A Clerk of Oxford debunks the 'pagan origins of Easter' myth

The women and the angel at the tomb, from the Benedictional of St Æthelwold

One of ICN's favourite bloggers, A Clerk of Oxford writes:

How was Easter celebrated in Anglo-Saxon England? There's a popular answer to that question, which goes like this: 'the Anglo-Saxons worshipped a goddess called Eostre, who was associated with spring and fertility, and whose symbols were eggs and hares. Around this time of year they had a festival in her honour, which the Christians came over and stole to use for their own feast, and that's why we now have Easter'.

This story gets regularly dragged out around this time of year, and just as regularly and vigorously debunked. If you're interested in understanding how wobbly the evidence for this popular factoid is, and the history behind the development of the modern 'pagan Easter' myth, there are plenty of good sources ...

Read on: https://aclerkofoxford.blogspot.co.uk/2018/03/some-anglo-saxon-easter-customs.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed:+AClerkOfOxford+(A+Clerk+of+Oxford)