What is the origin of the term "Easter"?

[jjimm]

@DrDeth

This is exactly 100% of all we know about “Eostre”= "“Eosturmonath has a name which is now translated “Paschal month”, and which was once called after a goddess of theirs named Eostre, in whose honour feasts were celebrated in that month. Now they designate that Paschal season by her name, calling the joys of the new rite by the time-honoured name of the old observance.” No bunnies, no eggs, nothing. Just a word. And, most historians and etymologists have pretty serious doubts about the Bede’s work here.

An outlandish, second-hand story, recounted third-hand after the fact, with no archaelogical or historical evidence to back it up? Clearly it must be dismissed.

[Larry_Mudd]

@JohnGalt

That is, the sun as at “East” or “Easter” on this day (just don’t ask if there’s an Easter in the fall).

Yes, this is a simple explanation.

Just like the slang “buck” for “dollar” comes from “bread” by way of “dough.” (“Doe.”)

[rocking_chair]

it was tiberius.
http://www.jerusalem-mission.org/convent_magdalene.html

having seen the ikons in this monastery, i can say the one with the emp. and mary mag. is quite amazing.

[tomndebb]

@rocking chair

it was tiberius.
http://www.jerusalem-mission.org/convent_magdalene.html

having seen the ikons in this monastery, i can say the one with the emp. and mary mag. is quite amazing.

However, the actual question was when did the legend first appear? From the linked site:

The large canvas above the iconostasis shows Mary Magdalene before the Roman Emperor Tiberius. In her hand she holds a red egg which she presents to the Emperor, symbolizing the resurrection and eternal life. She tells Tiberius about the unjust judgment and death on the cross of Jesus Christ. It is known that after re-examining this unlawful trial Pilate, at that time governor of Jerusalem, was deposed and sent into exile.

There is no such story of Mary Magdalen and Tiberius in early Christian literature. The story that Pilate was sanctioned for the crucifixion of Jesus is a later legend that has no early references to support it. So, while we have a pleasant legend about the origin of painted eggs, we still do not have a date indicating when the tradition (other than the pysanky* tradition linked, above) or the story began.

• I have some doubts regarding the pysanky tradition, for that matter. The linked site speaks of a tradition that it “thousands of years” old. However, there is no reference to painted eggshells (or pottery or other painted objects depicting painted eggshells) that is anywhere near “thousands” of years old. In addition, the practice of writing among the various Slavic peoples is traditionally dated to the missionary work of Sts. Cyril and Methodius (although it is probable that Cyril did not, himself, actually develop the alphabet that bears his name) in the tenth century, yet the site claims that the word pysanky means “to write.” I do not claim any absolute debunking of any story; I merely point out that the stories we are getting have a few odd gaps.

[rocking_chair]

found this http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/rus_cultures_cuisines/106598

should you go by the time in the above site, that would be +or - 988 when the area under vladimir was decreed to be christian.

the greeks certainly would have done it before that, as well as christians in the middle east. the impression one gets from various articles and blogs etc. is that it “snowballed” as the emp./mary story got around christendom. eggs were given as personal gifts and then churchs as a whole would give them out on pascha.

[JohnGalt]

If you read beyond the first few links from Google, you get a little more balanced view of the origins of the word Easter. See for example Easter | Origin, History, Name, Facts, & Dates | Britannica
where they call Bede’s Eostre pagan theory as dubious, and support the concept that it refers variations of the word dawn (as in the east).

[Nava]

@tomndebb

So, does anyone have a reference to French or Danish or British children receiving small fluffy critters prior to the nineteenth century, (and when?) Does anyone have a direct reference to eggs at easter in Germany or Spain in the early Renaissance?

The only huevos de pascua in Spain are of two varieties:

1. references in foreign movies.
2. monas de pascua in Catalonia. These are chocolate* cakes, often but not necessarily involving chocolate eggs or non-chocolate chickens. Catalan bakers use Easter as a time to show off their sculptoric skills; I’ve seen monas with the Sagrada Familia or the Camp Nou.

Googling “mona de pascua historia” produces among others this webpage, which indicates they were introduced in the XVIII Century. A survey of other links found gives similar information, but not being an expert I have no idea whether they’re circular references.

• Monas can also be of the kind called “de yema”, with just the teensiest bit of chocolate decoration. My WAG is these are an alternative for the antichocoholics. “Yema” means eggyolk, it’s a sponge cake where the egg yolks have been separated and used for the glaze.

[Nava]

Oh, both that page and others insist in linking the monas to Easter eggs… which, with the exception of the monas, do not exist in Spain!

[APB]

@tomndebb

So, does anyone have a reference to French or Danish or British children receiving small fluffy critters prior to the nineteenth century, (and when?) Does anyone have a direct reference to eggs at easter in Germany or Spain in the early Renaissance?

The standard work in English on the history of Easter eggs is Venetia Newall’s An Egg at Easter (1971). But I haven’t read that. What I have read is her 1967 article on the subject in the Journal of American Folklore for 1967 (it’s on JSTOR). She has lots on the multifarious symbolism of eggs, although much of her material is presented, as is so often the way with folklore scholars, as a timeless mishmash. But, having made the point that the date of the origin of the custom of exchanging eggs at Easter is ‘not certainly known’, she does cite various examples from various parts of Europe from the Middle Ages. Her earliest firmly dated example is from the English court in 1290.

So, while this is one custom that is actually genuinely old, it’s also one that seems a bit late to be a clear-cut example of a pagan survival. We shouldn’t necessarily need to suppose that there was a specific pre-existing tradition for the whole eggs-fertility-spring idea to have been really rather obvious anyway.

[FordPrefect]

@JohnGalt

It’s much simpler than everyone’s making out here. There’s two times in the year when the sun rises directly in the east: the vernal (spring) equinox and the autumnal equinox. Since Easter happens on the Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox (with some variations thrown in), on Easter the sun rises directly in the east (or pretty close to it). That is, the sun as at “East” or “Easter” on this day (just don’t ask if there’s an Easter in the fall).

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