Epona

Epona. Important goddess of the ancient Continental Celts, always linked to the horse; her name is implied by the expressions ‘Divine Horse’ and ‘Horse-Goddess’. Epona's worship centred in the Alésia region of eastern Gaul[France], but was widespread on the Continent, usually in rural, domestic contexts, later spreading to Britain. She is com-memorated in more surviving inscriptions and statues than any other early goddess. Most often she is portrayed on horseback, usually clothed and riding side-saddle, accompanied by a bird, dog, and foal. At thermal springs, such as Allerey and Saulonla-Chapelle, she appears nude and nymph-like. A triple Epona was found at Hogondange in the Moselle valley, which may explain the occasional plural form of her name, Eponabus. Sometimes Epona is portrayed riding a great horned goose.

Epona's being female, modern commentators note, may acknowledge the role of women in agriculture and husbandry, but she is also linked to Matres, the Romano-Gaulish fertility figures. Roman commentators noted her popularity with the cavalry, her statues being erected in stables, and her patronage extending to mules and donkeys. She was the only Celtic deity ever cited in the Roman pantheon, where her feast-day was celebrated on 18 December. Her worship appears to have been imported to Britain during Roman dominance, where her cult merged with that of Macha and Rhiannon, who is also portrayed holding and dispensing bags. Recent scholarship does not support her popular association with the great horse figure carved in the chalk bluffs at Uffington in Berkshire. The Epidii people of early Scotland, however, may have worshipped her.

Bibliography

See René Magnen and and Émile Thévenot , Epona, déesse gauloise (Bordeaux, 1953); Fernand Benot, Les Mythes de l'outre-tombe; le cavalier à l'anguipède et l'écuyère Epona (Brussels, 1950);
K. Linduff , ‘Epona: A Celt among the Romans’, Collection Latomus, 38 (4) (1979), 817–37. Morgan Llywellen fabricates a love story for a blonde Epona in the popular novel The Horse Goddess (Boston, 1982).