# *modranect* (‘night of the mothers’) The celebration of the old [[Civilisation and culture--Medieval--Anglo-Saxon|Anglo-Saxon]] New Year was held “near the time of our Christmas”.[^1] > “They began the year on the 8th kalends of January \[25 December], when we celebrate the birth of the Lord.”[^2] — Max Dashu also claims, in constrast,“on or around the northern hemisphere’s longest night of the year (the [[Solstice, Winter|winter or hibernal solstice]])”.[^3] --- Spelt elsewhere as *Mōdraniht* or *Modranicht*;[^4][^5] Christine Fell has it as *modranect*.[^6] --- Bede, in *The Reckoning of Time* \[Wallis translation], writes: [[Per Bede, the Anglo-Saxons began the year on December 25. “That very night, which we hold so sacred, they used to call by the heathen word Modranecht, that is, ‘mother’s night’, because (we suspect) of the ceremonies they enacted all that night.”|“That very night, which we hold so sacred, they used to call by the heathen word Modranecht, that is, ‘mother’s night’, because (we suspect) of the ceremonies they enacted all that night.”]][^7] --- Fell, on Bede: [[Christine Fell on Bede re. Eostre, Hreda, and modranect.|“Bede offers us one other interesting comment. The celebration of the old Anglo-Saxon New Year near the time of our Christmas was a feast called modranect, which he properly interprets as ‘the night of mothers’. He seems not to know anything more about this feast, but darkly conjectures that the name was given because of the ceremonies which took place. There is nothing we can add to his information, and no point in adding to his conjectures.”]][^8] [^1]: Christine Fell, *[[Fell, Clark & Williams. 'Women in Anglo-Saxon England and the Impact of 1066',|Women in Anglo-Saxon England and the Impact of 1066]]* (Colonnade, 1984), p. 29. [^2]: Faith Wallis, ed. and trans., *[[Bede. 'The Reckoning of Time', trans. Wallis, 1999.|Bede: The Reckoning of Time]]* (Liverpool University Press, 1999), p. 53. [^3]: Max Dashu, [[Dashu. 'Witches and Pagans_ Women in European Folk Religion, 700-1100', 2017.|Witches and Pagans: Women in European Folk Religion, 700-1100]] (Veleda Press, 2017), p. 14. [^4]: Christine Fell, *[[Fell, Clark & Williams. 'Women in Anglo-Saxon England and the Impact of 1066',|Women in Anglo-Saxon England and the Impact of 1066]]* (Colonnade, 1984), p. 29. [^5]: ‘Mōdraniht’, *Wikipedia*, last modified 22 February 2025, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C5%8Ddraniht. [^6]: Max Dashu, [[Dashu. 'Witches and Pagans_ Women in European Folk Religion, 700-1100', 2017.|Witches and Pagans: Women in European Folk Religion, 700-1100]] (Veleda Press, 2017), p. 14. [^7]: Faith Wallis, ed. and trans., *[[Bede. 'The Reckoning of Time', trans. Wallis, 1999.|Bede: The Reckoning of Time]]* (Liverpool University Press, 1999), p. 53. [^8]: Max Dashu, [[Dashu. 'Witches and Pagans_ Women in European Folk Religion, 700-1100', 2017.|Witches and Pagans: Women in European Folk Religion, 700-1100]] (Veleda Press, 2017), p. 14.