The funny thing is, the modern calendar was created in the Christian era. So why the Norse names? Note how in French (and other Romance languages), the days follow the same scheme including the names of Gods: Lundi (Moonday), Mardi (Marsday), Mercredi (Mercuryday), Jeudi (Joveday), Vendredi (Venusday), Samedi (Saturnday), Dimanche (Lord's Day). The Romans considered the Gods of other cultures aspects of their own Gods, usually with direct correlation. Mars and Tyr are both war gods, the Romans equated Odin with Mercury as a God of wisdom and mysteries, Thor and "Jove" are the storm Gods, and Frigg and Venus are each goddesses of love or fertility. After the fall of the Roman Empire, emulating its glory days was a handy way to impart a feeling of stability and continuity. I guess they felt there wasn't a native equivalent to Saturn, and I'm a little disappointed we don't have a Loki day, but I guess that's a flimsy association. Sunday is another weird exception, in the series of weird exceptions that make up the English language. Spanish and French both have a word that means "the Lord's Day" (Domingo/Dimanche), but English goes with the sun. That's probably because of the ambiguous meaning of the word "Sun," which sounds a lot like "Son." The play on words was so irrestistable, they had to make the Lord's Day a nickname that's not quite so common anymore.

Easter's name comes from a pagan Goddess associated with a Spring festival (Ostara), but the holiday is borrowed and altered from another tradition. Let's look at French to find out where. The French word for Easter is "Pâcques," which comes from the word "Pesach," or Passover. The Last Supper was a Passover Seder, and Passover is also a Springtime rebirth-themed festival -- note the egg on the plate. Oh, and the French term for Passover is "Pâcques Juif." Jewish Passover. Ouch.