Sabrina: A Hypothetical Brythonic Goddess (Fast[-flowing] River)

Synonyms: Severn, Hafren, Habrena
Bryth: Fast[-flowing] River

Sbrina is a figure known both from classical sources and from just-so story related by Geoffrey of Monmouth in his Historia Regum Britanniae and relates to the tale of Locrinus, a son of Brutus the Trojan, supposed eponymous founder of Britain. The land of Britain was divided amongst Brutus' sons, with Locrine, the eldest, gaining Lloegrys (Lloegr, England), Camber gaining Cymru and the youngest son, Albanact gaining Alban (Scotland). This only left Kernow (Cornwall) which remained in the hands of Brutus' friend and ally, Corineus. During this period Britain was invaded by a Hunnish army under the leadership of Humber. They landed in Scotland and defeated Albanact and on hearing of this, Locrinus assembled an army and instantly marched northwards. Battle is joined and the invaders were routed, with Humber being drowned in the river now named after him. Many prisoners were taken and one of these was a princess, Estrildis. Locrine fell instantly in love with her, but he was already promised to Corineus' daughter, Gwenddolen. Corineus, battle-axe in hand, forces Locrinus to honour his word and marry Gwendolen, but Locrinus secretes Estrildis in a secret underground dwelling beneath New Troy (Trinovantium, London), maintaining her as his mistress. Pretending that he is making sacrifices to the gods, Locrinus visits his lover for seven years, and in due course she falls pregnant and bears him a daughter by the name of Habrena (Latinized to Sabrina). Locrinus also has a son, Madan, by Gwenddolen. Following the death of Corineus, Locrine divorced Guenddolen and lived with Estrildis and their daughter Habrena. Enraged, the Gwenddolen raises an army in Cornwall and marches against her former husband, Locrine. His forces were easily defeated and Locrine himself was killed in battle. Gwenddolen pronounced herself regent for her son, Madan and she commanded that both Estrildis and her daughter, Habrena were put to death by drowning in a river. Gwenddolen then commanded that the river be named Habren so that Locrine's infidelity might be remembered for all time. Thus did the river Severn gain its name.

Whether this is simply a 'just-so' story, explaining the river's name, or represents a re-telling of a folk tale concerning a genuine river goddess is not known. However, since the timoe of Geoffrey Habrena/Sabrina has effectively become the genius loci of the river supposedly named after her. It should also be noted that during the first century CE Tacitus referred to the river as Sabrina in his Annals.

Etymologically, Tacitus' Sabrina would have been derived from a Brythonic word of the form Habrena, a name that is supported by the modern Cymric name for the river Severn, the Hafren (where the b/v shift is a common sound equivalence in insular Celtic). If Habrena was the original name then it can be interpreted as being derived from the reconstructed proto-Celtic elements *abon- (river [the inital 'h' is prosthetic], renwo- (fast, quick) and the feminine ending -a giving us 'The Fast[-flowing] River'. It is quite possible that the river's name was originally Habren ???? with the habren element used to denote a fast-flowing river in the same way as afon simply means river in Brythonic/Cymric and which with the Saxonization of England led to a number of rivers being called Avon (river in Celtic) with the original name of the waterway being lost. Could this be what happened to the Severn as well? As the only other deity associated with the Severn is Nodons with his great temple at Lydney park, could the river once have been known as Habrena Nodontos (the fast-flowing river of Nudd). It is an intriguing possibility, which would mean that no such deity as Habrena/Sabrina ever existed. Alternatively the Severn was simply known as the 'Fast-flowing River' and Habrena was the eponymous deity of the waterway.

Navigation