Rhiannon

/ree"an euhn/, n. Welsh Legend.

the wife of Pwyll who, accused of having eaten her son, was forced as a penance to carry people on her back until vindicated by her son's return.

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Welsh manifestation of the Gaulish horse goddess Epona and the Irish goddess Macha.

She is best known from the Mabinogion, in which she makes her appearance on a pale, mysterious steed and meets King Pwyll, whom she marries. Unjustly accused of killing her infant son, she was forced to carry people on her back like a horse until she was vindicated by her son's return.

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▪ Celtic deity

      in Celtic religion, the Welsh manifestation of the Gaulish horse goddess Epona and the Irish goddess Macha. She is best-known from The Mabinogion, a collection of medieval Welsh tales, in which she makes her first appearance on a pale, mysterious steed and meets King Pwyll, whom she marries. Later she was unjustly accused of killing her infant son, and in punishment she was forced to act as a horse and to carry visitors to the royal court. According to another story, she was made to wear the collars of asses about her neck in the manner of a beast.

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