Editing Modron (section)

==Origin==
Modron largely features in the Welsh tradition as a supernatural mother figure. She likely derives from the Celtic goddess [[Dea Matrona|Matrona]], known to have been worshiped in [[Gaul]]. Similarly, Modron's son, [[Mabon ap Modron|Mabon]] ("youth"), appears to derive from the youth god [[Maponos]].<ref name=Koch1299>Koch, p. 1299.</ref> Both Matrona and Maponos were worshiped in the area around [[Hadrian's Wall]], which may account for the prominence of Modron and Mabon in literature connected to the [[Brittonic languages|Brittonic]] ''[[Hen Ogledd]]'' (Old North) of Britain.<ref name=Koch1209>Koch, p. 1209.</ref> 

Certain elements of Modron's story – specifically that her son Mabon was stolen from her in the night as a baby – suggest a connection with [[Rhiannon]] in the [[First Branch of the Mabinogi]], whose son [[Pryderi]] was similarly stolen. [[William John Gruffydd]] suggested that Modron and Rhiannon were the same in origin.<ref name=Koch1299/>

[[John T. Koch]] suggests that Saint [[Madrun]], a daughter of [[Vortimer]], may also be connected, based on the similarity of the names and some elements of their stories.<ref name=Koch1299/> Other scholars believe the names ''Modron'' and ''Madrun'' are likely to be etymologically distinct; Madrun comes from the Vulgar Latin name Matrōna (also a common noun ''matrōna'' "matron", from Classical Latin ''mātrōna''), while Modron is from the Gallo-Brittonic theonym ''*Mātronā'' "Mother (goddess)".<ref>Haycock, Marged, Legendary poems from the Book of Taliesin, CMCS, 2007, p. 137</ref><ref>Gruffydd, William John, Rhiannon: An Inquiry Into the Origin of the First and Third Branches of the Mabinogi, University of Wales Press, 1953, p. 98 </ref><ref>Gruffydd, William John, "Mabon vab Modron", in: Y Cymmrodor, Volume 42, 1931, p. 140.</ref>