So i ordered a hardback copy, which is fine, but the dust jacket is in very poor condition, so may recycle that. Eponawhile goddess of horsesalso appears as the protector of donkeys. What other name can epona goddess of horses in celtic. Epona goddess of horses, donkeys, mules fertility mythology. Aug 26, 2017 epona is a celtic goddess thought to be originally from gaul but worshiped all over britain. Hundreds of statues and shrines dating from between the first and third centuries ce have been found in france alone. Myths from a time when both women and horses were sacred. She was worshipped for many hundreds of years as a horse goddess, who not only protected horses, but also their owners. Jul 30, 2019 epona is a celtic horse goddess associated with fertility, a cornucopia, horses, asses, mules, and oxen who accompanied the soul on its final journey.
Notable is epona, the horse goddess, celebrated with horse races at the summer festival. Hidden goddess of the celts reflects the importance of gender in ancient religion, and the author explores the primacy of the feminine through eponas sovereignty as horse goddess among the celts. The oldest information about the gallic goddess of horses is found in juvenal satires, viii, 155 ff. Epona is a celtic horse goddess associated with fertility, a cornucopia, horses, asses, mules, and oxen who accompanied the soul on its final journey. Her worship originated with nomadic celts in gaul and extended throughout. The on and the a on the finish of epona s identify show that she was a female deity.
Later she was unjustly accused of killing her infant son, and in punishment she was forced to. Bibliography related content books cite this work license. Epona goddess associated with fertility, water and death. She is a sovereignty goddess who the king must wed to legitimate his rule. Sutherland epona is the gaulish goddess of horses, donkeys, and mules. One such example is the celtic council of australia which uses the beautiful image of three horses interwoven in celtic design as a symbol.
Celtic goddess epona the great mare, goddess of horses. The protector of horses, mules, and cavalry, epona was one of the only nonroman goddesses to have been wholly adopted by the roman empire often depicted astride a horse, epona resonated in the forces of the roman cavalry as an inspiration and guide through even the darkest of battles, and she remained one of their most worshipped goddesses. She was the goddess who accompanied the souls of the dead on their final journey and she was the only celtic goddess adopted by the romans who erected a. Jun 05, 2018 the protector of horses, mules, and cavalry, epona was one of the only nonroman goddesses to have been wholly adopted by the roman empire often depicted astride a horse, epona resonated in the forces of the roman cavalry as an inspiration and guide through even the darkest of battles, and she remained one of their most worshipped goddesses between the first and third centuries ad. Thus, in celtic mythology, epona represents the goddess of horses and of all those associated with these animals. Even though the recording of mythological celtic ireland and wales started at the. Epona by laiyla on deviantart norse mythologyvikingstattoo celtic goddess, celtic. We know epona now as the goddess of horses, whose cult spread across europe, from the british isles all the way to rome. When the roman cavalry discovered images of epona on her horse while. In galloroman religion, epona was a protector of horses, ponies, donkeys, and mules. Etsy is the home to thousands of handmade, vintage, and oneofakind products and gifts related to your search. Epona irish the meaning of her name is great mare she is the protector of horses, donkeys and mules. Flidais irish the woodland goddess, protector of wild animals and cattle. Top 10 gods and goddesses of celtic mythology duration.
Horses in celtic mythology transceltic home of the celtic. Epona, celtic horse goddess was worshipped by the gauls the celtic french. Epona was the celtic goddess who gained the most success among the romans. She was worshipped throughout gaul and the roman empire. This is the record of the invasions by supernatural beings and deities. The majority of inscriptions and images bearing her name have been found in gaul, germany, and the danube countries. Epona, meaning divine mare, was the goddess of horses, including those who worked with them, as well as fertility during the iron age. In gaulish and later roman and galloroman mythology, epona was the goddess of horses, donkeys, mules. Her feast day in the roman calendar was december 18th.
The celtic goddess of horses, fertility and healing. Aug 27, 2017 explore lindajl54s board epona goddess of horses, followed by. Read this book and over 1 million others with a kindle unlimited membership. Morgan llywelyn takes the story of epona and expands it and tells the story of how a regular young woman could come to be revered as a goddess. As a protector of horses, epona was held in high esteem by all gauls, and even the visiting romans thought it best to offer her lumps of sugar now and again. Her name derives from the celtic words epos meaning horse and the suffix ona. The cycle focuses on the activities of the celtic gods, mainly about how five races of supernatural beings went into war to gain control of ireland. Celtic mythology is the mythology of celtic polytheism. Epona, rhiannon, macha, are celtic goddesses rich in horse lore. Her worship spread to britain and rome from western europe. Godchecker guide to epona, the gaulish goddess of horses from gaulish mythology. In fact there are those who believe epona is actually the pony, and the woman rider is just someone she is giving a lift to. The horse goddess starts with young epona coming to age in her tribe in ancient ireland. The identify epona comes from the gaulish phrase epos, which means horse.
Although known only from roman contexts, the name epona great mare is from the gaulish language. In celtic mythology, rhiannon, a mythic figure in the mabinogion collection of legends, rides a palewhite horse. She is bestknown from the mabinogion, a collection of medieval welsh tales, in which she makes her first appearance on a pale, mysterious steed and meets king pwyll, whom she marries. Epona is the celtic goddess of the horse and this is her story. Nehalennia who was a celtic goddess of sailors, fertility and abundance, epona, a celtic horse goddess of fertility, horses, asses, mules, and oxen.
Henwen english a fertility goddess who,whilst in the form of a magical sow, birthed strange litters. Jan 26, 20 epona, celtic horse goddess was worshipped by the gauls the celtic french. A time when a queen was as likely to ride into battle as a king. The name epona the name epona comes from gaulish, a member of the celtic family of indoeuropean languages. Posted in goddess project, goddess things tagged dream goddess, goddess epona, goddess of horses, goddess of travelers, goddesses of gaul, goddesses of great britain, goddesses of the roman calvalry at 9. See more ideas about celtic goddess, horses and celtic mythology. Despite being a gaulish word most of the surviving inscriptions and texts that mention this goddess are in latin. For celts in close contact with ancient rome, such as the gauls and celtiberians, their mythology did not survive the roman empire, their subsequent conversion to christianity and the loss of. Her cult survived the roman conquest and became part of the galloroman religion.
Epona is not somehow originally celtic, but a galloroman. Epona is a celtic goddess thought to be originally from gaul but worshiped all over britain. She was one of the oldest and most notable celtic deities, but she was also worshiped in ancient rome. The protector of horses, mules, and cavalry, epona was one of the only nonroman goddesses to have been wholly adopted by the roman empire often depicted astride a horse, epona resonated in the forces of the roman cavalry as an inspiration and guide through even the darkest of battles, and she remained one of their most worshipped goddesses between the first and third. Celtic goddess epona and her white mare bring dreams to you. The on and the a on the finish of eponas identify show that she was a female deity. Rhiannon, goddess of birds and horses, is also know as the queen of fairies. Epona is one of the most wellknown of all the goddesses within the celtic pantheon, and was granted such titles as the great mare, the divine mare, and the mare goddess. However the story of epona is as magical as ever, and although i have learned much more about celtic mythology in the intervening years, but kernunnos is. Celtic white horse meaning and mythology astrology of. The protector of horses, mules, and cavalry, epona was one of the only nonroman goddesses to have been wholly adopted by the roman empire.
Published july 15th 1998 by tor books first published 1982. Her name epona means mare and she was believed to be protector of horses, donkeys, mules and ponies. Uniquely for the celtic goddesses, the romans adopted her and erected a temple to her in rome. Some translations of epona are divine mare and she who is a mare. The men were killed and the romans were so awed with goddess epona and her swift horse they adopted her for their own to protect the horses and the calvary. Cernunnos the horned god of celtic mythology celtic mythology. Celtic goddess epona the great mare, goddess of horses with spell items. Epona was a celtic horse goddess, who may have originally been a fertility goddess.
The celtic goddess epona that rode swiftly across the. Because of this, she has been linked to the romanoceltic fertility horse goddess epona and other instances of the veneration of horses in early indoeuropean culture. No matter what youre looking for or where you are in the world, our global marketplace of sellers can help you find unique and affordable options. Epona great mare is the goddess of horses, who protected horses, donkeys and mules. Horses in celtic mythology transceltic home of the. She rides sidesaddle so is a bit behind in the equestrian department. The horse goddess celtic world of morgan llywelyn book 1 and millions of other.
See more ideas about celtic goddess, celtic mythology and celtic. Because of this, she has been linked to the romano celtic fertility horse goddess epona and other instances of the veneration of horses in early indoeuropean culture. This is a fictionalized version of how the old druid celtic gods became known. Celtic mythology and the horse wild horse education. The oldest information about the gallic goddess of horses. The ancient celtic styled depiction of horses continues to be reused today. Virtue has created a beautiful deck of cards based on her bestselling book archangels. Like other iron age europeans, the early celts maintained a polytheistic mythology and religious structure. Epona, goddess who was patron of horses and also of asses and mules epo is the gaulish equivalent of the latin equo. Epona was a widelyworshiped horse goddess of the continental celts who lived in the region that is presentday france and germany. She was particularly a goddess of fertility, as shown by her attributes of a. Perhaps one of the best known of the celtic deities associated with horses is the goddess epona. Epona is the continental celtic horse goddess who proved so popular she was adopted by the romans. See more ideas about celtic goddess, celtic mythology and gods and goddesses.
Epona was the celtic horse goddess whose worship spread to britain and rome from western europe. Apr 07, 2018 epona is the gaulish goddess of horses, donkeys, and mules. She has connections to the welsh goddess rhiannon and the irish goddess macha. Rhiannon, goddess of birds and horses by judith shaw. Feminine through eponas sovereignty as horse goddess among the celts. So agesilaus in the third book of his italian history.
Epona one of the oldest and widely known celtic deities. It is even unsure if the white chalk horse is for epona, maybe it is rhiannons. Epona was the celtic horse goddess, roman depiction a woman riding a fast steed, in her original form as a celtic deity. The name of the celtic goddess epona comes from the latinization of the gaulish name epo, which means horse. Rhiannon, in celtic religion, the welsh manifestation of the gaulish horse goddess epona and the irish goddess macha. When the roman cavalry discovered images of epona on her horse while fighting in gaul. A goddess of transformation, she uses her powers for love of others or self. She is usually depicted riding, or standing or sitting with horses. No deitys name evokes the image of the horse like the name epona.
Celtic mythology is the mythology of celtic polytheism, the religion of the iron age celts. There are many books and stories online to stroll through this day. Word spread quickly of goddess epona and soon her worship was so great the romans gave epona her own temple and her own feast day, festival of epona which was held on december the 18th. The protector of horses, mules, and cavalry, epona was one of the only non roman goddesses to have been wholly adopted by the roman empire. Epona the gaulish goddess of horses gaulish mythology. Regarded as the female deity and protector of horses, donkeys, and mules etymologically, the word epona is derived from protoceltic ekwos meaning horse, the celtic goddess was also possibly associated with fertility given the visual cues of patera, cornucopia, and foals in some of her extant sculptures. She was particularly a goddess of fertility, as shown by her attributes of a patera, cornucopia, and the presence of foals in some sculptures reinach, 1895.
Epona was a deity that ruled over the fertility of the land, who later turned the goddess of the equine race. The indepth epona site with historical facts you can trust about epona, the galloroman goddess of horses who was worshipped over much of the western roman empire especially in gaul and the germanies but also in britain, along the danube frontier, and as far afield as greece and africa. Based on origin myths of epona the celtic horse goddess, this is a nice little. Shrines to her could be found in stables, and it is likely the romans brought her worship with them to britain, where she was unknown before, even though the people there were also of celtic stock. So writes agesilaus in the third book of his history of the italic peoples. Epona, the gaulish horse goddess epona was the ancient horse goddess of the prechristian pagan people, known as the gauls, or celtic french. See more ideas about horses, celtic goddess and celtic mythology. A great story making the old celtic myths and legends come alive. Today we can understand epona mainly from her images, as few stories of. In his book on celtic religion from 2001 bernard maier confronts a. The worship of epona, the sole celtic divinity ultimately worshipped in rome. The celtic goddess epona that rode swiftly across the ancient. Epona traveled to britain during the time of the romans via the roman military. Oct 28, 2010 epona celtic horse goddess miglink1234.
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