Rhiannon - Lore and Legend - A Goddess With A Moral
Posted: Friday, August 13, 2010
by Dr. Carla Goddard
Goddess Rhiannon and the lore and legend as retold by an elder.
The Celtic people of the Old Religion lived in a land we call Britain along time ago. This is a story that was told to teach the youngest of those Celts about the Goddess Rhiannon.
Lord Pwyll was a powerful man who ruled the Celtics many, many moons ago. It was a bright morning like many others before, that Lord Pwyll went up onto a hill that many believed was a magical hill. It was whispered tat if you slept the entire night there beneath the full moon light, you would see something magical that none had seen before. So Lord Pwyll wanted to see what the magical imagery that would appear was after hearing so many whisper of It. He took his men and marched to the top of the hill and put sentry guards at the four corners to protect the men while they slept. The sentry guards were to awaken Lord Pwyll if anything should appear.
They remained for another night. The sentry determined not to fail the Lord again watched across the paths for any sight of the beautiful Lady. Once more, just before the Moon disappeared and the Sun arose in the sky the beautiful Lady appeared upon the white mare. The sentry yelling to Lord Pwyll that she was nearing, while mounting his own horse determined to catch up with her. As the sentry did not wish to feel the wrath of the Lord once more. As the sentry galloped down the path faster and faster, the Lady seemed to keep the distance between them perfectly equal. The sentry slowed, and so did the Lady. Finally the sentry returned with his head hung low to report to the Lord it was impossible to catch the Lady.
Lord Pwyll was now determined that He would be the one to stop her. So on that third night the Lord sat up with his own mare ready to gallop at the first sighting. The Lord knew his mare was the finest mare in all the lands. It was faster than any knights and he had proven it so many times. The Lord was sure that there was no way the Lady would out run him. He was positive He alone would be the one to capture the beautiful Lady.
At the precise time the Moon was disappearing and the sun was arising the Lady appeared. The Lord jumped astride his own mare and took off after the Lady determined to catch her. To his dismay the beautiful Lady remained the same distance from him. The Lord was not about to give up his chase though. Galloping over the hills and through valleys, never did the distance between them decrease or increase as though some magical boundary kept them parted. He slowed to rest his mare, as did the Lady. Seeing the Lady slow, the Lord with a hard spur of His heel raced forward to catch the Lady off guard. However, the Lady seemed to know the Lords moves and with ease speed her own mare up keeping the distance between them.
Finally when the Lord's horse could run no more the Lord stopped. The mare sweating and bleeding from the many spur's of the Lords heel into its flesh. When the Lord looked to the Lady's mare, it showed no signs of having just raced many lengths.
The Lord jumped from his horse and fell upon his knees yelling "Lady! For the sake of the one you love please stop!".
The beautiful Lady turned her head speaking in a musical melody, "I will gladly stop. And it would have so much the better for your horse if you had asked me sooner."
The moral of this story: As in all things, even love, it is better to ask than to try and take.
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Top-level comments on this article: (1 total)This is such a great story! I think it's very important to be able to ask - these days people talk a lot about the merits of giving, but not of receiving, and not of asking, either.JenniferAlot of the mystic stories are wonderful parables. I find the old stories fascinating.mwah
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