View source for Mabon ap Modron

{{Short description|Welsh mythological character}}
{{Infobox deity
| type = Welsh
| name = Mabon ap Modron
| deity_of = <!-- or god_of / Alusi_of -->
| cult_center = 
| nocat_wdimage = yes
| animals = Possible connections with dogs and boars<ref name="IoMGMabon" />
| parents = [[Modron]]<ref name="IoMGMabon">{{cite book |last1=d'Este |first1=Sorita |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4GhrBAAACAAJ |title=The Isles of the Many Gods: An A-Z of the Pagan Gods & Goddesses of Ancient Britain worshipped during the First Millennium through to the Middle Ages |last2=Rankine |first2=David |date=2007 |publisher=Avalonia |pages=183–184 |isbn=978-1-905297-10-8 |language=English}}</ref>
| texts = ''[[Culhwch and Olwen]]''<ref name="IoMGMabon" />
| gender = Male
| equivalent1_type = [[Romano-British culture|Romano-British]]
| equivalent1 = [[Maponos]]
| equivalent2_type = [[Welsh mythology|Welsh]]
| equivalent2 = [[Pryderi]]
| equivalent3_type = [[Irish mythology|Irish]]
| equivalent3 = [[Aengus]]
| festivals = [[Modern paganism|Modern pagan]] connections with the [[Wheel of the Year#Autumn Equinox (Mabon)|autumn equinox]]<ref>{{cite book|last1=Zell-Ravenheart|first1=Oberon Zell-Ravenheart & Morning Glory|title=Creating Circles & Ceremonies: Rituals for All Seasons & Reasons|date=2006|publisher=New Page Books|location=Franklin Lakes, NJ|isbn=1564148645|page=227}}</ref> on the [[Wheel of the Year]]
}}
'''Mabon ap Modron''' is a figure from [[Welsh mythology]] where he is the son of [[Modron]] and a member of [[King Arthur|Arthur's]] war band. Both he and his mother were likely deities in origin, descending from a divine mother–son pair. Mabon has been equated with the mythological hero [[Pryderi|Pryderi fab Pwyll]] as well as with a minor Arthurian character known as '''Mabon ab Mellt'''.<ref>Davies, Sioned. ''The Mabinogion.'' 2005. Oxford University Press.</ref> His literary echo may be found in several continental Arthurian romance characters and in some of their English adaptations.

==Etymology and origin==
His name and figure is related to the [[Romano-British culture|Romano-British]] god of youth [[Maponos]] (a Celtic equivalent of [[Apollo]]<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Loomis |first=Roger Sherman |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ewTuEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA320 |title=Celtic Myth and Arthurian Romance |date=2005-08-30 |publisher=Chicago Review Press |isbn=978-1-61373-209-0 |language=en}}</ref>), whose name means "Great Son". His mother, [[Modron]], in turn, is likely related to the [[Roman Gaul|Gaulish]] goddess [[Dea Matrona]]. The name ''Mabon'' is derived from the [[Common Brittonic]] and [[Gaulish language|Gaulish]] deity name ''Maponos'' "Great Son", from the [[Proto-Celtic language|Proto-Celtic]] root ''*makwo-'' "son".<ref>{{cite book|last=Matasović|first=Ranko|authorlink=Ranko Matasović|title=Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YN_YPQAACAAJ|year=2009|publisher=Brill|isbn=978-90-04-17336-1|page=253}}</ref> Similarly, Modron is derived from the name of the Brittonic and Gaulish deity ''Mātronā'', meaning "Great Mother", from Proto-Celtic ''*mātīr'' "mother".<ref>{{cite book|last=Matasović|first=Ranko|authorlink=Ranko Matasović|title=Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YN_YPQAACAAJ|year=2009|publisher=Brill|isbn=978-90-04-17336-1|page=260}}</ref> According [[Roger Sherman Loomis]], Mabon, the "Great Youth", also appears under the names Gwair and [[Pryderi]].<ref name=":0" /> His counterpart in the [[Irish mythology]] is the god of youth [[Aengus|Aengus (Õengus) Mac ing Õg]].<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Mallory |first1=J. P. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tzU3RIV2BWIC&pg=PA162 |title=Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture |last2=Adams |first2=Douglas Q. |date=1997 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-884964-98-5 |language=en}}</ref>

==Welsh tradition==

===''Culhwch ac Olwen''===
{{Further|Culhwch ac Olwen}}
After [[Culhwch]] and his companions manage to defeat the antagonist, the giant [[Ysbaddaden]], the latter relents and agrees to give Culhwch his daughter [[Olwen]] on the condition that he completes a number of impossible tasks (''anoethau''), including hunting the giant boar [[Twrch Trwyth]] and recovering the exalted prisoner, Mabon son of Modron, the only man able to hunt the dog Drudwyn, in turn the only dog who can track Twrch Trwyth. [[King Arthur]] and his men learn that Mabon was stolen from his mother's arms when he was three nights old, and question the world's oldest and wisest animals about his whereabouts, until they are led to the [[salmon]] of Llyn Llyw, the oldest animal of them all. The enormous salmon carries Arthur's men [[Sir Kay|Cei]] and [[Bedivere|Bedwyr]] downstream to Mabon's prison in [[Gloucester]]; they hear him through the walls, singing a lamentation for his fate. The rest of Arthur's men launch an assault on the front of the prison, while Cei and Bedwyr sneak in the back and rescue Mabon. He subsequently plays a key role in the hunt for Twrch Trwyth.

===Other appearances===
One of the earliest direct reference to Mabon can be found in the tenth century poem ''[[Pa gur|Pa Gur]]'', in which Arthur recounts the feats and achievements of his knights so as to gain entrance to a fortress guarded by [[Glewlwyd Gafaelfawr]], the eponymous porter. The poem relates that Mabon fab Mydron (Modron) is one of Arthur's followers, and is described as a "servant to [[Uther Pendragon]]". A second figure, Mabon fab Mellt, is described as having "stained the grass with blood". He further appears in the medieval tale ''[[The Dream of Rhonabwy]]'', in which he fights alongside Arthur at the [[Battle of Badon]] and is described as one of the king's chief advisors.

== Derived characters ==
Mabon the son of Modron is almost certainly related to several continental (French and German) Arthurian romance figures: often magical, sometimes villainous, sometimes a giant, sometimes known as the [[Black Knight (Arthurian legend)|Black Knight]]. Such characters may include those known as Mabon/'''Maboun''' (an enchanter in ''[[Le Bel Inconnu]]''; as '''Maboun'''['''nys'''] in the English ''[[Libeaus Desconus]]''), '''Mabon'''/'''Nabon le Noir'''['''e'''] (different characters of a giant in the [[Prose Tristan|Prose ''Tristan'']] and an enchanter in the [[Post-Vulgate Cycle|Post-Vulgate ''Merlin Continuation'']]; the name in turn also inspired that of the knight '''Nabon le Noyre'''/'''Noire''' in the English ''[[Le Morte d'Arthur]]''), '''Mabonagrain'''/'''Mabonagrein''' (a giant in ''[[Erec and Enide]]''), '''Mabuz''' (a fairy prince in ''[[Lanzelot]]''), '''Madoc'''/'''Maduc le Noir'''/'''li Noirs''' (a knight in the [[Lancelot-Grail|''Livre d'Artus'']] and ''[[La Vengeance Raguidel]]'').<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bromwich |first=Rachel |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K2euBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA427 |title=Trioedd Ynys Prydein: The Triads of the Island of Britain |date=2014-11-15 |publisher=University of Wales Press |isbn=978-1-78316-146-1 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Darrah |first=John |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mjsWsH6tKwUC&pg=PA261 |title=Paganism in Arthurian Romance |date=1997 |publisher=Boydell & Brewer |isbn=978-0-85991-426-0 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QTCe0sUW9ukC&pg=PA285 |title=Romania |date=1896 |publisher=Librairie Franck |language=fr}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d88_AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA126 |title=Studies and Notes in Philology and Literature |date=1895 |publisher=Published under the direction of the Modern Language Depts. of Harvard University by Ginn & Company |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Thompson |first=Albert Wilder |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UWtoc_t64SoC&pg=PA47 |title=The Elucidation: A Prologue to the Conte Del Graal |date=1982 |publisher=Slatkine |isbn=978-2-05-100413-8 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Bruce |first=Christopher W. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XZFbczeMtYcC&pg=PA333 |title=The Arthurian Name Dictionary |date=1999 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-0-8153-2865-0 |language=en}}</ref> 

== Further reading ==
*{{Cite book |last=BanDea |first=Kelle |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-ZJYEQAAQBAJ |title=Mabon: Discovering the Celtic God of Hunting, Healing and Harp |date=2025-05-27 |publisher=John Hunt Publishing |isbn=978-1-80341-871-1 |language=en}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== Bibliography ==
* d'Este, Sorita; Rankine, David (2007). ''The Isles of the Many Gods: An A-Z of the Pagan Gods & Goddesses of Ancient Britain Worshipped during the First Millennium through to the Middle Ages''. Avalonia.

{{Celtic mythology (Welsh)}}

[[Category:Arthurian characters]]
[[Category:Welsh gods]]
[[Category:Welsh mythology]]
[[Category:Uther Pendragon]]