A nicely argued piece, thank you. Quite a few holdouts insist that place name evidence such as Austerfield near Doncaster (notable as the probable site of a major church synod in 702 or 703 convened by King Aldfrith of Northumbria) and Good Easter and High Easter in Essex all point to places where pre-Christian festivals might have been held for the mythical eponymous fertility goddess but a quick check in the Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-names suggests that these names are derived from eowestre, the Old English word for a sheepfold with the modern English word “ewe” as its root.
Interesting too that only modern English and German have eostre derived words for Easter whereas European languages derived from Old Frankish (Dutch, Flemish, Frisian and Afrikaans) and from Old Norse (Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, Icelandic) all have Easter names derived via Latin paschalis from the Aramaic word for the Passover.
I think you might be being a bit tough on poor old Jacob Grimm. Apart from being a nationalistic spinner of fairy stories, he is also regarded as a polymath, being the academic founder of comparative philology in German and he was also influential in the development of the history of law.
Anyway enough of this frivolity. I’m off to eat my own weight in chocolate eggs.
Another sure-footed and forensic exploration of history. Florence doesn't stop with the Google search result but digs deep into the records, tracking story roots down to the source. A perfect antidote to the superficial 3-minute culture of TikTok.
As Florence says, "Only through carefully surveying the evidence can we do true justice to the lost cultural practices of the past".
Thank you for this. As a witch, I have can appreciate that which is symbolically true. As Starhawk once said, "We belong to the oldest tradition there is, the tradition of making stuff up." But as a scholar—and an unreformed pedant—it irritates me when myth is presented as fact.
Perhaps the simplest way for neo pagans to celebrate seasonal festivals, is to ponder what is occurring in nature and somehow attune with that energy. Associating festivals with named gods and goddesses has always felt awkward for me, your podcast eloquantly explains why! Thank you.
Love this post and totally agree. It’s interesting that this notion has taken hold and is now an accepted ‘fact’ by so many, now ending up as cute little infographics on Instagram and TikTok about Eostre!
I love the idea of creating our own spring celebrations in the modern day, but am glad to see someone else talking about this as it’s important not to spread misinformation. I made a video on YouTube about Ostara recently and mentioned this very thing as I hadn’t seen many others mention it (I also just relish any opportunity to talk about Bede!)
Be mindful of your pronunciation. “Paschal” is pronounced as /paskəl/, not /paʃəl/ as you have it. There is a clear distinction between German ”-sch-” (/ʃ/) and Latin-derived “-sch-” (/sχ/) (probably ultimately from Greek).
Interesting. I have heard both 'pask(ə)l' and 'pæʃ(ə)l' and use them interchangeably. The OED has them both as accepted pronunciations, but the latter as a US-specific pronunciation!
Out of curiosity did you find any evidence as to why Easter is called Easter (if we believe it to be a Christian festival)? Or what motivation does Bede have to invent this name? I'm indifferent either way to be honest, but I recently did some research and wrote something myself about pagan festivals and goddesses in this time of the year: https://medium.com/@thorntonandy/%C4%93ostre-939d8bc15772
Urban myth?! I’ve got my mind set on something of a send up of other supposed go-tos in the folklore cannon - setting myself via a nice little invitation to ‘rewrite Anglo-Saxon history’. Some coincidences are a little too cozy!
I will ask you again to please provide reference to any linguistic, etymological or historical evidence of a link between Ishtar/Astarte/Ashtoreth and Eostre.
A nicely argued piece, thank you. Quite a few holdouts insist that place name evidence such as Austerfield near Doncaster (notable as the probable site of a major church synod in 702 or 703 convened by King Aldfrith of Northumbria) and Good Easter and High Easter in Essex all point to places where pre-Christian festivals might have been held for the mythical eponymous fertility goddess but a quick check in the Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-names suggests that these names are derived from eowestre, the Old English word for a sheepfold with the modern English word “ewe” as its root.
Interesting too that only modern English and German have eostre derived words for Easter whereas European languages derived from Old Frankish (Dutch, Flemish, Frisian and Afrikaans) and from Old Norse (Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, Icelandic) all have Easter names derived via Latin paschalis from the Aramaic word for the Passover.
I think you might be being a bit tough on poor old Jacob Grimm. Apart from being a nationalistic spinner of fairy stories, he is also regarded as a polymath, being the academic founder of comparative philology in German and he was also influential in the development of the history of law.
Anyway enough of this frivolity. I’m off to eat my own weight in chocolate eggs.
Another sure-footed and forensic exploration of history. Florence doesn't stop with the Google search result but digs deep into the records, tracking story roots down to the source. A perfect antidote to the superficial 3-minute culture of TikTok.
As Florence says, "Only through carefully surveying the evidence can we do true justice to the lost cultural practices of the past".
Thank you for this. As a witch, I have can appreciate that which is symbolically true. As Starhawk once said, "We belong to the oldest tradition there is, the tradition of making stuff up." But as a scholar—and an unreformed pedant—it irritates me when myth is presented as fact.
Perhaps the simplest way for neo pagans to celebrate seasonal festivals, is to ponder what is occurring in nature and somehow attune with that energy. Associating festivals with named gods and goddesses has always felt awkward for me, your podcast eloquantly explains why! Thank you.
Love this post and totally agree. It’s interesting that this notion has taken hold and is now an accepted ‘fact’ by so many, now ending up as cute little infographics on Instagram and TikTok about Eostre!
I love the idea of creating our own spring celebrations in the modern day, but am glad to see someone else talking about this as it’s important not to spread misinformation. I made a video on YouTube about Ostara recently and mentioned this very thing as I hadn’t seen many others mention it (I also just relish any opportunity to talk about Bede!)
Thanks Florence, I enjoyed this. Fascinating to see the layers of several centuries of retrofitting of histories and traditions so skilfully unpicked.
Be mindful of your pronunciation. “Paschal” is pronounced as /paskəl/, not /paʃəl/ as you have it. There is a clear distinction between German ”-sch-” (/ʃ/) and Latin-derived “-sch-” (/sχ/) (probably ultimately from Greek).
Interesting. I have heard both 'pask(ə)l' and 'pæʃ(ə)l' and use them interchangeably. The OED has them both as accepted pronunciations, but the latter as a US-specific pronunciation!
Wow, this is fascinating! I’m impressed by how clearly and gracefully you untangled these (pseudo)historical knots.
Out of curiosity did you find any evidence as to why Easter is called Easter (if we believe it to be a Christian festival)? Or what motivation does Bede have to invent this name? I'm indifferent either way to be honest, but I recently did some research and wrote something myself about pagan festivals and goddesses in this time of the year: https://medium.com/@thorntonandy/%C4%93ostre-939d8bc15772
Similar motivations as now - publishing is an industry.
Unfortunately that still doesn't explain why Easter is called Easter. Pre- or post-Christianisation.
Sorry that was a bit of a tangent. I’ve been mid house move. Should try to find out! It’s the etymology you’re interested in right?!
I knew it was the Romantics! Even when it was the Old English I knew it was the Romantics.
Urban myth?! I’ve got my mind set on something of a send up of other supposed go-tos in the folklore cannon - setting myself via a nice little invitation to ‘rewrite Anglo-Saxon history’. Some coincidences are a little too cozy!
Complete fabrication probably!
https://open.substack.com/pub/gregorypettys/p/he-is-risen?r=f1gey&utm_medium=ios
Please read the piece more carefully - “There is no definitive reason to disbelieve Bede about the pre-Christian worship of a goddess Eostre”
As for the linguistic and etymological evidence, please provide citations. I have consulted
historical linguists on this matter and have not found any who support your claims.
I will ask you again to please provide reference to any linguistic, etymological or historical evidence of a link between Ishtar/Astarte/Ashtoreth and Eostre.
Is it not possible that Bede had simply been misinformed about the cult of Eostre rather than fabricating the link deliberately?