November: From ‘Ninth Month’ to Winter’s Threshold

A name that once meant ‘the ninth month’. November traces back to the Roman calendar, when the year began in March, but older northern names told a different story. The Anglo-Saxon Blōtmōnaþ marked a season of sacrifice and preparation for winter, while Celtic, Slavic, and Finnic traditions spoke instead of endings, darkness, and falling leaves. The image below — a chilly November day in Southsea a few years ago — catches that sense of a year drawing in.