Bede was born in the late 7th century, about 200 years after the pagan Anglo-Saxons invaded Britain. The conversion to Christianity was under way during his lifetime but far from complete. He would have known a LOT about Anglo-Saxon religion, which had been dominant during his parents' lifetime and was still something he had to be ready to refute.
@@DerekDerekDerekDerekDerekDerek When the Germanic tribes migrated to Britain, it was not empty. It was inhabited by Celts whose ncestors had lived for centuries under Roman rule. They even wrote to Rome asking for help defending against the newcomers. The newcomers did not come in flourishing sacks of money to buy the land; they came in flourishing the seax (short sword) and conquerors. Both my grandmothers were English. The Anglo-Saxons were invaders.
Easter derives from Ēostra; the Anglo-Saxon name variation of the West Germanic goddess of dawn (definitely *not* fertility, and likely not Spring either). Indeed, an entire month was named after her; April. In Anglo-Saxon (Old English) it was called Ēosturmônað - Ēostra-month). The etymology of her name comes from the Indo-European root word *hewsôs, meaning “to shine, glow red” - a reference to dawn. In Proto-Germanic, the name has been reconstructed as *Austrô(n). To the early Germans, she was Ostara, from which modern German gets “Oster” for Easter. Ēostra’s name has also given us the name of the cardinal direction “East”, many placenames in England, and even a few female first names (none of which I believe are used anymore). Some will claim that because Ēostra’s name only appears in one written source; a text from the works of the Venerable Bede, that he invented her, and this Germanic deity never existed. The place and personal names based on her name in the areas she was worshiped however, completely contradict this claim. Bede was born during the early stages of the Christianization of England, when the names of the Anglo-Saxon gods and goddesses would have been common knowledge, and still worshiped in many places. The highly respected father of English history would have been unlikely to invent a goddess of that name. He would have been "called out" on it had he done so. Furthermore, a number of English place names of Saxon origin, such as Eastry in Kent, Eastrea in Cambridgeshire and Eastrington in East Yorkshire, are derived from Ēostra. In addition, the Brothers Grimm, more famous for their collecting of fairy tales, also conducted important work in the burgeoning field of Folklore. The brothers surveyed the local people all around Germany and in neighboring German speaking regions. Through his study of oral history, they discovered that the goddess Ostara was to be found in nearly *all* German speaking areas. The folklore recorded by the Grimms demonstrated that people miles and miles apart retained shared cultural memories of the same goddess. If Bede invented her in England, then how did illiterate peasants in Germany know of her over one thousand years later? Either she was genuinely worshiped, or Bede had an excellent PR team!
I like the idea of Eostre, but The Venerable fellow is far from a reliable source. The idea of a spring goddess being also connected with the dawn does make sense, but that's not quite enough to convince me.
The "Venerable" Bede is a highly reliable source, writing within one generation of the fall of the last pagan kingdom in Britain (the Isle of Wight), while I don't know his sources for Eostre, I regard Bede as by far our best source on early medieval religion and culture. A copy of his Ecclesiastical History of the English People (finished around 731) is well worth reading. He is buried in Durham Cathedral, near the shrine of St Cuthbert.
Isnt it actually in reference to ishtar? The godess of fertility? The date of the fertility festival and easter are even the same 👀 we have eggs on easter and baby chicks and animals as a leftover from that... we make straw hats and decorate them exactly like the fertility festivals of old because its the time of harvest and rebirth... i think maybe go look into that 😂
No, it most definitely isn’t a reference to Ishtar. The name of the festival in all cultures that might have had a chance of coming in contact with worship of Ishtar is a variant on Greek Pascha. And there’s no connection at all between any of the modern rituals around Easter and Mesopotamian rites. This article has a very detailed discussion of this false etymology: talesoftimesforgotten.com/2020/04/06/no-easter-is-not-named-after-ishtar/
What did the Anglo-Saxons know about Ishtar? Nothing! We have eggs on Easter because of Lent. You couldn't eat animal food during Lent, but towards the end of Lent you *could* boil eggs and then feast on them when Lent was over. HARD-BOILED eggs are about the worst fertility symbol I can imagine! Baby chicks and bunnies are very recent. The ancient Babylonian festival nearest in date to Easter would be Akitu, which was Akkadian New Year, which is not on the same date, not a fertility festival, and not dedicated to Ishtar.
@@Alliterative you can have cultural influence by proxy 👀 a lot of British culture is now mistaken as American, because people don't always get their cultural influence directly. The scientific American and other publications clearly outline the link and where it came from.
@@Alliterative Also, Easter is a christian holiday, Christianity comes from the middle east and spread out in all directions. What was previously Mesopotamia is not that far away 👀 and folk tales and traditions hold on there to this day in secret. Nowruz, for example.
@@richardokeefe7410 they had no idea who ishtar was because they had long separated from the name... ishtar is a mesopotamian godess. Names become words and words evolve. That's how it works. All of those traditions picked you mentioned fall on the exact days of "pagan" holidays. Wreaths? Pagan in origin. Christmas trees? Same... sugar apples? Same... date? Winter solstice. 🤷♂️ Christianity, whether you like it or not, was influenced by ancient zoroastrians. And the new year was celebrated on the solstice, which was saturnalia for the romans and pagans wirshipped "Brigid" the goddess of fire, poetry, and healing. She presides over the transition from winter to spring, signifying the return of light, warmth, and life. That is now "Christmas". 👀👍 EASTER and the fertility festival were on the same date, the Christians brought the word, which harkens back to... you guessed it... ishtar.
