Editing Dea Matrona

{{Short description|Celtic goddess}}
{{for|the rock group|Dea Matrona (band)}}
[[File:Matrona Gaul goddess.jpg|thumb|200px|Stone carving of the goddess Matrona]]
[[File:Matrona Gaul goddess alt.jpg|thumb|200px|Stone carving of the goddess Matrona]]
In [[Celtic mythology]], '''Dea Matrona''' ('Divine Mother') was the [[goddess]] who gives her name to the river [[Marne (river)|Marne]] (ancient ''Matrŏna''<ref>Ancient authors referring to the river Marne as ''Matrona'' include [[Julius Caesar]], [[Ammianus Marcellinus]], [[Ausonius]] and [[Sidonius Apollinaris]]. {{cite web|url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059%3Aentry%3DMatrona2|access-date=1 May 2014|date=1879|author=Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short|title=A Latin Dictionary, 'Matrona'|publisher=Perseus, Tufts University}}</ref>) in [[Gaul]].

The [[Gaulish language|Gaulish]] [[theonym]] ''Mātr-on-ā'' signifies 'Great Mother'<ref name="delamarre">{{cite book|author=Xavier Delamarre|title=Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise|url=https://archive.org/details/dictionnairedela00dela_348|url-access=limited|year=2003|publisher=Errance|isbn=2-87772-237-6|page=[https://archive.org/details/dictionnairedela00dela_348/page/n217 219]}}</ref> and the goddess of the Marne has been interpreted to be a [[mother goddess]].<ref name="delamarre"/><ref>Cf. {{cite book|author=Jacques Lacroix|year=2007|title=Les noms d'origine gauloise - La Gaule des dieux|publisher=Errance|isbn=978-2-87772-349-7|pages=59–60}}</ref>

Many Gaulish religious images—including inexpensive [[terracotta]] [[statue]]s [[Mass production|mass-produced]] for use in household [[shrine]]s—depict mother goddesses nursing babies or holding fruits, other foods, or small dogs in their laps. In many areas, such ''Matronae'' were depicted in [[Triple deities#Triple goddesses|groups of three]] (or sometimes two)<ref>{{cite book|author=Miranda J. Green|year=1989|title=Symbol and Image in Celtic Religious Art|url=https://archive.org/details/symbolimagecelti00gree|url-access=limited|publisher=Routledge|isbn=0-415-08076-2|pages=[https://archive.org/details/symbolimagecelti00gree/page/n204 188]–204}}</ref> (see [[Matres and Matronae]] for the triads of mother goddesses well attested throughout northern Europe).

The name of Welsh mythological figure [[Modron]], mother of [[Mabon ap Modron|Mabon]], is derived from the same etymon (and Mabon has a cognate in Gaulish [[Maponos]]).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.maryjones.us/jce/modron.html|title=Modron|website=Jones' Celtic Encyclopedia|author=Mary Jones|year=2007|access-date=4 May 2014}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Aveta]], another Gallic mother goddess

==Sources==

{{Reflist}}
{{Refbegin}}
* 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.
{{Refend}}

{{Celtic mythology (ancient)}}

[[Category:Gaulish goddesses]]
[[Category:Mother goddesses]]
[[Category:Sea and river goddesses]]

{{Celt-myth-stub}}