Post by nellie on Jan 1, 2011 21:47:54 GMT -1
I'm getting ready to duck here...
Before Lee pointed me to this forum I'd been trying to find my way to some sort of path with Rhiannon.
I started by looking at the name 'Rigantona'. Mary Jones fantastic site clarified for me that the 'ona' part of the word indicated feminine divinity after I'll made the duff intellectual leap of faith that it maybe had something to do with annwyn (did I mention that I'm not a scholar lol!!) But the 'queen' part of the word still perplexes me. I could see that the 'Rigan' part of the word was queen, as in 'righan'... but isn't that Irish? Can anyone clarify this for me? Was 'righan' also used in mainland Britain or does it suggest that Rigantona travelled?
That Irish word was bothering me, so I trawled around the net off and on looking at stories of Irish goddesses. (I'm getting around to my point now, sorry for taking my merry time about it)
I don't have any reliable sources to go on, just questionable internet hits, which is why I'm asking here for your thoughts.
We summise that Rhiannon is a goddess of sovereignty, as such she takes mortal lovers (i.e the head of the tribe/clan/king). She has connections to Tigernonos, who I believe we think is a sea God(?) and appears in the mabinogi as Teyrnon 'roar of the sea' (again correct me where I'm wrong please!). She is shown as coming from the otherworld, and in the third branch of the mabinogi there is mention of her otherworld birds (Blackbirds).
And... *blush* I don't know if I can use UPG but I find clever wit, truth and speech to be important to Rhiannon.
The story that I found of Cliodhna seemed to echo some of these threads. She was apparantly known for having mortal lovers and some of the high born Irish families claiming to descend from Her. In one story she leaves the otherworld (her home) for a beautiful mortal lover (I forget his name now ) but while she is sleeping the sea, or the god of the sea comes to claim Her and takes Her back to the otherworld. (an echo of Rhiannon's link to Tigernonos/Teyrnon?) There is also a story that connects Cliodhna to the Blarney stone, and thus a connection to eloquence as per my UPG regarding Rhiannon. Another story gave Cliodhna 3 otherworld birds (though admittedly they were brightly coloured) that could heal the sick.
I know trying to equate one deity with another is very dangerous ground, but there do seem to be a few... echos. Are there actually any 'celtic' sources for the stories of Cliodhna? It seems She was a fairly localized goddess, places named after Her appearing mostly around Munster (apparantly - NB I can't back any of this up with fact)
This has been bumping around in my head for a little while without me making much sense of it so I'd appreciate any thoughts or pointers to better info!
Thanks
Before Lee pointed me to this forum I'd been trying to find my way to some sort of path with Rhiannon.
I started by looking at the name 'Rigantona'. Mary Jones fantastic site clarified for me that the 'ona' part of the word indicated feminine divinity after I'll made the duff intellectual leap of faith that it maybe had something to do with annwyn (did I mention that I'm not a scholar lol!!) But the 'queen' part of the word still perplexes me. I could see that the 'Rigan' part of the word was queen, as in 'righan'... but isn't that Irish? Can anyone clarify this for me? Was 'righan' also used in mainland Britain or does it suggest that Rigantona travelled?
That Irish word was bothering me, so I trawled around the net off and on looking at stories of Irish goddesses. (I'm getting around to my point now, sorry for taking my merry time about it)
I don't have any reliable sources to go on, just questionable internet hits, which is why I'm asking here for your thoughts.
We summise that Rhiannon is a goddess of sovereignty, as such she takes mortal lovers (i.e the head of the tribe/clan/king). She has connections to Tigernonos, who I believe we think is a sea God(?) and appears in the mabinogi as Teyrnon 'roar of the sea' (again correct me where I'm wrong please!). She is shown as coming from the otherworld, and in the third branch of the mabinogi there is mention of her otherworld birds (Blackbirds).
And... *blush* I don't know if I can use UPG but I find clever wit, truth and speech to be important to Rhiannon.
The story that I found of Cliodhna seemed to echo some of these threads. She was apparantly known for having mortal lovers and some of the high born Irish families claiming to descend from Her. In one story she leaves the otherworld (her home) for a beautiful mortal lover (I forget his name now ) but while she is sleeping the sea, or the god of the sea comes to claim Her and takes Her back to the otherworld. (an echo of Rhiannon's link to Tigernonos/Teyrnon?) There is also a story that connects Cliodhna to the Blarney stone, and thus a connection to eloquence as per my UPG regarding Rhiannon. Another story gave Cliodhna 3 otherworld birds (though admittedly they were brightly coloured) that could heal the sick.
I know trying to equate one deity with another is very dangerous ground, but there do seem to be a few... echos. Are there actually any 'celtic' sources for the stories of Cliodhna? It seems She was a fairly localized goddess, places named after Her appearing mostly around Munster (apparantly - NB I can't back any of this up with fact)
This has been bumping around in my head for a little while without me making much sense of it so I'd appreciate any thoughts or pointers to better info!
Thanks