TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. - Centrostudirpinia.it

130 GODS.
do not count, while the Esthonians again mostly do (see SuppL).
Even the christianizing influence of Byzantium decided nothing on
this point; Byzantium had no influence over Lithuanians and Finns,
and had it over a part only of the Slavs. These in their counting
begin with Monday, as the first day after rest, consequently Tues
day is their second, and Thursday their fourth, 1
altogether deviating
from the Latin and Icelandic reckoning, which makes Monday second
and Thursday fifth. Hence the Slavic piatek (fifth) means Friday,
and that Up. Germ, pfinztag (fifth) Thursday. Wednesday they
call middle, sreda, sereda, srida (whence Lith. serrada), which may
the Finns too
have acted upon our High German nomenclature ;
have keskivrijcko (half-week, from keski medium). It would be well
worth finding out, when and for what reason the High German and
the Slav first introduced the abstract names mittewoche and sreda
(Boh. stfeda), while the Low German and the Eomance have kept
to Woden and Mercury. Alone of Slavs, the Wends in Liineburg
show a trace of naming after a god; dies Jovis was with them
Perendan, from Peren, Perun, thunder-god: apparently a mere
imitation of the German, as in all the other days they agree with
the rest of the Slavs. 2
The nett result of these considerations is, that,
in Latin records
dealing with Germany and her gods, we are warranted in interpret
ing, with the greatest probability, Mercurius as Wuotan, Jupiter as
Donar, and Mars as Ziu. The gods of the days of the week
translated into German are an experiment on Tacitus s interpretatio
Komana .
1 E.g. in Russian : 1, voskresenie, resurrection (but O.S1. ne-delia, no
ticing). 2, po-nedel nik, day after-no-work. 3, vtornik, second day. 4,
sereda, middle. 5, chetverg, fourth day. 6, piatnitsa, fifth, day. 7, subbota,
sabbath. TRANS.
2
It is striking, that in 0. Bohem. glossaries (Hanka 54. 165) Mercury,
Venus and Saturn are quoted in the order of their days of the week and that
;
any Slav deities that have been identified with Latin ones are almost sure to
be of the number of those that preside over the week. And whilst of the Slav
gods, Svatovit answers to Mars (Ziu), Radigast to Mercury (Wuotan), Perun to
Jupiter (Donar), Lada (golden dame, zolotababa, in Hanusch 241, 35b ) to Venus
the names of the planets are construed
(Fria), and perhaps Sitivrat to Saturn ;
quite otherwise, Mars by Smrto-nos (letifer), Mercury by Dobro-pan (good lord,
or rather bonorum dator), Jupiter by Krale-moc (rex potens), Venus by Ctitel
(cupitor ] venerandus ?), Saturn by Hlado-let (famelicus, or annonae caritatem
afterens). Respecting Sitivrat I give details at the end of ch. XII.