Horrible name, lovely sight

Every school kid is aware of the Anglo-Saxon nomenclature of our days of the week. Tiu was the god of warfare and battle, and gave us Tuesday or "Tiu's day", likened to Mars in the Roman religion. Woden, the leader of the Wild Hunt was one of the chief gods of the Anglo-Saxons before the Christian era. He gave us the modern Wednesday or Woden’s day. Thunor was the god of thunder, who ruled the storms and sky. His name gave rise to the modern Thursday or "Thunor's Day". Frig "Friday" was the goddess of love, wisdom, and was the wife of Wōden. She was one of the most powerful goddesses and quite possibly gave rise to the popular female name "Freya”. The A-S names of the months never quite stuck, however. This is not surprising when we consider that in Old English, November was known as "blodmonath" or "blood moon". It is as horrible as it sounds; a time when all "surplus" animals were slaughtered and rendered into meat so they would not have to be fed through the winter. Presumably, the trusty Anglo-Saxons hung on to enough animals for milking. I don't exactly know when this custom began and ended (I hope it has). With the glorious November moon now gracing our skies, it is time to leave this grisly past behind.