Part 1: Allhallowmas: Saints, Feasts, and Holidays

With Halloween now behind us, on this All Saints’ Day I thought it good to give a history and etymology of this vastly celebrated day.

So where does Halloween come from? The answer to that is found in the day that comes after the celebrated day: All Saints’ Day. This day was originally named ealra halgena maesse in Old English, a name which was shortened to alhalwmesse in Middle English; these both mean “the mass of all saints”. It was then changed later to Allhallowmas and was further shortened between 1375-1425 to Hallowmas, or the Feast of Allhallows, then to Hallow-day in the 1590’s, which is All Saints’ Day.

Now there is an entire season called Hallowtide. We just discussed the second day, but there is also a first and third day in a season of religious observance called a Triduum. Actually, there was for a time eight days of Hallowtide were observed, but now only a few select groups still observe all eight days. Most only recognize the three. Hollowtide comes from Allhallowtide, a word first used in the last 1400’s. It comes from the Old English halig, the OE for “saint”, and tide, which meant “time”. Lastly, when it is called Hallowmas, the mas comes from Mass, which is the service that the Eucharist is served. This word comes from Vulgar Latin messa, meaning “dimissal”. Messa is derived from the Latin missa which is a form of mittere, “to let go, to send”. At the end of a Latin Mass, the words “Ite, missa est” or “Go, it (the prayer) is sent” are said.

Allhallowmas, then, is the second day of Hallowtide. The first day is Allhallow-even. This day is known better as Halloween, a name which comes from the Scottish pronunciation of Allhallow-even, which is the last night of October. It has been called Allhallow-even or Hallow e’en since the 1780’s when Robert Burns wrote his poem “Halloween”. Hallow or Hallows comes from Old English haligra, which was a holy person or saint. While the word is no longer used, its forms can be seen in Halloween and hallowed. Now even comes from the same word, the Old English aefen,  but had various meanings. The first is as an adjective, “level, equal, harmonious” etc. The second is as a verb, “to make even, level; liken”. The last is as a noun and that is how it is used in Halloween. Eve was the word to designate the “evening” or the time “between sunset and darkness”. It also gained the meaning of a “day before a saint’s day or festival” during the late 1200’s. And this is how it is used in Allhallow-even. Halloween was a shortening of even, though words like evening kept the same spelling. Thus, Halloween is the Eve of Feast of All Saints’.

The last day of the Triduum is All Souls’ Day. This day, in Roman Catholicism and its various off-branches, celebrate this day by praying for their dead who are in purgatory. Souls’ day is for all the believers who have died in Christ. For most Protestants, this day is a continuation of All Saints’ day as most Protestants believe in the sainthood of all believers. The difference between the two – Lutherans and Catholics – is that Lutherans visit the graves but do not pray to or for the dead whereas Catholics do, a practice that comes from the idea of Purgatory and praying to the Saints.

As a side note, the word holiday actually has religious origins as well. The word was first known in Old English as haligdaeg, which then became haliday in Middle English before finally being written as holiday in the 1500’s. It literally meant “holy day” and was originally used in reference to the Sabbath, then towards a religious festival or feast, and also as a “day of exemption from labor and recreation”, though the word encompasses a must broader meaning today. 

But why do these days fall on the days from the eve of October 31 to the eve of November 2? There are various theories. Some claim that this is because of the “days of the dead” which are celebrated in various cultures often occur at or near the end of October. Yet not all of these celebrations fall on these few days. Even now, in Christian denominations, the remembrance for the dead is not necessarily done on these days, such as with Totensonntag, which is the Sunday before Advent, practiced by Lutherans in Europe. There is also the Thursday of the Dead celebrated by Christians and Muslims in the Middle East around the time of Easter. The French have their jour des morts and one of the more famous celebrations in Mexico is El dia de los Muertos, or the Day of the Dead. But festivals for the dead are and have been held by many cultures all through the years, from the Egyptians to the Japanese; from India to Rome; from the Pacific Islands, the people of the Americas, to the Celts of Europe and so many more. And for the most part, they revolve around this season with or without the Christian religious influence.

Regarding Christians, we have celebrated or remembered the deaths of the martyrs and other Christians who have since passed possibly since the time of John the Baptist or the stoning of Stephen. After all, there is an entire book called Foxes Book of Martyrs in order to remember some of them. While the veneration of saints is widely practiced among Catholics, Protestants general consider it near to the heresy of idolatry. This is not to say that dead in Christ are not remembered or even celebrated for their faith, but they are not venerated or prayed to or for. Yet perhaps the first time a day or place was begun as that which should commemorate the saints was during the time of Pope Boniface IV who rededicated the Pantheon to Mary and the Martyrs. This is considered by some to be the start of All Saints’ Day, in May of 609 AD. This is right around the time of the fear of Lemuria in Roman religion where they exorcised evil spirits from homes.

November 1, however, was decided when Pope Gregory III in the mid-700’s dedicated a day for Saints and relics. He did this in opposition to iconoclasm and became the day in Rome. Following him, the November 1 became the semi-official date to celebrate the Feast of all Saints. Bede records it in the 8th century in England, others in Austria in the 9th century. It was not actually until Pope Gregory IV and king Louis the Pious, when promoted the feast of All Saints’ in the 9th century, that November 1 became the official date for the All Saints’ day feast. Then in the following century, Odilo of Cluny further popularized the celebration November 1.

Before this, though, the churches in Ireland “celebrated the feast of All Saints” on April 20. This puts a strain on the theory that All Saints’ day was chosen on the morrow of Samhain in Celtic culture. Samhain marks the end of summer in the Celtic calendar, which goes from the eve of October 31 to the eve of November 1 in the Gregorian calendar. In fact, the word meant “summer’s end” and was possible the name of a Celtic god. Like with other festivals that occur in Autumn, Samhain marked the “beginning” of the darker half of the year and ended when the lighter half, around spring and summer, began. It is because of the pagan celebration that is conjectured to have occurred on this date that Halloween has its even connotations, even to this day, for many dress up as spirits and otherwise in a calling back to this event.

Still, the designation of November 1 as All Saints’ Days was established in a different country likely without any pagan influence. After all, there were saints days from April, May, December, and other months of the year all across the globe before, during, and after it was established in Celtic culture and the Christian liturgical year.

Of course, most Protestants do not always refer to the Eve of the Saints’ Feast as Halloween but rather as Reformation day. For on the 31st of October, Martin Luther, for whom Lutheranism is named, nailed his 95 theses on the door of the Wittenburg Church for a call to debate the Roman Catholic Church on a number of grievances, which included indulgences and prayers to saints. Thus, we celebrate this day as a day when Luther attempted to reform the Church. This day has been celebrate seemingly since shortly after the event happened, though the larger celebrations occurred long after Luther’s time. Indeed, this year mark the 500th anniversary of the event, an event which has been celebrate numerous times by Lutherans all over the world this year.

Sadly, this led to a breakaway rather than an actual reformation, or restoration, of the Church. Yet this is the history of these days and celebrations along with their various etymologies. Most celebrations, wether for good reasons or otherwise, revolve around remember those who have passed. And while some may have evil or wrong motives for remembering the dead, perhaps we should do more to remember those who have gone before us that we may learn from what they did wrong and right and strive to further walk “in His steps” as He has called us to do.

Blessings to you and yours this day and always,

~Rose

—

P.S.

There is a second part that will follow containing the poem by Robert Burns and the works referenced for this post. I know Church history, but not all of it by heart!

~Rose

Comedy – We Laugh, We Cry, We Unify

Although I enjoy a large range of writings, mostly falling under the romantic section, I particularly love to laugh. Laughing is good for one’s health, and gaining a few laugh lines is nothing to be ashamed about. One of my favourite, if not my absolute favourite, Shakespeare plays is Much Ado About Nothing. It is fantastic. The wit, the quips, the heartbreak, the marriages are all wonderful, but that is a digression for another day. The point is, this is a comedy.

When most people think of comedies, they think of something that will make them laugh. And in truth, that is what modern comedies do. I watched Good Morning, Vietnam the other day with my boyfriend. We were laugh through most of it as Robin Williams is a comedian if there ever was one. but this is a modern comedy. It is a comedy filled with jokes, quips,perhaps a hint of sadness (I mean, Vietnam was horrific. It’s no wonder they wanted something to make them smile). But in short, modern-day comedies are funny. That is all they are. There is no real plot line, and by that I mean there is no underlining story that brings the reader or watcher to a specific point. It is a story, but there is no fundamental conclusion.

This is not what a comedy has always meant. Sure, it could be funny and typically had comical points in it. But a comedy was, as the point, a unifying script.

The word comedy comes from the Greek in the form of two words: komos and aoios. The first means  “merry-making, festival, revel, or carousal”, the second is a singer or a poet. The later comes from the word aeidein which means “to sing”. This should reveal what a comedy first started as, which was poetry. Now these two words together formed komodios meaning “singer in the revels”, which then came komoidia, “an amusing spectacle”. With the emerging Roman rule, Latin borrowed words from Greek and thus comoedia was formed. Then in the late 1300’s in the Old French language, comedic was born and gave meaning to “a poem”, though not yet in the sense of theatre.

The theatrical use of the word did not come about until later in the Middle Ages, thus gaining the definition of an “amusing play or performance”.  As time went on, this came to mean poetry and stories, but always ones with happy endings. The English use of the word began with the definition of being a “narrative poem”, but by the end of the 1800’s gained a common definition of a “quality of being amusing”. However, a comedy in relation to classical literature gained for itself another meaning, and that is one of unification.

The most famous work of literature, I would say, that uses this unifying structure of comedy is Date’s The Divine Comedy. In this extended narrative poem, Date creates an allegory of a person’s walk towards God. But more to the point, it is a person’s soul starting at a point of separation from God and ending with the joining of God. This is what happens in comedies. Things separate come together; sadness turns to happiness; two become one; disorder comes to order; disharmony becomes unity. Now, there are some comedic elements to this comedy. Most, however, if not all, are grotesque. But that is another point to show that not all comedies are to be hilariously funny. Sometimes, they begin rather sad but lead to a joyful conclusion. That is what Dante’s Comedy does. It begins with mans separation from God in the Inferno, and by the Paradiso, man is united with God. Now, I do not necessarily agree with everything found in this piece of literature. The poetry is wonderful and the imagery beautiful, but he theology is a little off. Still, as far as a unifying comedy goes, everything down to the number of syllables embodies this definition of unity in Dante’s Comedy. It fulfills every part of the definition of a comedy. It makes us laugh, it is a narrative poem, and its conclusion is a unifying one.

Thus a comedy can take on many forms. A true comedy in literature may be funny, but the main goal is to unify. That sense of the word has since changed. By the time Shakespeare got around, he used the best of both worlds and wrote literature that was both funny and unifying, as is found in the play mentioned above. Today, we usually find comedy just for laughs. And that is good. We can laugh through comedies, and some may bring us to tears. But in the end, if we’re laughing together, at least we are unified in that laughter.

~Rose

As with anything I discuss concerning etymology, these words and snippets of definitions came from the Oxford English dictionary. However, all is my own work.

Sunbeams: More than what Meets the Eye

Once again, I have stumbled across and interesting word that I think is worth sharing with people. Today? It is the word sunbeam. And after you have said and read it as many times as I have, it will not sound much like a word anymore. But bear with me, I promise it has a fascinating etymology.

Sunbeam is an interesting word because it comes from the joining of two words, each of which can be both a noun and a verb, though the word itself is a noun. The first is sun. The original root comes from the Latin sol meaning “sun”; a derivative of this is saewel meaning both “to shine” and “sun”. The Old Irish was fur-sunnud to mean “lighting up”; the German and Gothic respectively was sonne and sunno, Middle Dutch ‘sonne’, Old High German and Old Saxon sunna, and the Old English sunne, all of which meant “sun”. You may think this all sounds redundant, but I think it is important to understand the relationship English has with it continental relations.  In the Old English, sunne was a feminine form and remained as such until the 1500’s when the masculine form replaced it. However, during this time the word also gained a verbal use. A person could sun something by putting it is the sun to dry, or to warm something or someone up.

Beam is the second part of the word. Coming from the Proto Germanic word baumaz, which came from the Old Norse baðmr’ Old Frisian bam, and Old High German baum all of which meant “tree, beam, or gallows”. In the 10^th century it was a rafter of a house, a post, or a ship’s wood. The Old English word however meant a “living tree”. As of the 1200’s, a beam was the widest part of the ship, and such a term could be used to refer to a wide-hipped person. However, it is assumed that the definition of “ray of light” came from a biblical use of a “pillar, or beam of fire” used in the Old Testament. By the 1400’s, a beam could be something that “emitted rays of light”. Yet a beam could also mean a bright smile.

‘Sunne’ and ‘beam’ did eventually come together and come to mean a “ray of light”. The spelling of the word ‘sunnebeme” or ‘sunnebeam’ remained until the 1400’s. Up until the 1800’s, sunbeam was spelled sunnebeam, as it kept the second n and the e. In the late 1800’s, a sunnebeam could also be used to describe a very cheerful person. Yet the word has not outworn its use, as in some areas a sunbeam is a word used to describe “a radiant coloured humming-bird” as well as other birds of the nectariniidae family.

I must be honest, when I first looked up this word I did not expect it to have gone through such a journey to come to mean what it has today. The part about hummingbirds did surprise me, but it makes sense since they are bright little birds that reflect the sun’s light. I know this is just a short entry, but I hope you found my latest word(s) interesting. This is why I never stop digging up words: You never know what kind of interesting tidbits are left in the past unless you search them out.

Have a wonderful and hopefully sunny day,

~Rose

 

As with anything I discuss concerning etymology, these words came from the Oxford English dictionary, however, all is my own work.

The Norton Anthology of English Literature – 8th edition, Vol. 1

For any and all lovers of English and her great works, The Norton Anthology of English Literature is the book for you. I must say, I have never been so happy to come home and find a textbook waiting for me. Yes, this is required reading for college and yes, I am going to love it. How could I not? I have some of the greatest pieces of English literature all bound into one book and have it sitting in my hands!

The Anthology is a great collection of works dating from the 7th century, with works like Caedmon’s Hymn and Beowulf, to the 14th century with works by Chaucer and the Pearl Poet. It continues though the reformation and all the beautiful religious works, the writings about and by the royalty of England, and ending with works well into the Modern Period around the 1800’s. Truly, this is an impressive collection. I have only read so far ‘Sir Gawain and the Green Knight’, but over the course of the next few months, and presumably years, I will find more works to enjoy and write about.

In addition to the works of these famous writers, there are multiple introductions to the different periods of English history – both the language and the people. This begins with the Anglo-Saxons, to the Norman conquest, then on to the Medieval Period to the Renaissance, up through Shakespeare and into the Modern period. And for those, like myself, who are interested in a brief discourse on how to pronounce words in Middle English, there is a small section with that as well. With the works, bibliographies, two maps, a small dictionary, a list of the royal lines of the kings of England, and other interesting pieces of information, it makes for an impressive book.

If you are simply looking for something interesting to read, or perhaps just wish to have a reference to some of the greatest works English has to offer, consider this book. For honestly, can you ever really have too many books? I hope to write about my thoughts on some of these works soon, but until then, I hope you will find and enjoy the book!

~Rose