Celtic mythology is the mythology of Celtic polytheism, the religion of the Iron Age Celts. Like other Iron Age Europeans, the early Celts maintained a polytheistic mythology and religious structure. Among Celts in close contact with Ancient Rome, s...
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Rhiannon, Goddess of Birds and Horses, is also know as the Queen of Fairies. She is a Sovereignty Goddess who the king must wed to legitimate his rule. A Goddess of Transformation, she uses her powers for love of others or self. She shines in our hearts as an example of true love and beauty. She appears in both the first and third branches of the Medieval Welsh stories, The Mabinogion, a narrative which grew out of the ancient myths of the Celtic Gods and Goddesses.
Rhiannon is associated with Epona, the Gaulish Horse Goddess. They are probably both derived from the ancient Celtic Goddess, Rigatona, whose name means “Great Queen”.
Stories of Rhiannon
In the Mabinogion Rhiannon first appears to Pwyll, King of the new tribes of Dyved, as a beautiful dream vision, riding a glowing white horse. Her hair shining in the sun, her birds twittering in circles around her head, She seems to be clothed by golden light. Thus begins her journey to attain the man of her desires. She possesses deep magic and can manifest her dreams and desires both for herself and for the good of all.
No matter how fast Pywll chases her, she remains elusive. She is aloof and appears to not notice him. Finally Pywll asks her to stop and she complies, saying “Since you ask it of me, I will gladly stop.”
Rhiannon confesses her love to Pywll and tells him that her father wants her to marry another. Not only is Pywll smitten. His legitimacy as King is in question and he must marry Rhiannon to prove his sovereignty. He follows her to the Otherworld, the Fairy World, where she promises they will marry. But here he is tricked by Gwawl, Rhiannon’s suitor, into giving Her to him.
Rhinnon’s uses her powerful magic to rid herself of Gwawl and thus manifests her dreams. Finally she and Pwyll are married and she must leave the world of faery, the bright world, forever.
In this part of her story we see Rhiannon in her aspect as a Fertility Goddess, a Goddess of Love and as a Dream Goddess. But she is also an Otherworld Goddess and a Death Goddess.
Years pass in the land of the Dyved and finally Rhiannon gave birth to a son. But she and her ladies fell into a deep sleep and her son was stolen. When her ladies woke to discover the baby was gone they feared for their lives. To escape responsibility they smeared puppy blood on Rhiannon. With blood on her and puppy bones scattered round her, they accused her of killing her son. Perhaps in her more ancient aspect, as Death Goddess she did actually kill her son. After all the Goddess gives and the Goddess takes away. In this Death Goddess aspect Rhiannon and Her birds sang so sweetly that the dying went gladly to their deaths. Rhiannon’s birds also healed at the soul level and could wake the dead from their sleep.
As punishment for this crime that didn’t happen, she was forced to become like a horse herself. She was sentenced to stand on a block at the castle gates for seven years. When visitors arrived she had to confess her crime and offer to carry them on her back. Though few accepted her offer because of her beauty and humility.
Ultimately, after two winters her son and her place were restored to her. When her son was first returned to her, she exclaimed that her “Pryderi” (her grief and anxiety) was finally ended. Thus he received his name from his mother as was the Welsh custom. She was returned to Pwyll’s side as Queen. After Pwyll’s death, Rhiannon married Manawyden, son of Llyr who is an equivalent to the Irish Sea God, Manannan. Click here to read Rhiannon’s story and further difficulties during her years with Manawyden.
With grace and dignity Rhiannon endured the years of this unjust punishment, reminding us in her aspect as Horse Goddess of the power of endurance. Though patience is a difficult trait to master in our ever accelerating modern world, Rhiannon assures us that the pains and injustices we suffer will be brought into alignment with the natural state of balance in the universe; truth and justice will prevail.
As an Otherworld Goddess, Rhiannon rules the dream world. Call on Her for soul revealing dreams.
