According to an old European superstition, you should never cut your nails on a Sunday. If you did, bad stories would be told about you for a week. Worse yet, the devil would follow you all week. Cutting your nails was considered not only a job, but also a concern for outward beauty. This was something that was not tolerated on the day of rest and worship.
Cutting your nails on a Friday was just as unlucky. It was said that bad luck and sadness would strike the home if anyone in the household dared to cut their nails on a Friday.
Friday and Sunday were certainly ruled out for nail clipping. Playing it safe, many would wait until Monday before cutting their nails. He told himself that Monday before noon was a good time to get out the scissors and cut those nails. Get your nails cut early Monday morning and you could expect a treat. The saying went on like this. Cut Tuesday for savings, cut Wednesday for news, cut Thursday for shoes, cut Friday for sadness, cut Saturday to see his lover tomorrow, cut Sunday for wickedness.
In the 19th century it was a common superstition that if a mother cut her baby’s nails before the child was twelve months old, that child would grow up to be a thief.
Even the Vikings had strong concerns about nails. The ship called Naglfar (ferry of nails) was believed to be made solely of fingernails and toenails taken from dead humans. When Naglfar was completed, the Jotunn would sail this ship in battle against the gods. This was the final battle. This was Ragnarok, the end of the world. No dead person was to be buried with their nails uncut. Every precaution had to be taken to ensure that the corpse did not provide more material to build the Naglfar. But not all is lost. After Ragnarok a new world arises. What happened to Naglfar, I don’t know.
