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Granville as it was by Minnie Hite MoodyFairest or foulestFor some lime I have been witching Fridays, testing out some of the folklore and weather signs that must be centuries old. Take, for instance, that oldie: If the sun sets rW*ir on FrtrFiv nic*ht it will mmV IVtV Ull I I IVU1 * II **111 I till Ibefore Monday morning. And it will, for a fact! It has happened several times lately. Keep a weathereye out, and keep records. You can prose this for yourself. A typical example gives us a Fnday as prettythe sun sets clear. The next day, Saturday, also is lovely, and I begin telling myself that what I was paying heed to was plain superstition Then by evening, there came the rumble of thunder! And the first thing I knew, I was hurrying to put windows down and get the more delicate cats under shelter. Especially Clawdia, a nice cat now dead and gone, but at that time a nursing mother.Another weather saying to keep track of, if you arc inclined to keep track, is: “Friday is always the fairest or foulest.” You will be ama/ed at the accuracy of thatMf a whole rainy week passes without a glimpse of the sun, Friday will be the day it peeps through the clouds. If the sun beats down all week, and you water your garden in despair Thursday evening. Friday brings the long-hoped-for showers.Friday, th^ sixth day of the week, was named by the Anglo-Saxons inhonor of the goddess Freya. who corresponds in Teutonic mythology. to the Roman Venus, or goddess of love. Among the Turks. Arabs, and other Mohammedans. Friday is the Sabbath, or day of rest It was rc-uckiest dav of thering on Fnday. caused it to be considered as a day of misfortune. I know people who won’t start a journey. or even a special job of work on Friday—I have known women who wouldn't cut out a new dress on Friday. Although Freya was the goddess of love, she herself was deserted by her husband. and in Matthew Arnold’s poem is described as searching the world over for him. at the same time weeping tears of gold. Incidentally, her husband is said to have left her because she cared more for finery than she did for him.Her husband was Otto, and one myth tells us that Freya flics through the air in a chariot drawn by two cats. I believe that now because I once saw a young tomcat of ours. Socks, sail through the air for close to 100 feet in pursuit of a red squirrel—though he didn’t catch him.Freya's brother was Frey, god of peace, prosperity, and mamagc. He also controlled fertility and was the dispenser of rain, which is how we hark back to mythology when we say that Friday is always thefairest or the foulest. Frey’s magic horse was named Blodighofi, which means Bloody Hoof. Frey also owned a magic ship. Skithhathmr. which could he folded up like a tent.Frey and Freya, brother and sister, son and daughter of Niord, the god of winds, navigation, and fortune, came in for confusion in Norse and German mythology. Most of the legends about Freya relate to the efforts of giants to carry her off; in one story. Thor, dressed as a veiled bnde. impersonates Freya in order to recover his hammer from the gum. Thrym. So it isn’t much wonder. Friday being named for Freya, that all kinds of folklore and superstition are attached to the day.In Mohammedan tradition. Friday. as I have said, is the Moslem Sabbath- the day on which Adam was created, entered Paradise and was expelled; n was also the day of his repentance, the day of his death, and will be the Day of Resurrection. Reluming to Frey, god of rain and sunshine, and the fruitfulness of the eanh. one lovely legend about him tells of his wooing of Gcrd. who lives in Jotunheim, home of the Frost Giants. This story may be interpreted as symbolic, as it personalizes the air. sun and seed, sunlight and ram, with Jotunheim, the cold earth from which the seed must be brought into light. No wonder the weather is inextricably tangled with Friday.*
Newspaper Details
Granville Sentinel
Granville, Ohio, US
Thu, Dec 06, 1990
Page 11
Full Page
Clipped by
Janet P.
NA, 06 Feb 2017
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