#professor hutton

The Anglo-Saxon chronicler Bede gave us this simple explanation for the name of the festival. "Eostremonath has a name which is now called Paschal month, and which was once named after a goddess of theirs named Eostre, and in her honour feasts were held in that month. Now they name the Paschal season by her name, calling the joy of the new rite by the time-honoured name of the old rite." Nothing else is known about Eostre, although Jacob Grimm did speculate that the old German name Ostara was probably her cognate. He was trying to work backwards from traditions he saw in his time and it was only a theory, but it would be logical to assume a connection with Eostre in the lands the Anglo-Saxons originated from. Eggs and bunnies are not connected in any way to Eostre, these traditions come about much later on and within a Christian context. Eggs were prohibited during Lent so people would have had a glut of them to use at Easter, and I have no doubt lots of them were painted and blessed for the occasion. The Easter bunny was always a hare, never a rabbit, and hopped out of the mists of 17th century German Lutheran folklore. During the Medieval era it was also commonly believed that hares could impregnate themselves, leading to an association with Mary. So here's a medieval Easter bunny, a 14th century carving of a hare at, you guessed it, the Church of St Mary, at Elmley Castle in Worcestershire. Have a great Easter! ~ Hugh Williams On another note: "There is simply no evidence for this commonly repeated myth. It’s not factually true and is simply speculation by one monk in 725. There is no evidence that he was correct about this. There are no references or images of Eostre anywhere else or in anything else at all. He also documents Woden and Thor, but they are verified as deities that were worshiped, but not so with Eostre. In fact it appears to be far more probable that the name of the lunar month Eosturmonath is actually a reference to “the month of opening” for the rather obvious reason that it is springtime. When it comes to this goddess, we have no images, no carvings and no legends, just this single reference by Bede that appears to be speculation, and so that is why most folklorists will dismiss the assertion that Easter is named after the goddess Eostre as a myth. Ronald Hutton, expert in pre-Christian religion, argues that: "It is equally valid, however, to suggest that the Anglo-Saxon ‘Estor-monath’ simply meant ‘the month of opening’ or ‘the month of beginnings’, and that Bede mistakenly connected it with a goddess who either never existed at all, or was never associated with a particular season but merely, like Eos and Aurora, with the dawn itself.’3" Hard to find a better source than Prof Hutton." ~ Matt Lewis