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.We are told moreover of savage sacrifices of high-born Romano-Britishwomen, whose naked bodies on stakes were exposed in the temple of hergoddess Andraste, said to be a goddess of victory, while Boudicca herselfconducted divination concerning the fortunes of war by observing themovements of a hare.Another formidable woman ruler was Cartimandua in northern Britain, whotook over the leadership of the Brigantes from her husband (Hope 1970: 222).Her goddess was Brigantia, also said to have been a goddess of victory (Joliffe1941: 40).Similar figures are found in Irish tradition, and particularly Medb,Queen of Connacht, who leads her people to war in the Táin.Faced withsuch impressive martial figures of high-born Celtic women, we may feel thatthe cult of the goddess Epona, guardian of the horses ridden by warriors andused to pull war-chariots, might be likely to flourish among them and theirwomen followers.Epona was clearly a most popular goddess, since stones and inscriptionswere set up in her honour over all the parts of Europe occupied by the Romanarmies.She is usually shown riding a horse (Figure 8) or accompanied by ahorse and foal or by two or more horses; occasionally a saddled mare andfoal are shown without the goddess, and Benoit suggested that here shebecame the invisible rider (Benoit 1950: 50).She is most often shown ridingside-saddle, with the horse moving at a leisurely pace towards the right,although sometimes she rides astride (Linduff 1979: 823).Monuments to thegoddess are found mainly in central and northern Gaul, Germany and theDanubian Provinces, with a few in Italy, Spain, North Africa and Britain.While the goddess is depicted in the Roman fashion, and monumentsand inscriptions are mainly found at legionary posts, it has been noted thatEpona was most popular in the parts of Gaul and Germany where Romaninfluence was least strong (Linduff 1979: 823).There seems no doubt thathere we have a native Celtic goddess associated with horses, who has beenadopted with enthusiasm by the Romans because of the great importanceof the horse in the Roman army.Epona offered luck and protection to horseand rider, and attracted many in the army who would be unable or40  Mistress of the Animals Figure 8 Goddess Epona riding, from Kastel, Germany.Ht 25 cm.RheinischesLandesmuseum, Bonn.Based on photograph by M.J.Green (1989).EileenAldworth.unwilling to commit themselves to the more exclusive and demanding Mithraiccult.The account given by Linduff of Celtic horsemen brought in to fill the divisionsof the auxilia and the bodyguard known as the equites singulares, as well as thenumeri, which were crack corps of mounted soldiers, helps us to understand thereasons for Epona s popularity.Such cavalry men, expert in horsemanship andsetting great value on their mounts, were most likely to turn to Epona for protectionand luck, and to raise cult images in her honour in forts, camps and stables.However, there is no doubt that Epona is connected with the MotherGoddesses, and that she is concerned with fertility as well as with the protectionof a warrior s charger.While sitting on her mare or stationed between two ponies(Plate 4), she may carry a sheaf of corn or large circular emblems of fruit or bread(M.J.Green 1995: 184 5); sometimes she gives corn to her horses.The Gaulsapparently made use of mares on their farms, probably because stallions werepreferred in warfare, and the French word for mare, jument, comes from Latiniumentum (draught animal, beast of burden) (Linduff 1979: 832).One of Epona sgifts could thus be the fertility of the land and increase of produce.It is worthnoting that in Wales41  Mistress of the Animals Plate 4 Bronze figure of the goddess Epona with ponies (male and female),holding yoke and sheaf of corn.From Wiltshire, provenance unknown.Ht 7.5cm.© British Museum.and the border counties the mare was the symbol of harvest, and such aritual as  Crying the Mare continued into the nineteenth century when amare might be sent round the farms as a symbol that the harvest was42  Mistress of the Animals completed (see pp.71 2).Another probable role for Epona was to help inhorse-breeding; many monuments show her with a mare suckling her foal, orboth being fed by the goddess.Epona shown between two horses, popularin the Danubian provinces, is perhaps represented as a trainer of horses, oras the goddess who helped to domesticate them (Linduff 1979: 836).There is general agreement that Epona helped the dead in their journey tothe Otherworld, even if this function of the goddess was perhaps overstressedby Benoit (Linduff 1979: 834ff.).On a funerary plaque at Agassac in southernGaul she is shown on her horse surrounded by sea-monsters and variouscelestial symbols; Miranda Green (1995: 186) suggests that this may showher as guardian of the dead on their way to the Otherworld, which could bereached by water.On other funeral monuments she is depicted leading awalking figure, who appears to represent the dead.Her occasional holding ofa key has been taken as a symbol of this aspect of her nature, but the key canalso refer to birth and to the protection of domestic animals (see pp.34, 149).Occasionally Epona, like other Mother Goddesses, is represented by a tripleimage.Other possible goddesses associated with the horse have been sought inWelsh and Irish literature, and in particular Rhiannon and Macha.In bothcases there is a strong link between the supernatural woman and the horse,but other motifs from such traditional tales as  The Supernatural Wife and The Mother Wrongly Accused have been introduced, resulting in a massof complications, as Gruffydd (1953) has shown in his study of Rhiannon.She plays a part in several tales in the Welsh Mabinogion; the tale of Pwyll, Prince of Dyfed begins with her appearance on a  big fine pale whitehorse , moving at a  slow even pace , like the mount of Epona on numerousmonuments, although she cannot be overtaken even by the fleetest of steeds(Jones and Jones 1949: 9ff.) 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