Sketchplanations

Explaining one thing a week in a sketch

Days of the week and their Norse Gods: Tyr for Tuesday, Odin for Wednesday, Thor for Thursday and Frigg for Friday. And the Sun, Moon and Saturn for Sunday, Monday and Saturday.

Days of the week

The Norse Gods are still among us in the names of the days of the week.

  • Tuesday — from Old English Tiw, for Tyr the Norse god of combat
  • Wednesday — from Old English Woden, for Odin the one-eyed king of the gods
  • Thursday — for Thor, the quick to fight god of ordinary people with his magical hammer Mjollnir
  • Friday — for Frigg, wife of Odin and goddess of marriage and motherhood

While Saturday, Sunday and Monday follow the celestial bodies Saturn, the sun, and the moon.

As a wonderful introduction to the Norse myths and gods you could do much worse than the entertaining and beautifully produced Illustrated Norse Myths I was commanded to read by our 9-year old.

Illustrations based off of those by the excellent Matteo Pincelli.

Keep exploring

Russell's Teapot illustration: an unexceptional china teapot floats peacefully in space with part of a large burnt-red planet visible in the background. Bertrand Russell's quote fills the space: "If I were to claim "there's a teapot, too small to spot, orbiting between Earth and Mars", the burden of proof lies on me."
The Oxford Comma illustration: in the acknowledgements at the beginning of a book, the oxford comma, used after the penultimate item in a list, clears up any confusion as to whether God is a parent of the author.
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