Welcome back to White Rose of Avalon, my Darlings. Today’s blog post is a rumination on three of the most important Divine Mothers in Welsh Celtic and Arthurian lore: Igraine, Modron, and Rhiannon! I thought this was the ideal post for today, as it is Mother’s Day in the US today. Given that I am an American, I decided to do a Mother’s Day Special today.
As noted, all three of these Faery Queens have the link of being famous for their motherhood. Of course, we can also include Melusine, Branwen, and Arianrhod in the mix of Avalonian Faery Queens who are mothers. I could have looked at the Motherhood of all of the Welsh Celtic, Avalonian, and Arthurian Divine Mothers, but that would have been a very long post. That being said, I chose to focus on Igraine, Modron, and Rhiannon because of how integral their motherhood is to their stories!
~IGRAINE~
~We start our look at the Mothers of Welsh Celtic and Arthurian lore with the Mother of Arthur himself! Igraine was the wife of Gorlois, the Duke of Cornwall, when she caught the attention of Uther Pendragon, the High King of England. Through the trickery and deception of a Faery Glamour placed on Uther by Merlin, so that he would appear to be Gorlois, Uther seduced Igraine. This is how Arthur was conceived! It is rather upsetting and tragic that Igraine had sex with a man she believed to her husband (on the night her husband was being killed in battle) and then ended up pregnant because of this. Igraine’s tragedy continues when she weds Uther, although in several tellings it is stated that she either grew to love Uther or always did (and this is why she forgave how Arthur was conceived). After the birth of Arthur, Igraine goes through even more heartache, as her son is taken from her to be raised elsewhere (we learn later that Merlin had entrusted Arthur into the care of Sir Ector). In many tellings, including most of the famous recent re-tellings like The Mists of Avalon, Igraine is stated to have been from an ancient Faery Priestess Bloodline, showing the magick within her that was passed to her son. It should also be noted that in most versions of the legends, she is also the Mother of Morgan le Fay, making this connection to Faery Magick and Avalon all the more profound!
~MODRON~
~Modron’s name quite literally means Mother, and she is considered the ultimate Mother Goddess in Welsh lore! It must be acknowledged that Modron is accepted by most modern scholars to be an aspect, or earlier version, of Morgan le Fay. This is largely due to the fact that Modron is referred to as being the Mother of Owain and wife of Uriens, and Morgan le Fay would later be referred to as the Mother of Owain and wife of King Uriens in the later Arthurian legends! Now, clearly, Modron is the Mother of Owain, but she is most famous for being the Mother of Mabon. Mabon was stolen from Modron when he was just a baby, and finding Mabon was one of the impossible tasks that Culhwch was given when he sought the hand of Olwen in marriage! Mabon was found during the story, and is one of the examples of sons being taken from their Faery Queen Mothers found in The Mabinogion and Arthurian legends. In fact, all three of these Mothers in this post share the fact that in their story, they have a son taken from them in infancy, which is the ideal lead into my final Mother I am discussing in this post!
~RHIANNON~
~Rhiannon is the Faery Queen Goddess who came forth from the Otherworld in the First Branch of The Mabinogion. She appears when Pwyll, Prince of Dyfed, first sits upon the Gorsedd Arbeth (where it is said that if you sit there, you would either be beaten by physical blows or witness a wonder). Golden-Veiled Rhiannon is the wonder that Pwyll sees, and when he finally catches up to her riding on her mare, she tells him that she is being married to someone against her will, but she only wishes to marry Pwyll! This is how the couple becomes engaged, and after some obstacles, they do marry. Of course, their happiness gets put in jeopardy when Rhiannon does not have a child in the first three years of their marriage. Pwyll refused to put Rhiannon aside then, convinced she was fertile, and he was correct because within the next year, Rhiannon gave birth to a beautiful baby! Sadly, the baby was stolen right after his birth, when Rhiannon was asleep and the nurses had all also fallen asleep. This is how Rhiannon is accused of infanticide, but she holds her head high while enduring unjust punishment for this crime she did not commit! Gladly, Rhiannon’s son was returned to her, and was renamed Pryderi based on the first thing Rhiannon said upon learning her child had survived. Rhiannon and Pryderi are also main figures in the Third Branch of The Mabinogion and Pryderi is the only figure who physically appears in all Four Branches of The Mabinogion! This shows just how important Rhiannon and her son are.
~I hope you have enjoyed this Mother’s Day exploration of three Welsh Celtic and Arthurian Mother Goddesses. Happy Mother’s Day to all the Mothers out there. What other Faery Queen Mothers’ stories resonate with you? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
Note on Image: The image at the top of the post is Igraine by eyne81 on DeviantArt. I found the art on https://www.pinterest.com/pin/507077239274786056/.
LINK TO AVALONIAN ROSE FAERY MYSTERIES PATREON: patreon.com/AvalonianRoseFaeryMysteries
Further Reading
- The Mabinogion translated by Sioned Davies
- Le Morte d’Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory
- The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley