Eostre, the goddess who gave Easter its name

Easter Sunday · England

Lore and belief

Bede wrote that the English named Easter after Eostre, a goddess of their heathen forebears whose feasts were kept in April, called Eosturmonath after her. By his day the month was taken to mean the Easter month, and the English called the joys of the new Christian feast by the old name. His passage is the only early record of the goddess.

Eostur-monath, qui nunc Paschalis mensis interpretatur, quondam a Dea illorum quæ Eostre vocabatur, et cui in illo festa celebrabant, nomen habuit: a cujus nomine nunc Paschale tempus cognominant

From Bede's De Temporum Ratione, ch. 15, ed. Giles, vol. 6, p. 179. Read the original

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Folklore from the old calendars

Pace eggs Still kept Cheshire, Lancashire, ScotlandThe pace or pasch egg, once given at Easter all over Christendom, was still handed out by children and country people in Lancashire in Chambers's day.
The sun dancing on Easter morning Lore and belief England, IrelandIn the middle districts of Ireland a fat hen or some bacon was put in the pot on the evening of Holy Saturday, and nobody dared taste it before cock-crow.
The Lostwithiel prince No longer kept CornwallEach Easter Sunday the freeholders of Lostwithiel chose one of their number in turn to play a prince.
The Twickenham Easter cakes No longer kept MiddlesexTwickenham once divided two great cakes among its young people in church on Easter Day.
Sugar-cupping at Dropping Tor No longer kept DerbyshireNear Tideswell in the Peak, children and young people used to go on Easter Sunday to the Dropping Tor, a spring that dripped from the rock.
The red herring on horseback No longer kept OxfordshireIt was said that at Queen's College, Oxford, the first dish brought to table on Easter Day was a red herring riding away on horseback.
New clothes for Easter Still kept Dorset, EnglandEveryone was supposed to wear at least one new thing on Easter Day, or have no luck all year.
Buckles and spurs at Ripon No longer kept YorkshireA Yorkshire clergyman told Brand that on Easter Sunday the young men of the villages took the girls' shoe buckles, and on Easter Monday the young women took the men's shoes and buckles in return.
Eggs and green sauce at Gray’s Inn No longer kept LondonDugdale records that the gentlemen of Gray's Inn who came to breakfast on Easter Day, after the service and communion, were given eggs and green sauce.
Tansies at Easter No longer kept EnglandA tansy was a pudding or cake of eggs, cream and sugar flavoured with the young leaves of the herb tansy, and it was the dish of Easter.
Little Devil Doubt and the pace-eggers Still kept Northern EnglandIn the north of England groups of lads went pace-egging at Easter, singing at doors for eggs and strong beer and promising not to come again until the next year.
Clearing the winter hearth on God’s Sunday No longer kept EnglandMedieval sermon books say Easter Day was called in some places God's Sunday, and describe a household custom that went with it.
Sunshine at Easter and Whitsun Lore and belief EnglandAn old country saying held that the weather of Easter Day foretold that of Whit Sunday seven weeks later, so that if the sun shone at Easter it would shine at Whitsun too.
Dancing for the cake in Westmeath No longer kept LeinsterSir Henry Piers wrote in 1682 that in most parishes of Westmeath, on the patron day and at Easter and Whitsuntide, the country people met in the afternoon on a convenient spot near the alehouse to dance for the cake, with a piper always in attendance.
The Easter sacrament ring Lore and belief BerkshireIn Berkshire it was a popular belief that a ring made from a silver coin given at the communion would cure convulsions and fits of every kind.
Jauping paste-eggs Still kept NorthumberlandNewcastle boys spent Easter jauping their dyed paste-eggs, knocking one against another until a shell gave way.
What the hares have laid No longer kept YorkshireThroughout Yorkshire coloured Easter eggs were hidden in little nests out of doors for the children to hunt, and see what eggs the "hares" had been laying.
Chopping at the tree at University College No longer kept OxfordshireOn Easter Day a mock tree dressed with evergreens and flowers was set up on a turf by the buttery at University College, Oxford.
Corn-showing at Easter No longer kept HerefordshireAt Easter the country people round Ross went corn-showing: parties went into the wheat to pick out the cockle, taking cake, cider and, as one informant put it, a yard of toasted cheese.
Easter eggs for the vicar of Clee No longer kept LincolnshireEvery Easter the parishioners of Clee gave their vicar a quantity of eggs collected round the parish.
The Flaun at Nettleham No longer kept LincolnshireNettleham's village wake was held at Easter and called the Flaun, after the flauns, or cheesecakes, eaten there.
A pennyworth of eggs at Easter in Sebergham No longer kept CumberlandAt Easter every tenant in Sebergham owed the parson a penny, or a pennyworth of eggs, instead of a tithe hen.
Into the fields to see the sun dance Lore and belief EnglandOrdinary country people rose before the sun on Easter Day and walked out into the fields to see the sun dance, which an old tradition told them it always did that morning.
Veal and bacon at Easter No longer kept EnglandWhen Easter came the farmer's table went over from fish to veal and bacon.
Flowers in the Easter pew at All Saints, Hereford No longer kept HerefordshireAt Easter the clerk's wife at All Saints church in Hereford dressed the pews of her parishioners with flowers.
The Kingsthorpe lord and lady No longer kept NorthamptonshireAt Kingsthorpe near Northampton the manor court chose a lord and lady for the May games every Easter Day after evensong, and anyone who refused the office paid a fine of 6s.
The Easter sun in a basin of water Lore and belief WalesWelsh children were got up early on Easter morning to see the sun dance at its rising in honour of the Resurrection.
Lamb for Easter Day in Wales Still kept WalesIn Wales Easter Day was kept as quietly as any Sunday, but with better food on the table, and lamb was thought the proper dish.
Whitened gravestones at Neath No longer kept GlamorganIn Neath churchyard two stones marked the head and foot of each grave, and they were whitened with lime every Christmas, Easter and Whitsuntide.

Eostre, the goddess who gave Easter its name

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