At the spring equinox, Eostre/Ostara appears on social media and websites, but who is this Eostre/Ostara, and what is the connection to spring, hares, and eggs?

Eostre, or Ostara, is a modern heathen holiday often assumed to have Germanic and Old Norse origins, but it actually has a much more recent background. The myth of Ostara as an ancient Germanic spring festival can be traced to the English monk Bede Venerabilis, who in the 8th century mentioned an Anglo-Saxon goddess named Eostre. In his work De Temporum Ratione, he wrote that the month Eosturmonath was named after a goddess of the same name and that she was once honored in connection with the arrival of spring. According to Bede, however, her celebrations had at that time been replaced by the Christian Easter festival.

Bede’s account is the only evidence that a goddess named Eostre may have been worshipped by the Anglo-Saxons, and it is unclear whether he was recounting an actual heathen tradition or drawing his conclusions based on the month’s name. During Bede’s time, traces of heathen customs still existed in England, but he wrote as a Christian monk with an interest in describing and systematizing earlier heathen traditions. It’s possible that he attempted to explain the name of the month Eosturmonath by assuming it was named after a goddess, despite the lack of other sources to confirm this. Scholars have pointed out that Bede sometimes speculated about etymological connections, and there is no evidence suggesting that Eostre actually existed as a goddess.

In the 19th century, the German brothers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm revived the idea of a Germanic spring goddess and proposed that Eostre might have had a counterpart in continental Germanic regions, where her name would have been Ostara. Jacob Grimm wrote in his Deutsche Mythologie (1835) that it seemed likely a goddess named Ostara had been worshipped by Germanic peoples in connection with the arrival of spring. He based this primarily on linguistic connections, as the word for "Easter" in German (Ostern) and in English (Easter) resembles the name Eostre/Ostara.

Grimm argued that it was likely such a goddess had existed, even though there were no direct sources to confirm it. He referred to folk memories and traditions associated with the arrival of spring and suggested that certain customs, such as celebrating fertility and rebirth, might be traces of an older Germanic goddess worship. However, there is no concrete evidence that a goddess named Ostara was ever worshipped by Germanic peoples, and Grimm's theory remains just that—a theory without support in historical sources. Contemporary scholars of religious history and Germanic religion agree that there is insufficient evidence to suggest Ostara was ever a real goddess or that she had an associated festival.

In the 20th century, the Wicca movement, led by figures such as Gerald Gardner, introduced the so-called Wheel of the Year, a solar-based calendar with eight holidays. This calendar sought to create a cohesive cycle of celebrations by combining traditions from various older religions, primarily Celtic and Germanic, but also certain elements from pre-Christian Mediterranean cultures. The four major Celtic fire festivals—Samhain, Imbolc, Beltane, and Lughnasadh—were combined with the four solar festivals: the spring equinox, the autumn equinox, the summer solstice, and the winter solstice. One of these solar festivals was placed at the spring equinox and was named Ostara.

In the 1960s, American Stephen A. McNallen introduced Ostara in his calendar for modern Ásatrú, drawing inspiration from Wicca. McNallen and his movement incorporated several influences from Wicca and other forms of modern heathenism, which is one reason Ostara is often assumed to be an ancient Norse holiday today, despite the lack of evidence in historical sources. It is largely due to McNallen and the Wicca movement’s influence that many today believe Ostara was an ancient Norse holiday.

The tradition of eggs and hares, often associated with Ostara in modern heathenism, has its own roots. Easter eggs originated from Christian fasting traditions where eggs could not be eaten during forty days, leading to their collection and then consumption in large quantities at the end of Easter. The Easter bunny comes from 16th-century German folklore, where a hare was said to hide eggs for children to find. Hares and rabbits have long been symbols of fertility due to their rapid reproduction.

Attempts have been made to link the Easter bunny and Easter eggs to older heathen festivals, but there is no historical evidence to support such connections. One theory sometimes proposed is that these symbols may be linked to the ancient Iranian and Mesopotamian goddess Ishtar, whose name resembles the English "Easter." Ishtar was a goddess of love, war, and fertility and was sometimes depicted with hares, leading to speculations about a possible connection. However, there is no historical evidence that the cult of Ishtar influenced European Easter traditions. It is more likely that the egg and hare traditions developed within Christian and European folk culture, independent of ancient Mesopotamian customs.

The fact that some modern heathens continue to assert that Ostara is an ancient Germanic/Norse holiday despite the complete lack of historical evidence is an example of how easily myths can take root when they are repeated often enough. It was Wicca that introduced Ostara as a holiday in its Wheel of the Year, and it was Stephen A. McNallen who, in the 1960s, included it in his Ásatrú calendar.

Summary:

Eostre/Ostara was not a Germanic or Norse goddess. There is no historical evidence to support that such a goddess was ever worshipped by Germanic peoples. Bede Venerabilis mentioned a goddess named Eostre, but it is uncertain whether this was a real goddess or if he drew his conclusion based on the month's name. Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm speculated about a Germanic goddess named Ostara, but there are no concrete sources to confirm this. The idea of Ostara as an ancient holiday is a modern construct created in the 20th century, primarily through Wicca and modern heathenism, with no support from historical sources.

Anyone claiming that Ostara is an ancient Norse/Germanic holiday is perpetuating a modern construction with no historical basis. Scholars of Germanic religious history agree that there is no evidence that Eostre/Ostara was a historical goddess or that any ancient Germanic spring festival existed under this name.

However, it is up to each individual whether they want to celebrate this Wiccan holiday, but they should be aware of its actual origins and not spread false claims that it was an ancient Norse or Germanic holiday. 


Picture: Public domain.
"Ostara" (1901) by Johannes Gehrts. The goddess Ēostre/*Ostara flies through the heavens surrounded by Roman-inspired putti, beams of light, and animals. Germanic peoples look up at the goddess from the realm below.