The Goddess Rhiannon

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Rhiannon, Great-Queen.
HRE*N0N
Alternate meanings: Divine-Queen.
[to Whom the twenty-second day of May, day 142, is dedicated]

Geography/Culture: Celtic: Welsh.
Description: Goddess of the year; Mistress of the Underworld; Beautiful Queen of the night and its dreams (both pleasant and unpleasant); Muse of inspiration; Source of truth; She Who is adored by all true poets.
To Whom Sacred: white horse; three birds (whose songs awakens the dead and sends the living into blissful sleep); lunar crescent (of either silver or gold).

Titles/Variants, etc:

Mother of: Elaine.
Some suggest that Rhiannon and Epona, are equivalent.
In some ways Rhiannon seems equivalent to German Mora, below.
The original form of Her name is Rigantona, Divine-Queen, (of which Rhiannon is said to be a corruption). See the word element -ona.
She evolved into the Medieval enchantress: Vivien, below.

Source:

Mora, Nightmare.
MOr1
Geography/Culture: German.
Linguistic Note: though my source gives the meaning as `nightmare', I find nothing under mora in LGED. Under `nightmare' I find alptraum; alp plus traum `dream'. Under alp itself, nothing; but further on alpdruck, alpdrücken, `nightmare', (with druck, and drücken, `press, squeeze'), as well as alptraum, `nightmare'.

Titles/Variants, etc:

See also Alphito linguistic notes.
In some ways equivalent to Welsh Rhiannon.

Source: prob. Graves; LGED.

Vivien, Liveliness.
VYVY6N
Geography/Culture: Celtic: Wales, Brittany.
Linguistic Note: Her name is said to be a scribal miscopying of the name Rhiannon. It is also given, by Tennyson and Mathew Arnold, as the name of the enchantress Who seduced Merlin.
Description: Fay Goddess of enchantment; Good Lady; She Who is as good as She is beautiful; She Whose voice is as gentle as the rustling of leaves; Protectress of peasants.
To Whom Sacred: cave; mist; white palfrey.
Male Associates: She was the seductress of Merlin; Foster-Mother of Lancelot, and the Protectress of Arthur.

Titles/Variants, etc:

Also called Nimue, see below.
A form of Rhiannon.
Variant: Viviane.

Source: FFCC/10, 189, 315, 329; FWSDFML/1161.

Nimue, ---.
NYMUE
Geography/Culture: Welsh.
Description: Goddess of inspiration and poetic immortality; Enchantress; Lady of the Lake; `White Lady of Day, Refuge of Poems'; Queen of the island wherein there is no winter, pain or death.
To Whom Sacred: magic cave.
Male Associates: Merlin, and Arthur.

Titles/Variants, etc:

Similar to Fata-Morgana.
Variant: Nyneue.
Vivien is sometimes referred to as Nimue

Source: Monaghan BGH 219; Graves WG 429, 439.

worked on: July 31, 1991; May 1995.
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