Her name may be derived from Welsh for "Maid of Annwn" or a variant of Rigatona, "Great Queen", and she is also the Celtic horse-goddess Epona.
She appeared to Pwyll, lord of Dyfed, as a beautiful woman in dazzling gold on a white horse. Pwyll rode after her, but even though his horse was fast he could not catch her. On the third day he called out to her, whereupon she slowed her horse, telling Pwyll that he should have spoken to her first before pursuing her. She told him that she was the daughter of Hefeydd the Old, and betrothed to a man she did not want to marry, named Gwawl. She asked Pywll to meet her at the court of her father in a year and a day, to prevent this marriage.
Pwyll defeated Gwawl, and married Rhiannon. She bore Pwyll a son, who vanished. Her women servants who attended to the birth thought they would be blamed for the child's loss, so they killed a puppy and smeared its blood on her, to make it appear that Rhiannon had killed her own baby. As punishment, Rhiannon spent seven years telling her story to all comers and bearing them, like a horse, to the court.
At the time the baby disappeared, there was a man named Teirnon, whose mares foaled on May eve and lost the foals mysteriously. Teirnon decided to keep watch, and managed to save the next foal from a mysterious beast - and he also discovered, outside the stable, a child, whom he and his wife adopted. The child grew to young manhood in seven years, and was given the foal rescued on the night he was found. Teirnon then recognised the child as the son of Pwyll and Rhiannon, and returned him to his family, where he was named Pryderi ("worry") by his mother.
Rhiannon/Epona is the protectress of horses and other animals, especially those who serve mankind. The horse and dog are two of her sacred animals.
As the "horse goddess," she also symbolizes the characteristics associated with horses, ie. vitality, independence, and intuitive understanding.
She is most often depicted with one or more horses and/or a dog.
Many depict her with three birds following behind her. It was said that these three birds were from the Otherworld (the home of the Gods/Goddesses) and their song contained the magical power to restore the dead to life and to heal sadness and pain.
She has also be portrayed as carrying keys, which may indicate a role in the underworld and accompanied with birds, often symbols of a happy otherworld.
From Roman times she is often depicted in carvings sitting on a horse in the sidesaddle position or lying on a horse. The appeal of the goddess is reflected in the fact that the Romans adopted Epona as their horse goddess, and she is the only Celtic goddess to have been worshiped in Rome. Epona was invoked for all matters concerning horsemanship, and for that reason she was favoured by the military. She may also have been worshiped for fertility and prosperity, as well as her more traditional horse associations.
Small images of Epona have been found in stables and barns all over Europe. A niche would be cut in the walls for a little statue of the Goddess would be found often garlanded with roses.
Gallo-Roman statuette of Epona from Alesia, a main center of Her cult.
