# Fell, *Women in Anglo-Saxon England*, 1984 > [!cite] > Fell, Christine. *Women in Anglo-Saxon England and the Impact of 1066*. Colonnade, 1984. Internet Archive, <https://archive.org/embed/womeninanglosaxo0000fell>. --- ‘Early Celtic law shows women a far less favourable position than Anglo-Saxon law.’ [[Fell, Women in Anglo-Saxon England and the Impact of 1066, 1984|(Fell 1984, 11)]] ^9098a3 ‘The evidence which has survived from Anglo-Saxon England indicates that women were then more nearly the equal companions of their husbands and brothers than at any other period before the modern age. In the higher ranges of society this rough and ready partnership was ended by the Norman Conquest, which introduced into England a military society relegating women to a position honourable but essentially unimportant. With all allowance for the efforts of individual churchmen to help individual women, it must be confessed that the teaching medieval Church reinforced the subjection which feudal law imposed on all wives.’ [[Fell, Women in Anglo-Saxon England and the Impact of 1066, 1984|(Fell 1984, 13; quoting Doris Strenton)]] ^5101aa ‘None of the pagan gods are represented in the names of the months but it is a possibility that a pagan goddess gave her name to the Anglo-Saxon word for April. There are a number of references to the name *Eastermonað*, “Eastermonth”, and one clear statement that ‘the month called in Latin *Aprilis* is in our tongue *eastermonað*. The word Easter itself is explained by Bede as the name of a goddess, but he is our only authority for this statement and he is writing well after the establishment of Christianity. His statement is that *Eostre* was the goddess whose writes were celebrated in the month of April, and it is difficult to find a convincing alternative explanation for the name *Eostre* though attempts have been made. A related word occurs in some Germanic dialects for the spring festival, and it was certainly normal early Christian practice to adapt and modify pagan ritual. Yet Bede is not an impartial commentator on paganism, nor is his interest an antiquarian one. What he tells us is normally for a specific Christian purpose, and his comments on *Eostre* may be intended rather to draw a contrast between a false goddess of spring and Christ the sun of righteousness. His other pagan goddess who had a month named after her is yet more dubious than *Eostre*. The month of March, according to Bede was called *Hredmonað*, “Hredmonth”, from the goddess Hreda to whom they sacrificed in this month. We have no other evidence at all for the existence of Hreda, and though it is difficult to find an alternative meaning for *Eostre* there is no such difficultly with the element *hred*, which could easily have the sense of ‘fierce’ or ‘rough’, referring obviously enough to the well-known March winds. Our evidence for pagan goddesses thus diminishes, but 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.’ [[Fell, Women in Anglo-Saxon England and the Impact of 1066, 1984|(Fell 1984, 28–29)]] ^f0e7d9