The Celtic Calendar

and the Anglo-Saxon Year

In recent years the origins of the English traditional year have been widely
debated. If the festivals were not derived from Celtic or Roman traditions, what
was their source? Richard Sermon argues the Anglo-Saxon case.

E
NGLAND HAS A RICH TRADITION OF CALENDAR
customs and festivals, which include Yule,
Lent, Easter, May Day, Midsummer,
Harvest and Halloween, as well as a host of local
minor festivals. The majority of published refer-
ences on English folk tradition tend to attribute
either Roman or Celtic origins to these annual
events. For example, Yule is often identified with
the Roman Saturnalia, and May Day with
Floralia. However, it is the Celtic calendar that is
most often used to explain the origins of the
English traditional year. A study of the ritual year
by Ronald Hutton of Bristol University (Hutton,
1996), has involved a thorough re-examination of
the historical records, and has largely discredited
the concept of the Celtic calendar. However,
Hutton does not fully explore the Anglo-Saxon
evidence. Following an earlier paper on the same
subject (Sermon, 2000, 401-420), this essay seeks
to review the linguistic evidence, and use the
results to suggest an alternative basis for the
English traditional year.
The Celtic Calendar
The native languages of Britain and Ireland
descend from two branches of the Indo-European
family, Celtic and Germanic. The Celts (Kåëôïé)
are first recorded in the 5th century BC by the
Greek historian Herodotus, who locates them in
the area of the upper Danube (Selincourt, 1954,
142). Later Roman historians referred to a number
of peoples within their empire as being either Celts
or Gauls. In the 19th century archaeologists
attempted to find evidence of these early Celts in
central Europe, and identified two possible
cultures named after the locations in which they

Table 1. Old Irish Festivals

Old Irish Manx Gaelic Scots Gaelic Irish Interpretation

Imbolc - - - Ewes milking
Beltane Boaldyn Bealltainn Bealtaine Bright fire
Lúgnasad Luanistyn Lùnasdal Lúnasa Lug's festival
Samain Sauin Samhainn Samhna Summer end

Table 2. Modern Celtic Month Names

Welsh Cornish Scots Gaelic Irish Equivalent

Ionawr Genver Faoilteach Eanáir January
Chwefror Whever Gearran Feabhra February
Mawrth Merth Màrt Márta March
Ebrill Ebrel Giblean Aibreán April
Mai Me Céitean Bealtaine May
Mehefin Metheven Òg-mhios Meitheamh June
Gorffennaf Gortheren Iuchar Iúil July
Awst Est Lùnasdal Lúnasa August
Medi Gwyngala Sultainn Meám Fhómhair September
Hydref Hedra Damhar Deireadh Fhómhair October
Tachwedd Du Samhainn Samhna November
Rhagfyr Kevardhu Dùdlachd Nollag December

page 32 3rd Stone 43

 Table 3: Coligny Calendar Months

Coligny Reconstruction Equivalent? Interpretation

SAMON Samonios Oct / Nov Summer end / Seed time
DVMAN Dumannios Nov / Dec Dark time
RIVROS Riuros Dec / Jan Frost time
ANAGAN Anagantios Jan / Feb Home time
OGRON Ogronios Feb / Mar Cold time
CVTIOS Cutios Mar / Apr Wind time
GIAMON Giamonios Apr / May Winter end / Shoots time
SIMIVIS Simivisonnos May / Jun Light time
EQVOS Equos Jun / Jul Horse time
ELEMBIV Elembiuios Jul / Aug Harvest time
AEDRINI Aedrinios Aug / Sep Hot time
CANTLOS Cantlos Sep / Oct Song time

were first discovered, Hallstatt and La Tène
(Renfrew, 1987, 211-249). However, the Celtic
language group was only defined by that name at
the beginning of the 18th century by Edward
Lhuyd, then curator of the Ashmolean Museum in
Oxford (Lhuyd, 1707), and its relationship to these
archaeological cultures is still a subject of much
debate (James, 1999). Nevertheless, at their
greatest extent, what we now call Celtic languages
were spoken throughout northern Italy, France,
Spain, Britain and Ireland.
‘No man will travel this country,’ she said, ‘who
hasn’t gone sleepless from Samain, when the
summer goes to its rest, until Imbolc, when the ewes
are milked at spring’s beginning; from Imbolc to
Beltane at the summer’s beginning and from Beltane
to Brón Trogain, earth's sorrowing autumn.’
The above passage comes from the 10th to 11th
century collection of Irish heroic tales known as the
Ulster Cycle (Kinsella, 1970, 27). During the
wooing of Emer (Tochmarc Emire) by the hero
Cúchulainn, he is required to sleep for a year before
she will agree to marry him. In describing the year
Emer also provides the earliest reference to all four
of the Irish pagan festivals that marked the changing
of the seasons. Three of these festival names have
survived in Irish, Manx and Scots Gaelic, as the
month names for May, August and November.
However, in later sources Brón Trogain is known by
the name Lúgnasad (see tables 1 and 2).
In 1897 an important discovery was made
at Coligny near Lyons in France, when numerous
fragments of a bronze Gaulish calendar were
found, dating to the 2nd century AD. The calendar
consisted of 12 lunar months and two intercalary
or leap months, however, the month names were
very different to those recorded in the other Celtic
languages, apart from Samonios which appears to
be cognate with the Old Irish festival Samain (see
table 3).
In the 19th century during the ‘Celtic
Revival’ these early Irish festivals were rediscov-
ered by folklorists and academics such as Sir
James Frazer, who between 1890 and 1915
published a twelve volume study of magic and
religion entitled The Golden Bough (Frazer, 1922).
This and similar works attempted to reconstruct a
pan-Celtic year, that was said to have existed not
only in Ireland and Scotland, but throughout
Britain and the former Celtic speaking parts of
Europe. This ‘Celtic Calendar’ was believed to
have included the winter and summer solstices,
and the spring and autumn equinoxes, as well as
the four recorded festivals that marked the
changing seasons. In addition, it was thought that
bonfires had been a central part of all these festi-
vals, giving rise to the idea of the Fire Festivals
(Frazer, 1922, 609-641). The resulting calendar
(see figure 1 and table 4) has been used exten-
sively since the 19th century to explain the origins
of various English folk customs and festivals
(MacNeill, 1960).

Table 4. Celtic Revival Calendar

Celtic Year Date Assumed Equivalent

Winter Solstice 21st December Yule
Imbolc 1st February Lent
Spring Equinox 21st March Easter
Beltane 1st May May Day
Summer Solstice 21st June Midsummer
Lúgnasad 1st August Lammas
Autumn Equinox 22nd September Harvest
Samain 1st November Halloween

3rd Stone 43 page 33

 However, there a number of significant
problems with this reconstructed calendar. Firstly,
as pointed out by Ronald Hutton (1996, 408-411),
while Imbolc, Beltane, Lúgnasad and Samain are
found in the Goidelic branch of the Celtic
language group (Irish, Manx and Scots Gaelic)
they are not found in the Brithonic branch (Welsh,
Cornish and Breton), and are only assumed to have
been pan-Celtic festivals. Secondly, the early Irish
texts do not mention festivals on the solstices or
equinoxes, hence the lack of Old Irish names for
these. Thirdly, these festivals, which were not
necessarily observed by the Celtic Britons, are
then assumed to have passed into English folk
tradition. Still, the concept of the ‘Celtic Calendar’
is now so deeply imbedded in both popular and
academic belief, that it is repeated throughout the
literature on Celtic culture, history and archae-
ology, but with no reference back to original
source material. So much so, that many eminent
archaeologists and historians have reproduced the
calendar in their various works, in particular Nora
Chadwick, Lloyd Laing and Graham Webster, and
more recently Barry Cunlifffe at Oxford
University (Cunliffe, 1997, 188-190).
Nevertheless, in Hutton’s final conclusions (1996,
408-411) he clearly demonstrates that the ‘Celtic
Year’ is in reality a modern scholastic construc-
tion.
The Anglo-Saxon Year
The Angles or Angli are first recorded in 98 AD,
when the Roman historian Tacitus describes them
in his study of the Germanic peoples the Germania
(Mattingly, 1970, 134-5). Tacitus locates the Angli
in what is now the border area between Germany
and Denmark, part of which still bears the name
Angeln. In the 5th century AD the Anglo-Saxons
(Angles, Saxons and Jutes) began to leave their
homelands in north Germany and Denmark, and
settle in lowland Britain following the collapse of
Roman rule. Their arrival and settlement in Britain
is described by the Northumbrian cleric Bede in
731 AD (King, 1930, 68-74). By the reign of King
Table 5. Anglo-Saxon Months
Bede Anglo-Saxon
Giuli Æfterra Geola
Solmona∂ Solmona∂
Hre∂mona∂ Hre∂mona∂
Eosturmona∂ Eastermona∂
Îrimilchi Îrimilce
Li∂a Ærra Li∂a
Li∂a Æfterra Li∂a
Weodmona∂ Weodmona∂
Halegmona∂ Haligmona∂
Winterfille∂ Winterfylle∂
Blodmona∂ Blotmona∂
Giuli Ærra Geola
page 34 3rd Stone 43
Alfred (871-899 AD) the Anglo-Saxons were
referring to themselves collectively as Englisc,
after the Angles. However, the Celtic Britons and
Irish referred to them as Saxons, giving rise to the
Welsh Saeson and the Scots Gaelic Sasunnach.
While the nature of the Anglo-Saxon settlement is
still hotly debated (folk migration versus dominant
élite), they were the first to identify themselves as
being English.
The earliest description of the English
year is given by Bede in 725 AD, who in a text on
the church calendar, De Temporum Ratione, also
described the Anglo-Saxon pagan year (Jones,
1976, chapter 15). The year started at Yule (Giuli)
in the middle of winter, and was preceded by a
festival known as Mothers Night (Modra Nect).
Half way through the year was the festival Litha
(Li∂a) in the middle of summer. The year
consisted of 12 lunar months which approximated
to those of the Julian calendar (see table 5). Bede
also described what he thought to be the origins of
the month names. Yule was not only the name for
the middle of winter but also the months before
and after the festival. Next came the month of mud
(sol) when cakes were offered to the gods. The
following two months were named after the
Anglo-Saxon goddesses Hretha and Eostre, the
spring goddess. Then came the month when cattle
had to be milked three times a day. The summer
festival Litha, like Yule, was flanked by two
months bearing the same name. Weed-month was
simply the time when weeds grew most, and Holy-
month when offerings were made to the gods.
Finally came the month of the first winter full
moon, and the month of blood when animals were
slaughtered or sacrificed.
Bede goes on to explain that the pagan
English year was divided into just two seasons,
winter and summer. The earliest references to Lent
and Harvest occur in 9th century texts, Lent being
the season when the days began to lengthen and
Harvest when the crops were gathered in (see table
6). In Byrhtfer∂’s Handboc (Kluge, 1885, 298-
337), a scientific manual written in 1011 AD, all
Translation Equivalent
Later Yule January
Sol-month February
Hreth-month March
Easter-month April
Three-milkings May
Earlier Litha June
Later Litha July
Weed-month August
Holy-month September
Winter-full October
Blood-month November
Earlier Yule December
 Table 6. Anglo-Saxon Seasons, Solstices and Equinoxes

Anglo-Saxon Translation Equivalent

Lencten Lent Spring

Sumor Summer Summer
Hærfest Harvest Autumn
Winter Winter Winter

Lenctenlice Emnihte Lenten Even-night Spring Equinox

Middansumor Midsummer Summer Solstice
Hærfestlice Emnihte Harvest Even-night Autumn Equinox
Middanwinter Midwinter Winter Solstice

four seasons are described as †a fower timan...
lengten, sumor, hærfest & winter. The earliest
references to Midwinter and Midsummer also
occur in 9th century texts, while the autumn
equinox is first recorded in a charter of Bishop
Denewulf in 902 AD (Kemble, 1839-48, 151)
where it appears as hæfestes emnihte. Byrhtfer∂’s
Handboc also describes the relationship between
the seasons, solstices and equinoxes, and clearly
interprets the Latin word solstice as Midsummer;
†æt ys on lyden solstitium & on englisc midsumor.
In about the 3rd century AD when
Germanic soldiers are known to have been
recruited by the Roman Legions, various
Germanic tribes began to adopt the Roman seven
day week (Turville-Petre, 1964, 101) with its days
named after the planets. Saturday, Sunday and
Monday were named after the same planets as
their Latin equivalents, while Tuesday,
Wednesday, Thursday and Friday were named
after the Germanic gods Tiw, Woden, Thunor and
Frig. When the Anglo-Saxons began to settle in
lowland Britain during the 5th century AD, they
brought their week with them. These names have
survived down through the centuries and are found
throughout the Germanic language group.
From this brief survey of the original
sources we have been able to establish the Anglo-
Saxon (Old English) names for the months,
seasons, solstices and equinoxes (see figure 2).
Many of these names have survived into modern
English as Yule, Lent, Easter, Summer,
Midsummer, Harvest, Winter and Midwinter, and
are found throughout the Germanic language
group (see table 7). Such broad agreement among
the Germanic languages, when compared with the
Celtic languages, would suggest that a common
year is more likely to have existed in the Germanic
rather than Celtic speaking parts of Europe. It
would also suggest that these Germanic season
and festival names, like the days of the week,
arrived in Britain with the Anglo-Saxon settlers in
the 5th century AD.
Yule and Easter
In his chapter on the origins of Christmas, Ronald
Hutton relies on the work of Alexander Tille
(1889, Yule and Christmas, 147-149) and suggests
that Bede had only sketchy knowledge of the prac-
tices which he described. He argues that ‘Mothers
Night’ could in fact refer to the Virgin Mary and
the Nativity, and that it was not until the 11th

Table 7. Common Germanic Season and Festival Names

English Low Saxon Dutch German Swedish

Yule - Joelfeest Julfest Jul
Lent - Lente Lenz Vår
Easter Oostern - Ostern -
Summer Sommer Zomer Sommer Sommar
Midsummer Midsommer Midzomer Mittsommer Midsommar
Harvest Harvst Herfst Herbst Höst
Winter Winter Winter Winter Vinter
Midwinter Midwinter Midwinter Mittwinter Midvinter

Old English Old Frisian Middle Dutch Old High German Old Norse
Geola - - - Jól
Lencten - Lentin Lengizin Vár
Eastron Asteron - Ostarun -
Sumor Sumur Somer Sumar Sumar
Middansumor Middesumur Midsomer Mittesumar Mi∂rsumar
Hærfest Herfst Herfst Herbist Haust
Winter Winter Winter Wintar Vetr
Middanwinter Middewinter Midwinter Mittewintar Mi∂rvetr

3rd Stone 43 page 35

 century that "Danish rule over England resulted in
the introduction of the colloquial Scandinavian
term for Christmas, Yule" (Hutton, 1996, 6).
Hutton also doubts Bede’s interpretation of Eostre
as the spring goddess, and suggests that it may be
the opening or beginning month, as the name is
cognate with the East and the dawn sky (Hutton,
1996, 180). However, it is important to note that
although Yule is cognate with the Old Norse
festival Jól and winter month filir, Bede was
writing about the Anglo-Saxon pagan year in the
early 8th century AD, well before any Danish
settlement began in England. While Bede may
have been speculating about the origins of the
pagan months and festivals, he was primarily
concerned with religious matters, in particular the
history of the English conversion to Christianity. It
therefore seems inconceivable that Bede would
have invented an origin for the name
Eosturmonath based on a pagan goddess called
Eostre, if he were not fairly convinced of this. In
any event, Bede was in no doubt as to the actual
month names, and provides our earliest record of
Yule and Easter (Jones, 1976 and Wallis 1999,
chapter 15):
Menses Giuli a conversione solis in auctum diei,
quia unus eorum præcedit, alius subsequitur,
nomina accipiunt... Eosturmonath, qui nunc
pascalis mensis interpretur, quondam a dea
illorum quae Eostre vocabatur et cui in illo festa
celebrabant nomen habuit.
‘The months of Giuli derive their name from the
day when the Sun turns back and begins to
increase, because one of these months precedes
this day and the other follows... Eosturmonath has
a name which is now translated “Paschal month”,
and which was once called after a goddess of
theirs named Eostre, in whose honour feasts were
celebrated in that month.’
Furthermore, we have continental
evidence that appears to corroborate Bede’s month
Table 8: Charlemagne’s Month Names
Frankish Interpretation
Wintarmanoth Winter-month
Hornung Bastard-month?
Lenzinmanoth Spring-month
Ostarmanoth Easter-month
Winnemanoth Pasture-month
Brachmanoth Plough-month
Hewimanoth Hay-month
Aranmanoth Harvest-month
Witumanoth Wood-month
Windumemanoth Wine-month
Herbistmanoth Autumn-month
Heilagmanoth Holy-month
page 36 3rd Stone 43
names Giuli and Eosturmonath... The first piece of
evidence comes from a church calendar fragment
written in Gothic, an extinct East Germanic
language. The Gothic Calendar Fragment (Snæ∂al,
1999) comprises only one page of an estimated
original nine, and is generally dated to the begin-
ning of the 6th century AD. The surviving page
records a number of saint’s days and covers the
end of October and the whole of November
(Naubaimbair), which is given Gothic name fruma
Jiuleis meaning ‘earlier’ Jiuleis. This would
suggest the existence of a ‘later’ Jiuleis, and there-
fore appears to be cognate with Bede’s two months
named Giuli. The second piece of evidence comes
from the reign of Charlemagne (742 to 814 AD)
king of the Franks and founder of the Holy Roman
Empire. In Einhard’s Vita Caroli Magni (Turner,
1880, 29) he describes how Charlemagne defeated
the continental Saxons and converted them to
Christianity, and how as part of his reforms
Charlemagne gave new Germanic names to the
Latin months of the year, many of which survived
into early modern German (see table 8). How far
these month names were completely new, or based
on earlier pre-Christian names is difficult to say.
Nevertheless, Charlemagne’s Ostarmanoth is
clearly cognate with Bede’s Eosturmonath.
In 601 AD Pope Gregory the Great
advised Augustine, his missionary in England, to
rededicate pagan temples to Christian saints and
martyrs, and to adopt a step by step approach in
the conversion of the English (King 1930, 160-
165). This may explain why in England the church
borrowed the name for Easter from the native
language, rather than using the Latin name Pascha
as in the Welsh Pasg.
Ostern and Ostara
The origin of the word Easter has also been the
subject of much debate in Germany, ever since the
mid 19th century when Jacob Grimm (Stallybrass,
1882, 10-11) first proposed that the German equiv-
alents Ostern and Ostermonat must have derived
from the same goddess as Bede’s Eostre. Grimm
Modern German Equivalent
Eismonat January
Hornung February
Lenzemonat March
Ostermonat April
Wonnemonat May
Brachmonat June
Heumonat July
Erntemonat August
Herbstmonat September
Weinmonat October
Wintermonat November
Julmonat December
reconstructed the goddess’ name in German as
‘Ostara’ and pointed out that the name is cognate
with the East and the dawn sky; he therefore
concluded that Eostre/Ostara must have been the
goddess of the radiant dawn (göttin der morgen-
röte). While many now dismiss this as 19th century
romanticism, we should perhaps bear in mind that
similar goddesses are recorded in other Indo-
European cultures. For example, the classical
goddess of the dawn (Greek Eos and Roman
Aurora) arose each morning in the East on her
chariot to announce the arrival of her brother the
Sun God (Greek Helios and Roman Sol).
The first serious challenge to Grimm’s
interpretation proposed that the origin of the word
was all the result of a mistranslation (Knoblech,
1959, 27-45). In the early church the week
following Easter was known in Latin as hebdomada
in albis (white week) and sometimes simply as
albae, because the newly baptised Christians would
wear their white baptismal robes during that week.
Knoblech suggests that when albae was first inter-
preted by German clerics it was mistaken for the
Latin plural of alba meaning dawn, and therefore
translated into the Old High German plural for
dawn eostarun. However, given that Dominica in
albis (white Sunday) which referred to the first
Sunday after Easter was successfully translated into
Middle Low German as Witsondach and Middle
Dutch as Wittensondaugh. Why should there have
been a problem translating hebdomada in albis
(white week) into German?
More recently, Jürgen Udolph (1999) a
linguist at the University of Göttingen, has
suggested that Ostern may be related to the North
Germanic word ausa/austr meaning to draw or
pour. A pagan form of baptism for naming newborn
children was known in Old Norse as vatni ausa
(sprinkling with water). On this basis, Udolph
suggests that name Ostern derives from a common
Germanic word for draw or pour, which was then
applied to the Christian act of baptism. He points
Figure 1: The Celtic Revival Year
out that baptism was the central event of the Paschal
celebration in the first centuries AD, and argues that
Ostern occurs in the plural form because it reflects
the threefold baptism of the Holy Trinity. However,
if this were the case why is a version of Ostern not
found among the North Germanic languages
(Danish/Norwegian Påske and Swedish Påsk)?
Alternatively, there may be more direct
route by which Ostern could have entered the
German language. Much of Frisia and Germany
was converted to Christianity by Anglo-Saxon
clerics such as St Clement (Willibrord, 658-739
AD) and St Boniface (Wynfrith, c. 673-754 AD).
These clerics spoke a broadly the same language as
those they were seeking to convert, and given the
date of Bede’s De Temporum Ratione (725 AD)
may have been celebrating Easter by that name
during the course of their missionary work. This
would explain why the name Easter is found in Old
English, Old Frisian and Old High German (see
table 7), but not in any of the North Germanic
languages where versions of the Latin name Pascha
are used. Furthermore, Willibrord and Wynfrith
were later followed Alcuin (c. 735-804 AD) who
was a leading figure in the court of Charlemagne.
Alcuin was born in Northumbria and educated at
York where he became well acquainted with the
books in the cathedral library, in particular the
works of Bede. In 781 AD he met Charlemagne at
Parma and was appointed master of the palace
school in Aachen. Here Alcuin is known to have
built up a considerable library, which is likely to
have included a copy of Bede’s De Temporum
Ratione with its reference to Eosturmonath. It was
also under Alcuin that the Frankish historian
Einhard (770-840 AD) was to study, and later write
the Vita Caroli Magni with its reference to
Ostarmanoth. Therefore, when Charlemagne gave
this ‘new’ Germanic name to the month April he
could have been influenced by both his teacher
Alcuin and Bede’s earlier work on time (Turner,
1880, 25):
Figure 2: The Anglo-Saxon Year
3rd Stone 43 page 37
 Table 9: Latin Inscriptions from Morken-Harff

98 [M]atronis [...]cifnis [a]uvacsis [...]lia v(otum) s(olvit) l(ibens) m(erito)

99 Matronis Austriahenis M(arcus) Antonius Sentius p(ro) s(e) et s(uis) l(ibens) m(erito)
100 Matronis Austriahenabus Q(uintus) Atilius Gemellus v(otum) s(olvit) l(ibens) m(erito)
101 Austriahenis Juli(us) Jus[ti]nus Verinus Paterna ex imp(erio) ips(arum) l(ibens) m(erito)
102 M(arcus) Julius Vassileni f(ilius) Leubo Matr[o]nis Austriatium v(otum) s(olvit) m(erito)
103 Matronis Austriahenabus Q(uintus) Lucretius Patro(n) pro se v(otum) s(olvit) l(ibens) m(erito)
104 Matronis Austriahenis M(arcus) M(arius) Celsus ex imperio ipsarum s(olvit) l(ibens) m(erito)
105 Matronis Austriahen[a]bus T(itus) Quartio pro se et suis v(otum) s(olvit) l(ibens) m(erito)
106 Matronis [Au]striahenabus [...

‘Another deacon, Albin of Britain, surnamed
Alcuin, a man of Saxon extraction, who was the
greatest scholar of the day, was his
[Charlemagne’s] teacher in other branches of
learning. The King spent much time and labour
with him studying rhetoric, dialectics, and espe-
cially astronomy; he learned to reckon, and used to
investigate the motions of the heavenly bodies
most curiously, with an intelligent scrutiny.’
Germanic would be cognate with Bede’s Eostre.
However, we must exercise caution. Just because
the two names appear be cognate does not prove
that the goddesses derived from a common origin,
it is equally possible for the two cults to have
developed independently. Notwithstanding this,
the Morken-Harff inscriptions do provide impor-
tant comparative evidence that should at least be
mentioned in any discussion of Bede’s Eostre.

The Matronae Austriahenae Why the Celtic Calendar ?

One of the main criticisms levelled against Bede’s
account of the goddess Eostre is that he provides
our only reference to her. Nevertheless, a similar
goddess name has been found on a group of
Roman altar stones from the Lower Rhine area of
north-west Germany, in what was the Roman
province of Germania Inferior. These altars are
dedicated to native mother goddesses (Matrae or
Matronae) who often occur as triple deities, and
were thought to bestow fertility and protection on
the people or region after which they were named.
Similar altars have been found throughout
northern Italy, France, Spain and Britain, where
the goddesses often have Celtic names. However,
in the Lower Rhine many of the goddesses appear
to have Germanic names, such as the Matribus
Suebi (Swabian Mothers) found on altar stones
from Cologne, and the Matronae Vacallinehae
(Mothers of the Vacalli) who were worshipped at
the temple site of Pesch in the northern Eifel.
In 1959 a number of Roman altar stones
dating to about 200 AD were discovered at
Morken-Harff near Bedburg (Kolbe, 1960, 55ff
and L’Année Epigraphique, 1962, 98-106), at least
eight of which were dedicated to native mother
goddesses known as the Matronae Austriahenae
(see table 9). The Latin inscriptions are formulaic
with the goddesses’ name being followed by the
name of the person making the dedication, and
then a series of standard phrases; pro se et suis (for
himself and his family), ex imperio ipsarum (by
their command) and votum solvit libens merito
(my vow fulfilled willingly and deservedly).
Unfortunately none of the altar stones bear any
images of the goddesses, nevertheless their name
clearly contains from the root ‘Austri’ which if
So far we have observed that a common year is
more likely to have existed in the Germanic rather
than Celtic speaking parts of Europe.
Nevertheless, the ‘Celtic Calendar’ is still used to
explain the origins of many English calendar
customs. Moreover, two of the three festivals
which are most often claimed to be of Celtic origin
(May Day, Lammas and Halloween) are first
recorded in England. May games are first recorded
in 1244 when the Bishop of Lincoln, Robert
Grosseteste, complained of ludos quos vocant
Inductionem Maii or ‘games which they call the
Bringing in of May’ (Powicke and Cheney, 1964,
480). Lammas, literally meaning the ‘loaf-mass’,
is first recorded in King Alfred’s translation of
Orosius in the 9th century AD; †æt on †ære tide
calendas Agustus & on †æm dæge †e we hata∂
hlafmæsse (Early English Text Society, 1883, 8).
One of the earliest references to Halloween
mischief, as opposed to Hallowmas fires, is
recorded in 1598 in John Stow’s The Survey of
London which describes These lords [of misrule]
beginning their rule on Alhollon eve (Wheatley,
1987, 89). So why do these claims of Celtic
origins continue? The reason may have more to do
with modern politics rather than ancient history, as
summarised by Jacqueline Simpson, Secretary of
the Folklore Society (Thorpe, 2001, XI):
‘...in the twentieth century, the balance has been
upset by excessive reverence for a glamorised,
idealised ‘Celtic tradition’, and a corresponding
widespread neglect of Germanic and Nordic lore.
There is, of course, a socio-political explanation
for this: after two World Wars, and especially after
the gross exploitation of myth and heroic imagery

page 38 3rd Stone 43

by the Nazis, Germanic folklore carries a good
many unwelcome associations. But the time is ripe
now for a reassessment...’
Conclusions
The so called ‘Celtic Calendar’ has been used
extensively since the 19th century to explain the
origins of various English folk customs and festi-
vals. However, recent research (Hutton, 1996,
408-411) has concluded that this calendar is in
reality a modern scholastic construction.
Nevertheless, it is unfortunate that this research
has not fully explored the Anglo-Saxon evidence.
These sources clearly demonstrate that Yule, Lent,
Easter, Summer, Midsummer, Harvest, Winter and
Midwinter, all derive from the language of the
Anglo-Saxons. Furthermore, these names are
found throughout the Germanic language group,
including countries that have never been inhabited
by Celtic language speakers. This would suggest
that the major divisions of the English traditional
year are of Anglo-Saxon rather than Celtic origin.
While these survivals from the Anglo-Saxon year
are not necessarily evidence of individual festivals
they do offer a more plausible basis for the English
traditional year, and provide the fabric into which
later traditions, such as May Day, Lammas and
Halloween could have been woven. Future
research could usefully continue to re-examine
received wisdom about the origins of English folk
customs and festivals, many of which are assumed
to have Celtic origins but are not found in the
Celtic regions of Britain or Ireland. However, this
re-examination must be extended to include the
Anglo-Saxon and wider Germanic evidence.
References
Cunliffe B, 1997, The Ancient Celts, Oxford University
Press
Early English Text Society, ed. 1883, Ælfred., Orosius, V
Frazer J, 1922, The Golden Bough, Wordsworth
Reference
Hutton R, 1996, The Stations of the Sun, Oxford
University Press
James S, 1999, The Atlantic Celts, British Museum Press
Jones C, ed. 1976, Bed.e, De Temporum Ratione, XV
Kemble J, ed. 1839-48, Codex diplomaticus aevi
Saxonici, V
King J, ed. 1930, Bed.e, Historical Works, I, Leob
Classical Library
Kinsella T, trans. 1970, The Tain, Oxford University
Press
Knoblech J, 1959, Der Ursprung von Neuhochdeutsch
Ostern, Englisch Easter, Die Sprache, 5
Kluge F, ed. 1885, Byrhtfer∂’s Handboc, Anglia, VIII
Kolbe H, 1960, Die neuen Matroneninschriften von
Morken-Harff, Bonner Jahrbücher, 160
Lhuyd E, 1707, Archæologia Britannica, I
MacNeill M, 1962, The Festival of Lughnasa, Oxford
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Mattingly H, trans. 1970, Tacitus, The Agricola and The
Germania, Penguin
Powicke F and Cheney C, ed. 1964, Councils and
Synods, II, 1205-1313, Oxford
Renfrew C, 1987, Archaeology and Language, London
Selincourt A, trans. 1954, Herodotus, The Histories,
Penguin
Sermon R, 2000, The Celtic Calendar and the English
Year, The Mankind Quarterly, XL, 4
Snæ∂al, M, 1999, A Concordance to Biblical Gothic, I,
University of Iceland Press
Stallybrass J, trans. 1882, Jacob Grimm’s Teutonic
Mythology, London, I, 13
Thorpe B, 2001, Northern Mythology, Wordsworth
Ed.itions
Turner S, trans. 1880, Einhard, The Life of Charlemagne,
New York
Turville-Petre E, 1964, Myth and Religion of the North,
New York
Udolph J, 1999, Ostern, Geschichte eines Wortes,
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Wallis F, trans. 1999, Bed.e, The Reckoning of Time,
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Wheatley H, ed. 1987, John Stow, The Survey of London,
London
Richard Sermon is Gloucester City Archaeologist,
and has a long standing interest in both historical
linguistics and English folklore.
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