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<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8" />
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" />
<link rel="stylesheet" href="css/saxon-date.css" />
<link rel="stylesheet" href="css/calendar.css" />
<link rel="stylesheet" href="css/menu.css" />
<title>Saxon Date</title>
</head>
<body>
<nav>
<!-- hamburger -->
<div class="burger">
<div class="line1"></div>
<div class="line2"></div>
<div class="line3"></div>
</div>
<!-- menu -->
<div class="logo">
<h4>Saxon Date</h4>
</div>
<ul class="nav-links">
<li><a href="#">Saxon Date</a></li>
<li><a href="nd.html">Numerare Dierum</a></li>
</ul>
</nav>
<!-- Title (Header)-->
<header class="title">
<p>Today's Saxon Date</p>
</header>
<!-- Date Display -->
<div class="date-container">
<p class="saxon-date"></p>
</div>
<!-- Calendar -->
<div class="calendar-container">
<h3 id="month-year"></h3>
<table class="table">
<thead>
<tr>
<th>Sun</th>
<th>Mon</th>
<th>Tue</th>
<th>Wed</th>
<th>Thu</th>
<th>Fri</th>
<th>Sat</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody id="calendar-body"></tbody>
</table>
</div>
<div class="button-container">
<button onclick="toggleit()" id="toggle-button">Show More</button>
</div>
<!-- Text -->
<div class="explainer">
<p>
The purpose of the Saxon Date project is to create a calendar that
approximates the native calendar used by the Anglo-Saxon peoples at the
point in time where they become visible to history. I am not attempting
to be create precision, nor am I claiming that I have miraculously
recovered the lost calendar of our ancestors. It is simply a way to
represent time, which is tied to the seasons and rhythms of the natural
world and that would have been familiar to my ancestors such that, if I
told them that it was the third day of Ereyule, they would have a pretty
good idea of what (when) I was talking about.
</p>
According to the
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bede">Venerable Bede</a>, the
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angles">Angles</a>,
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saxons">Saxons</a>,
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jutes">Jutes</a> and
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frisians">Frisians</a> (see
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Saxon_settlement_of_Britain"
>here</a
>) marked time with a
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunisolar_calendar"
>lunisolar calendar</a
>. In his book,
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Reckoning_of_Time"
><i>De Temporum Ratione</i></a
>, published in 725, Bede gives us a general idea of how the ancient
Anglo-Saxon calendar worked, along with the names of the months and a few
references to holidays. Bede was not interested in reconstructing the
pagan calendar of his ancestors, but was instead attempting to show that
his ancestors were backward and uncivilized barbarians. This would allow
him to give the impression that Christianity, and the universal culture
that followed it, had brought progress and Truth to England. To the degree
that he cared for the history of his own people, it was only as a tool to
support the Church.
<p>
Nevertheless, using what information he gave, and supplementing it with
what we know about the relatives of the Anglo-Saxons on the continent,
we can arrive at a set of rules for a reconstructed Anglo-Saxon
calendar, and then, using these rules, set about generating a Saxonish
calendar date. This calendar, which I have rather unimaginatively called
the Saxon Date, would then give us an approximation of what the date
might have been, had the ancient Anglo-Saxon calendar survived in use
among the Anglophonic peoples.
</p>
<p>
These rules are based on what we know about
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_Germanic_calendars"
>ancient Germanic calendars</a
>, and the bits that Bede has left us. Note that, for the purposes of
this (or any other) lunisolar calendar, month and moon are
interchangeable terms.
</p>
<span>
<li>Rule 1</li>
<p>
Each month begins at the new moon. There are 12 months in a regular
year, and 13 in an
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intercalation_(timekeeping)"
>intercalary year</a
>.
</p>
<li>Rule 2</li>
<p>The year begins with the new moon following the winter solstice.</p>
<li>Rule 3</li>
<p>
Although the beginning of the year is linked to the winter solstice,
the rule governing intercalary months is governed by the summer
solstice. If a new moon occurs within a fortnight following the summer
solstice, the next new moon (i.e., the one that occurs 29.5 days
later) is an intercalary month, which Bede informs us was known as
“Trilitha.” This should occur every three to five years, the purpose
of which is to keep the seasons aligned with the calendar. This was
especially important for an agricultural society.
</p>
</span>
<p>
For the purpose of Saxon Date, I am using the Runic Era (RE) year. The
RE is not a real thing. It basically adds 250 years to the current
Gregorian year. I wanted to use a year/era that was older than the
current Christian era in order to show that this traditional indigenous
calendar, and the culture in which it originates, predates the
Christianization of Europe. However, since the Germanic peoples were
largely illiterate at that time, there does not seem to be an historical
era that fits the bill.
</p>
<p>
This brings up a larger question regarding the use of numbers. The
Saxons may not have seen the use in having each year assigned a unique
number. Perhaps they would have appreciated a cycle of nine years, or
numbering the years since the current king came to power. But, for my
purpose, a year number needs to be assigned, and the RE is as good as
any. As with the entire Saxon Date project, I am open to suggestions.
</p>
<p>
In addition, our way of citing the date, where we mention the name of
the month, followed by the number of days that have elapsed since the
month began, is a modern innovation. The Romans counted days before and
after the middle of the month. Read about that here. The ancient English
peoples may have preferred to note the moon phase, or count the number
of weeks. The possibilities are endless. But, again, for my purposes,
some amount of precision was desired. And, too, no matter how they cited
the date in the 5th century, had the calendar survived, they would have,
in all likelihood, began to count days, because it is super-convenient.
I’ll note here, which I have elaborated on in more detail elsewhere,
that I used the same approach with the month names. For example,
“Eostre” is now pronounced “Easter”. It makes sense that this would have
happened to the celebration and the name of the month simultaneously.
For “Hretha”, I dropped the initial “H”, as that seems to be the way
English has developed. I also dropped the “month” suffix. I open to
reasons why this was wrong.
</p>
<p>
Note: For Rule 3, I initially read a source that the year was
intercalary if a new moon occurred within 14 (or possibly 12) days
following the summer solstice. So far, this appears to produce too many
intercalary years. This rule needs a tweak, but I have not had time to
have a think about it yet. Suggestions welcome.
</p>
<p>
Note #2: Saxon Date calculates the date of the last winter solstice,
then, using math, approximates the date of the next new moon, which it
labels "Afteryule". The months (new moons) then follow in order, as
described by Bede. The program also calculates the date of the summer
solstice, and, if a new moon follows within 14 days, adds an extra month
in the middle of the sequence (Trilitha). There is a lot of room for
error in these calculations. The new moon especially is subject to a
non-cumulative error of a day or two each month. This unintentionally
mimics the situation in a real observational calendar, where the dates
could not be set until the new moon actually happened. Only after the
introduction of writing could information be accurately recorded, and
the 19-year
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metonic_cycle"
>Metonic (link) cycle</a
>
discovered. That, I believe, allowed for an essentially perpetual
calendar, giving our ancestors the ability to plan any dates for any
time in the future (or the past, for that matter).
</p>
<p>Note #3: I may recast this calendar using the Metonic cycle.</p>
</div>
<script src="js/saxon-date.js"></script>
<script src="js/menu.js"></script>
</body>
</html>