Rhiannon

Rhiannon, Riannon. One of the main female characters of the first, Pwyll, and third, Manawydan, branches of the Mabinogi whose persona derives from the pre-Christian goddesses Rigantona and Epona, the horse-goddess. Rhiannon, daughter of Hyfidd Hen, is betrothed to Pwyll, prince of Dyfed, after he has been dazzled by seeing her ride by on a white horse. At their wedding-feast, Pwyll fecklessly grants a favour to a suppliant, causing Rhiannon to be betrothed to Gwawl, son of the goddess Clud and his rival in romance. In a year's time Pwyll returns with a cleverer and more deadly trick, the game of badger-in-the-bag, killing Gwawl. When the newly married Rhiannon arrives at Arberth, Pwyll's palace, she dispenses precious gifts, evoking her divine origin as a bountiful goddess.

After a few years of marriage Rhiannon produces a son, who is stolen on May eve, the night he is born. Falsely accused of the infant's murder, Rhiannon is obliged to do public penance for seven years by sitting at the horse-block outside the palace gate, offering all visitors a ride on her back. Then Teyrnon, Pwyll's retainer, realizes that the child he has been fostering is royal, and returns him. Rhiannon calls the child Pryderi [care] following her remark, ‘I should be delivered of my care if that were true.’

In the third branch many years have passed, Pwyll has died, and Pryderi as ruler promises his mother as a wife to his comrade in arms Manawydan. Soon disasters befall the country and the family. A magical mist ravages Dyfed, leaving only Pryderi, his wife, Rhiannon, and Manawydan still living. Then Pryderi and Rhiannon are held captive in Annwfn, to be freed by Manawydan. The deadly mist is revealed to be the work of Llwyd the enchanter, a friend of Gwawl, seeking redress for the loss of Rhiannon to Pwyll. Manawydan then forces Llwyd to restore Dyfed to its former verdancy.

There is little question of Rhiannon's anticipation in the shadowy British goddess Rigantona, and her links to the horse-goddess Epona also seem secure, as evidenced by her meeting with Pwyll and her punishment after Pryderi's abduction. She may also be related to Macha (3), the Irish equine figure. The three birds of Rhiannon, mentioned in the Mabinogi, are said to sing over the sea at Harlech. In Culhwch ac Olwen they can wake the dead and lull the living to sleep. Roger Sherman Loomis (1927) thought Rhiannon's persona contributed to the Arthurian Ninian (The Lady of the Lake).

Bibliography

See W. J. Gruffydd , Rhiannon (Cardiff, 1953);
Kenneth H. Jackson , ‘Some Popular Motifs in Early Welsh Tradition’, Études Celtiques, 11 (1961–7), 83–9.
The Anglo-American rock group Fleetwood Mac gave the name wider currency with the song ‘Rhiannon’ (1976).