In Celtic mythology

Celtic mythology

Celtic mythology is the mythology of Celtic polytheism, apparently the religion of the Iron Age Celts. Like other Iron Age Europeans, the early Celts maintained a polytheistic mythology and religious structure...

, Dea Matrona ("divine mother goddess") was the goddess

Goddess

A goddess is a female deity. In some cultures goddesses are associated with Earth, motherhood, love, and the household. In other cultures, goddesses also rule over war, death, and destruction as well as healing....

 of the river Marne

Marne River

The Marne is a river in France, a right tributary of the Seine in the area east and southeast of Paris. It is long. The river gave its name to the départements of Haute-Marne, Marne, Seine-et-Marne, and Val-de-Marne....

 in Gaul

Gaul

Gaul was a region of Western Europe during the Iron Age and Roman era, encompassing present day France, Luxembourg and Belgium, most of Switzerland, the western part of Northern Italy, as well as the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the left bank of the Rhine. The Gauls were the speakers of...

.

In many areas she was worshipped as a triple goddess, and known as Deae Matres

Matres

The Matres and Matrones were female deities venerated in North-West Europe from the 1st to the 5th century AD...

 (or Deae Matronae), with a wider sphere of believed influence. This triadic deity is well attested throughout northern Europe (more generally as the Matres

Matres

The Matres and Matrones were female deities venerated in North-West Europe from the 1st to the 5th century AD...

or Matrones), not just in Celtic areas, and was similar to the Fates, Furies, Norns

Norns

The Norns in Norse mythology are female beings who rule the destiny of gods and men, a kind of dísir comparable to the Fates in classical mythology....

, and other such figures.

The Gaulish

Gaulish language

The Gaulish language is an extinct Celtic language that was spoken by the Gauls, a people who inhabited the region known as Gaul from the Iron Age through the Roman period...

 theonym Mātr-on-ā is interpreted to mean "great mother". The name of Welsh mythological figure Modron

Modron

In Welsh mythology, Modron was a daughter of Afallach, derived from the Gaulish goddess Matrona. She may have been the prototype of Morgan le Fay from Arthurian legend...

, mother of Mabon

Mabon ap Modron

Mabon ap Modron is a prominent figure from Welsh literature and mythology, the son of Modron and a member of Arthur's warband. Both he and his mother were likely deities in origin, descending from a divine mother–son pair. His name is related to the Romano-British god Maponos, whose name means...

 is derived from the same etymon. By analogy, Dea Matrona may conceivably have been the mother of the Gaulish Maponos

Maponos

In ancient Celtic religion, Maponos or Maponus is a god of youth known mainly in northern Britain but also in Gaul. In Roman times he was equated with Apollo....

.

Sources

• 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.