I’ve always loved myths and legends and ancient gods and
goddesses. One of the aspects that I love about my Roman/Druid books set during
the 1st century in Britain
is the mysticism that surrounds the Druid peoples. This was a time when gods
and goddesses were integral to every day life—but the thing that really
captures my imagination is the goddess culture.
In the third book in my Forbidden series, Betrayed,
I already knew that the heroine, Nimue, worshipped Arianrhod, Goddess of the Moon
and Weaver of Fates. I only knew a little about this goddess but wanted to
thread her legend into Nimue’s story. She is mentioned in the Mabinogion,
a cycle of Welsh legends collected in the nineteenth century and—surprise
surprise—she is publicly disgraced in the royal court for failing to pass a
virginity test.
By her own brother, Gwydion.
Here, in a nutshell, is the legend. Arianrhod’s uncle, the
magician King Math, was required to keep his feet in the lap of a maiden
whenever he wasn’t at war, in order to retain his sovereignty and power. When
Arianrhod and Gwydion’s younger brother fell in love with her Gwydion, God of
Illusion, manufactured a war which entailed Math leaving his domain.
The younger brother immediately took advantage and raped the
maiden.
Upon Math’s return, and learning that his maiden could no
longer perform her duty, he took her hand in marriage and proceeded to punish
his two nephews. His punishments were completely bizarre and involved turning
them into a mated pair of deer for a year, then a mated pair of wild hogs and
finally a pair of mated wolves. At the end of each year the brothers produced
one offspring (I’m not going there :-) )
So, finally, the punishment ended, but Math still required a
maiden as his footholder. Gwydion suggested his sister, Arianrhod, who was
brought to court and had to step over a magical wand to prove her virginity. As
she did so she gave birth to twin boys, one who slipped into the sea and swam
away and the other was taken by Gwydion who raised him as his own.
And so Arianrhod was humiliated and shamed before the whole
court, forsaken by her brother Gwydion and later thwarted by her son. She
retreated to her castle and later drowned.
Right. I wasn’t too impressed by that ending that appears to
punish a woman for not conforming to a certain patriarchal worldview, so I dug
deeper.
And when you read between the lines, it gets interesting.
Arianrhod’s name means “starry wheel” and her palace, or
castle, was the Aurora Borealis. She is one of the Triple Goddesses, a Moon
Goddess associated with reincarnation and is connected to the womb, death,
rebirth and creation. She is a weaver of the fates and could shapeshift into an
owl—symbolic of wisdom.
In short, Arianrhod was a powerful goddess in her own right
and would have been a strong, independent woman and a primal figure of feminine
power.
Too powerful, perhaps?
I was intrigued and knew I’d found the hook I’d been looking
for. Nimue, my heroine in Betrayed, is an acolyte of Arianrhod. She’s
strong, independent and doesn’t need a man to protect her. But when she’s
captured by Tacitus, a Roman Tribune, her world is turned upside down and she
and Arianrhod’s fates become inextricably entwined.
The blurbs to my four books set during the first century AD can be read here
Forbidden - Out Now
Captive
- Out Now
Betrayed
- Coming Soon from Ellora’s Cave
Tainted
- Coming Soon from Ellora’s Cave
The Mabinogion, translated by Lady Charlotte
Guest. Welsh legends collected in the Red Book of Hergest, a manuscript which
is in the library of Oxford University.
Arianrhod’s legend is in the Fourth Branch, Math, the Son
of Mathonwy
Image of the moon from Shutterstock
