Rijen,
and Prosinec (especially Prosinec, as prosit=German bitten and therefore
could be interpreted that way), but it's still interesting to me.  Of
course, I didn't actually learn the months well until living there for a
year, since I had to get used to seeing each of them everywhere!

S pozdravem
Leslie Decker
Austin, TX, USA

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