The name is derived from Old English Þūnresdæg and Middle English Thuresday (with loss of -n-, first in northern dialects, from influence of Old Norse Þorsdagr) meaning "Thor's Day". It was named after the Norse god of Thunder, Thor Thunor, Donar (German, Donnerstag) and Thor are derived from the name of the Germanic god of thunder, Thunraz, equivalent to Jupiter in the interpretatio romana.
Estonians did not work on Thursdays (days of Thor) and Thursday nights were called "evenings of Tooru". Some sources say Estonians used to gather in holy woods (Hiis) on Thursday evenings, where a bagpipe player sat on a stone and played while people danced and sang until the dawn.
In most Romance languages, the day is named after the Roman god Jupiter, who was the god of sky and thunder. In Latin, the day was known as Iovis Dies, "Jupiter's Day". In Latin, the genitive or possessive case of Jupiter was Iovis/Jovis and thus in most Romance languages it became the word for Thursday: Italian giovedì, Spanish jueves, French jeudi, Sardinian jòvia, Catalan dijous, Galician "xoves" and Romanian joi. This is also reflected in the p-Celtic Welsh dydd Iau.
The astrological and astronomical sign of the planet Jupiter (♃
) is sometimes used to represent Thursday.
Since the Roman god Jupiter was identified with Thunor (Norse Thor in northern Europe), most Germanic languages name the day after this god: Torsdag in Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish, Hósdagur/Tórsdagur in Faroese, Donnerstag in German or Donderdag in Dutch. Finnish and Northern Sami, both non-Germanic (Uralic) languages, uses the borrowing "Torstai" and "Duorastat". In the extinct Polabian Slavic language, it was perundan, Perun being the Slavic equivalent of Thor.
There are a number of modern names imitating the naming of Thursday after an equivalent of "Jupiter" in local tradition. In most of the languages of India, the word for Thursday is Guruvara – vara meaning day and guru being the style for Bṛhaspati, guru to the gods and regent of the planet Jupiter. In Thai, the word is Wan Pharuehatsabodi – referring to the Hindu deity Bṛhaspati, also associated with Jupiter. En was an old Illyrian deity and in his honor in the Albanian language Thursday is called "Enjte". In the Nahuatl language, Thursday is Tezcatlipotōnal (Nahuatl pronunciation: [teskat͡ɬipoˈtoːnaɬ]) meaning "day of Tezcatlipoca".
For those of you new to event geocaches, by attending the event you do get credit for a geocache find. It is a great opportunity to meet the people in the area whose names you have seen on geocache logs. Trackable items are usually present in high numbers and it's a good chance to trade items and discover some very unique items. You may also pick up some contact information from other geocachers that is very valuable when unable to find a cache out in the field and can turn to the old phone-a-friend for additional help.
See the related web page link for the menu. The link is at the top of the page between the D/T rating and the coordinates.
If you plan on attending, please log a "Will Attend" entry so we can provide the staff with a number of attendees.
We hope to see you on Thor's Day!
P.S. Anyone who shows up in a Thor costume gets a special prize!