Þrimilcemōnaþ

Þrimicemōnaþ (modern English: Three-Milkings Month) was the Anglo-Saxon name for the month of May.^[1]

The name was recorded by the Venerable Bede in his work De Temporibus (On Time) in about 703, and was so named because cows could apparently be milked three times in one day during this month.^[2] According to Bede:

Se fīfta mōnaþ is nemned on ūre geðeōde Ðrymylce, for ðon swylc genihtsumneswæs geō on Brytone and eāc on Germania lande, of ðæm Ongla ðeōd com on ðās Breotone, ðæt hī on ðæm mōnðe þriwa on dæge mylcedon heora neāt.

the fifth month is called Ðrymylce in our language, because before, there was such abundance in Britain and also in Germania, whence the Angle-people came to Britain, would milk their cows thrice a day.[3]

See also

• Germanic calendar
• Anglo-Saxon
• Old English

References

1. Cockayne, Thomas. "The shrine: a collection of occasional papers on dry subjects" p.77
2. "The Anglo-Saxon Year". wyrdwords.vispa.com. Retrieved 2014-09-20.
3. Bosworth, Joseph. "An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary Online." þri-milce. Ed. Thomas Northcote Toller and Others. Comp. Sean Christ and Ondřej Tichý. Faculty of Arts, Charles University in Prague, 21 Mar. 2010. Web. 20 Sept. 2014. <http://bosworth.ff.cuni.cz/032085>.