Ǣrra-Līða

Ǣrra Līða ([æːrrɑ liːθɑ] "first ‘liða’") was the Anglo-Saxon name for the month of June.[1]

Līða

There are many theories as to what “liða” refers. Neopagans use the word to refer to Midsummer; however, the Anglo-Saxon scholar Bede mentions in his treatise De temporum ratione that “‘liða’ means ‘calm’, or ‘navigable’ in both the month and the serenity of the breezes, and the waters are usually navigable.”[2] The fact that the Old English word for “to sail” is “līðan”[3] would seem to support Bede's statement.

Bede also mentioned the sailing aspect of ‘liða’ in a second text, writing:

“[…] se mōnaþ is nemned on lǣden Iunius, and on ūre geþeōde se Ǣrra Līða, for ðon seō lyft biþ ðonne smylte and ða windas. Ond monnum biþ ðonne gewunelīc ðæt hī līðaþ ðonne on sǣs bryme.”[4]

[…] the month is called Iunius in Latin and in our language, Ǣrra Liða, for the sky is quiet and so too the winds. And it is usual to sail upon the sea.

Æftera Līða

The next month in the Anglo-Saxon calendar was Æftera Līða, (modern English: second ‘liða’), which corresponds to the modern July.[5]

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See also

References
  1. Cockayne, Thomas. "The shrine: a collection of occasional papers on dry subjects" p.87
  2. Chapter XV, De mensibus Anglorum. “Lida dicitur blandus, sive navigabilis, quod in utroque mense et blanda sit serenitas aurarum, et navigari soleant aequora.”
  3. Bosworth, Joseph. "An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary Online." Líðan. Ed. Thomas Northcote Toller and Others. Comp. Sean Christ and Ondřej Tichý. Faculty of Arts, Charles University in Prague, 19 July 2010. Web. 20 Sept. 2014. <http://bosworth.ff.cuni.cz/021764>.
  4. Cockayne, Thomas. "The shrine: a collection of occasional papers on dry subjects" p.87
  5. Bosworth, Joseph. "An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary Online." Líða. March 21, 2010. Accessed September 20, 2014. http://bosworth.ff.cuni.cz/021762.
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