I am the Tuesday boy. Born on a Tuesday, reborn on a Tuesday. Thus, twice graced was I, twice unlucked.
We chose to set Friday the 13th as the release date for this album, since there were no Tuesdays available. However, in the Greek world, it’s actually Tuesday the 13th (the day of the Fall of Constantinople) that is considered unlucky. The same is true in the Spanish-speaking world. So, hey, the connection is still there.
In Judaism, on the other hand, Tuesday is considered a lucky day, because in Genesis the paragraph about Tuesday contains the phrase “it was good”. Twice! In the Thai solar calendar, the day is named for the Pali word for the planet Mars, which also means “Ashes of the Dead”.
In the old nursery rhyme ‘Monday’s Child’, it is claimed that “Tuesday’s child is full of grace”. If you are born on a Wednesday, however, you are full of woe. According to Mother Goose. She would know.
The English word Tuesday derives from the Old English “Tiwesdwg” and literally means “Tiw’s Day”. Tiw is the Old English form of the Proto-Germanic god Tiwaz, or Tyr in Norse. Tyr is a Germanic god, associated with heroic glory in Norse mythology. Corresponding names in other languages are Teiws, Tiw, Ziu and Cyo, all from Proto-Germanic Tiwaz. In the Eddas, Tyr is portrayed as the son of Odin or of Hymir, but the origins of his name (Tiwaz derives from the Proto-Indo-European base dei-, deya-, didya-, meaning ‘to shine’, whence comes also such words as “deity”) actually suggest that he was indeed once considered the father of all the gods and head of the pantheon. It is assumed that Tiwaz was overtaken in popularity by Odin and Thor at some point during the Migration Age.
According to the Edda, at one point the gods decided to shackle the Fenris wolf (Fenrir), but the beast broke every chain they put upon him. Eventually they had the dwarves make them a magical ribbon called Gleipnir. Fenrir, however, sensed the gods’ deceit and refused to be bound with it, unless one of them put his hand in the wolf’s mouth. Tyr, known for his great wisdom and courage, agreed, and the other gods bound the wolf. After Fenrir had been bound by the gods, he struggled to try to break the rope. Fenrir could not break the ribbon and, enraged, bit Tyr’s right hand off. When the gods saw that Fenrir was bound they all rejoiced, except Tyr. (I just love the end of that sentence!) As a result of this brave deed, Tyr is called the “Leavings of the Wolf”.
Back to Tuesday. The Latin name Dies Martis (“day of Mars”) is equivalent to the Ancient Greek ripipanApcwc, Hemera Areos, the day of Ares. Son of Hera and Zeus, and father of the Amazons, he is the god of battle, anger, courage and fear, and over Mars and Tuesday. Among other things. The ancient gods certainly had a lot of duties and areas of expertise.
In Japanese, the word for Tuesday is 火曜日 (ka youbi), which means ‘fire day and is as-sociated with 火曜 (kasei): the planet Mars, literally meaning “fire star”. In Korean, the word for Tuesday is 화요일 (hwa yo il), also meaning fire day. In Sanskrit, and in the Hindu calendar, Tuesday is called siiivoit or Mangalvaara, the root of which is Mangala: the planet Mars and the red god of war. In the Nahuatl language, Tuesday is HuitzilOpochtenal, meaning “day of Huitzilopochtli”. I fail to find any valid album connection to this fact, but find it amusing, nevertheless.
I am Gleipnir, Fenrir at my spine. Now rejoice, pagans, and witness the power of human sacrifice.