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Regina
A Brythonic Goddess: Queen
Regina is a Brythonic Goddess known from three English inscriptions who may be the fore-runner of the goddess Rigantona (great queen) who later became the figure of Rhiannon in Cymric (Welsh) mythos. |
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Bryth: Queen
Regina is a goddess known from three insciptions in Britain. The firs of these [CIL XIII 08518] comes from Worringen in Cheshire and invokes the goddess as deae Regin(ae) (the Queen Goddesses). The next inscription [RIB 1084] REGINAE VOTVM MISIO V L S (To Regina, in an offering for compassion, my vow is willingly fullfilled). Then there is one final, and crucial inscription from Chedworth in Gloucestershire [AE 1950, 134] which simply reads dea Riigina (to the goddess Regina). All the previous inscriptions are obvously to the Lating form of 'queen', Regina, however the form Riigina hints at the Celtic form rīganī-.
With the Latin and Brythonic forms of the name we may well have represented here the precursor of the goddess who would later become *Rigantona and Rhiannon, the 'Great Queen' of the Mabinogi of Pwyll Pendefig Dyfed who is also cognate with the Irish goddess Mórrígan (a name that also menans 'Great Queen').
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