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Eostre
Eostre was a Teutonic[?] and Anglo-Saxon goddess goddess of dawn, also associated with various aspects related to the renewal of life: spring, fertility and the hare (quick and numerous reproduction). She was sometimes depicted with a hare's head.
What is around the month of April in the Gregorian calendar was called the Eostre-monath, named after the goddess. And as Christian tradition of Easter, which has also been on April, arrived in some Germanic language-speaking regions, the people named the then-unnamed Christian day after the goddess, that is, in English as Easter, and in German as Ostern. Remanents of her characteristics can also be found in the Easter Bunny celebrations.
Her name originated in Old Teutonic[?], derived from the root *austrôn-, meaning "dawn". Later on, her name was spelled variously as:
- Eástre in Anglo-Saxon language
- Éastre in Northumbrian language[?]
- Uncertain sources: Ostare, Ostara, Ostern, Estre, Eostre, Eoster, Eostra, Eastre, Eostur, Eastra, Eastur, Austron, and Ausos.
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