Epona

In his introduction to The Mabinogi and Other Welsh Tales, Patrick Ford speculates that the relationship between Macha and Rhiannon derives from the story of Cyfranc Caseg a'r Mab, "The Mare and the Boy" from the Welsh Mabinogion and two Irish versions of a similar story.

In Cyfranc Caseg a'r Mab, Rhiannon has a child who is swept away and in it's place is left a mutilated corpose. As punishment, Rhiannon is made to assume horse-like duties by carrying people to the city gates. Ford speculates that Rhiannon's punishment was influenced by two things: the described punishment was well known in the middle ages and her hippomorphic aspect had survived with sufficient strength to influence this part of the tale.

In one of the Irish versions, Noinden Ulad, "The Debility of the Ulsterman," Ford points out that the pertinent points in this story are that at a king's assembly, a woman races against horses his horses, and while behving like a horse, gives birth to twins. (Interesting note that the capital of Ulster takes its name from Macha's twins (Emain Macha).

Ford provides this excellent summary of the two Irish tales:

In these two Irish tales, we glimpse once again the remnants of a myth operating at both the hippomorphic and anthropomorphic levels. Macha, daughter of the Sea, appears as one who insures prosperity. Compelled to behave like a horse, she runs against the king's horses and delivers twins while in that equine role. Elsewhere, twin horses are born of Macha (the supernatural one is liath 'grey' like the canwelw 'pale white, whitish' horse upon which Rhiannon rides) under circumstances that also yield the birth of the hero. At least one of these horses is of the sea, but both become associates of the hero.

Ford associates mares (or women acting as mares) with kings and with the sea the well known rites witnessed by Giraldus Cambrensis in Tirconnell in the north of Ireland. These rites included the ritual mating of a king with a white mare (who was later cut up and served in a broth to the king and the attending people).

In the Welsh and Irish tales, according to Ford, Rhiannon and Macha both act as women and as mares, and eventually bring prosperity/progeny to their kingdom. The offspring are also associated with horses.

Rhiannon's and Macha's association is through one of parallel storylines through the tales outlined above, and also to possible passing of sovereignty through the mating of the Divine Mare to the king. Both are associated with pale horses (note that the color of Epona's horse is unknown).

Other branches of the Mabinogion also contain parallel horse-sovereignty, including the tale of Branwen.

I am also happy to share my notes from this book. Message me if you would like to see them.

The Mabinogi and Other Welsh Tales, translated and edited with an introduction by Patrick K. Ford, U. of Ca. Press, Berkeley, 1977. ISBN: 0-520-03414-7

Is eating horse meat a particularly Celtic taboo? In Britain and in the U.S., there is an aversion to eating horse meat. Is this aversion a cultural remnant from forebears who relied on horses for transportation or maybe a religious taboo to not eat a sacred animal? In Pyrderi's Tale in the Welsh Mabinogion, Rhiannon rides a white horse and is often associated with horses. Are religious associations a possible tie-in for the taboo?

In France, one place where the Gallo-Roman horse goddess Epona was honored, horse meat is still a popular food. About 34,700 tonnes of horse meat was consumed in France in 2001. Twice that amount was used in Italy during the same year.[1]

Maybe it was more of an economic reason instead of cultural? If you come from a horse riding culture, you don't eat your transportation. Or maybe horses were simply too costly?

The "Horse" entry in Wikipedia provides some interesting information:

Horse was commonly eaten in many countries in pre-Christian Europe, but not in Islamic or Jewish countries, since under Mosaic Law, horse meat is unclean because the horse is not cloven-hoofed or cud-chewing. In pre-Christian times, horse meat was eaten in northern Europe as part of Teutonic religious ceremonies, particularly those associated with the worship of Odin.

In 732 A.D., Pope Gregory III began an effort to stop the pagan practice of horse eating, calling it "abominable", and it has been said that the people of Iceland were reluctant to embrace Christianity for some time largely over the issue of giving up horse meat. In some countries the effects of this prohibition by the Catholic Church have lingered, and horse meat prejudices have progressed from taboos to avoidance to abhorrence.

So maybe the taboo is a more modern origin and not a cultural or religious remnant?

I could never eat horse meat for religious and personal reasons. Even when I was quite hungry, stuck in an airport hotel, I refused to eat at the restaurant "Le Cheval Gris," proudly serving "filet du cheval."

References

[1] Justin Thompson, "Out to Pasture," CBC News Online, Dec. 23, 2002. http://www.cbc.ca/news/features/horse_meat_industry.html

[2] Wikipedia entry for "Horse," http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horse

The Numidian or Libyan horse is the ancestor of the modern Arabian horse (see photo to the left). Hannibal used these horses with great success during the Second Punic Wars. The Romans initially were not fond of the Numidian breed because it did not meet a Roman ideal of equine confirmation. Romans preferred a stocky, muscular horse, preferably taller. Horses at that time were shorter then they are today: a tall horse would be 15 hands high (~60 inches, 4 inches per "hand," the average width of a man's hand). For example, staff at the International Museum of the Horse, learned that 12 hands was the idea height for a horse driving a reconstruction of the Wetwang chariot, an Iron Age chariot uncovered in East Yorkshire, U.K.

The Carthagian general Hannibal discovered that the Arab's smaller stature, slighter build, and large eyes made them ideal for charge and retreat tactics on the battlefield. He brought 1,950 African cavalry, mostly Numidian, through Iberia and over the Alps into Italia, during the Second Punic Wars (218-204 BCE). Ann Hyland, in Equus: Horse in the Roman World illustrates the important role this breed played during successful cavalry charges:

While Hannibal's massed bridled and heavy cavalry, mostly Spaniards, took the brunt of a head-on charge, the Numidians on their smaller, nimbler horses and using their charge and disperse tactics fought on the blanks, being most effective at Ticinus where they swamped the Roman's Gallic cavalry, taking a heavy toll with their harrying, relying on their short daggers once javelins were spent. With an eye to the main chance, the Celts in the Roman pay then deserted to Hannibal, boosting his cavalry to over 10,000. At Trebia the Numidians were again the most useful of Hannibal's cavalry. Employed on the flanks of the army they used their favourite hit, run and re-form, recharge and harry techniques, terrifying the Romans. At Trasimene, when the trap was sprung, Hannibal's cavalry pursued the cornered Romans, driving them down into the waters of the lake where they were killed or drowned. (Hyland, 1990: 174-5)

The Roman's also learned to rely on Numidian cavalry. In 125 BCE, the Romans, engaged with the Gauls in Arles, were bailed out by a Numidian cavalry force attached to the legions. The modern day Carmargue pony is said by French writers to have descended from indigenous stock crossed with the Numidian horses of the auxiliaries. (Hyland, 1990: 24)

How is this ancient breed related to the modern Arabian? The best concrete evidence of how similar the modern Arab is with the ancient Numidian breed is from a horse skull found in Newstead, Scotland. Hyland cites James Curle's 1911 book, A Roman Frontier Post and its People, where he describes 14 hands high horses found with the auxiliaries in Newstead, Scotland. The front index measurements of one of the slender-limbed horses was almost identical to the skull of an Arabian mare (Jerboa) in the British Museum:

• Length in mm: Jerboa--368; Newstead--372
• Width in mm: Jerboa--205; Newstead--201

References

Hyland, Ann, and John Mann. 1990. Equus: the Horse in the Roman World. B.T. Batsford, Ltd., London.

All the queens' horses : the role of the horse in British history. 2003. Harmony House Publishers, Goshen, KY.

Nantonos Aedui has posted an excellent discussion of Metamorphoses by Lucius Apueius. This story mentions Epona and provides some insight into how her altars may have appeared and how she may have been honored.

The Golden Ass, or Metamorphoses, by Lucius Apuleius traces the spiritual evolution of an aspirant, also called Lucius, by the allegory of physical transformation from young man, to an ass, and back again as an Isiatic initiate. The stages of transformation and the progression from idle spectator, through active participant, to enlightened contemplation, are discussed in (Mangoubi 2001). The three stages (before, during, and after transformation) are under the guidance of the goddesses Diana, Epona, and Isis respectively.

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August 21 , 2003