Ēostre is a goddess of spring Germanic Western. The name comes from Old English: Ēastre Northumbrian dialect Ēastro, Mercian dialect and West Saxon (Old English) dialect Ēostre; Old High German: *Ôstara; Old Saxon *Āsteron. Through the Germanic month bearing her name (Northumbrian: Ēosturmōnaþ; West Saxon: Ēastermōnaþ; Old High German: Ôstarmânoth), she is the namesake of the Easter festival in some languages.
Ēostre, the origin of Easter in the Germanic world
The festival is attested only by Bede in his 8th-century work The Reckoning of Time, where Bede states that during Ēosturmōnaþ (the equivalent of April), the pagan Anglo-Saxons had held festivals in honor of the goddess, but that this tradition had died out over time, replaced by the Christian Easter month, a celebration of the resurrection of Jesus.
Theories linking the goddess to records of Germanic Easter customs, including hares and eggs, have been proposed. Whether or not the goddess was an invention of Bede has been the subject of debate among some scholars, particularly before the discovery of the Austriahenae matrons and subsequent developments in Indo-European studies. Ēostre and Ostara are sometimes referenced in modern popular culture and are revered in some forms of Germanic neopaganism.
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On this day, the Germanic peoples (including Anglo-Saxons) worshiped the goddess Eostre (Ostara in old German). Easter in English is derived from the name of the goddess. It is assumed that the rabbit and egg customs come from ancient rites. #mythology #myth #legend #easter #eostre #ostara #calendar #March 21
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