Scottish Country Dance of the Day

Janus am I; oldest of potentates;
Forward I look, and backward, and below
I count, as god of avenues and gates,
The years that through my portals come and go.

~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–82)

​

January, on average, is the coldest month of the year within most of the Northern Hemisphere (where it is the second month of winter) and the warmest month of the year within most of the Southern Hemisphere (where it is the second month of summer).

 

January (in Latin, Ianuarius) is named after Janus, the god of beginnings and transitions, protector of gates and doorways.

​

Traditionally, the original Roman calendar consisted of 10 months only totaling 304 days, winter being considered a month-less period. Around 713 BC, the semi-mythical successor of Romulus, King Numa Pompilius, is supposed to have added the months of January and February, so that the calendar covered a standard lunar year (354 days).

​

Historical names for January include its original Roman designation, Ianuarius, the Saxon term Wulf-monath (meaning "wolf month") and Charlemagne's designation Wintarmanoth ("winter/cold month"). 

​

For a discussion on poetry associate with the "barren month" of January (for us Northern Hemispherians), click the more cheerful scene of skaters from the 1820s.