Modron

A Dictionary of Celtic Mythology | 2004 | 700+ words | Copyright

Modron, Madron. Mother of the abducted child Mabon in the Welsh story of Culhwch ac Olwen and, according to the Triads, the mother of Owain ab Urien as well. By long-standing learned agreement, her name is derived from that of Matrona, Gaulish eponym of the Marne River, just as that of her son is derived from Maponos. The episode of Mabon's abduction while three days old may be a vestige of the myth of the Great Prisoner, a son of the Great Mother who is taken away from the sulphurous powers of Annwfn. In a folk-tale Urien Rheged meets a mysterious unnamed washerwoman at the ford of Rhyd y Gyfarthfa who declares herself the daughter of Annwfn; later she bears him the son Owain and the daughter Morfudd. Modron appears to have contributed to the figures of the Arthurian women Morgan le Fay and Morgawse.

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JAMES MacKILLOP. "Modron." A Dictionary of Celtic Mythology. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 12 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

JAMES MacKILLOP. "Modron." A Dictionary of Celtic Mythology. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (February 12, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O70-Modron.html

JAMES MacKILLOP. "Modron." A Dictionary of Celtic Mythology. 2004. Retrieved February 12, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O70-Modron.html

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