Template:Short description Template:For
In Celtic mythology, Dea Matrona ('Divine Mother') was the goddess who gives her name to the river Marne (ancient Matrŏna<ref>Ancient authors referring to the river Marne as Matrona include Julius Caesar, Ammianus Marcellinus, Ausonius and Sidonius Apollinaris. {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>) in Gaul.
The Gaulish theonym Mātr-on-ā signifies 'Great Mother'<ref name="delamarre">Template:Cite book</ref> and the goddess of the Marne has been interpreted to be a mother goddess.<ref name="delamarre"/><ref>Cf. Template:Cite book</ref>
Many Gaulish religious images—including inexpensive terracotta statues mass-produced for use in household shrines—depict mother goddesses nursing babies or holding fruits, other foods, or small dogs in their laps. In many areas, such Matronae were depicted in groups of three (or sometimes two)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> (see Matres and Matronae for the triads of mother goddesses well attested throughout northern Europe).
The name of Welsh mythological figure Modron, mother of Mabon, is derived from the same etymon (and Mabon has a cognate in Gaulish Maponos).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
See alsoEdit
- Aveta, another Gallic mother goddess
SourcesEdit
Template:Reflist Template:Refbegin
- Beck, Jane (1970) "The White Lady of Great Britain and Ireland", in: Folklore 81:4.
- Loomis, Roger (1945) "Morgain La Fee and the Celtic goddesses", in: Speculum. 20:2.
- Meier, Bernhard (1998) Dictionary of Celtic Religion and Culture; Cyril Edwards, trans. Woodbridge: Boydell and Brewer.