Maponos
– Mabon – Celtic God Youth and Hunting in Gaul and Northern
Britain
Maponos
was the Celtic god of youth, healing and hunting among the Celts of
Gaul during the Iron Age and era of the Roman Empire.
The
cult of Apollo Maponos was popular in Gaul and northern Britain. The
pagan god, Apollo Maponos, was venerated by the Roman soldiers
stationed around Hadrian's Wall during the occupation of the island.
The
popularity of Maponos continued in the form of Mabon in the mythology
of Wales.
Maponos
means “Great Youth”, “Great Son”, “Divine Son” and
“Divine Son of the Great Mother”.
The
mother of Maponos in Gaul was the goddess Dea Matrona or the “Great
Divine Mother”. The goddess, Dea Matrona, was the protective spirit
of the River Marne in the south-east of Paris.
The
deity, Dea Matrona, was the embodiment of the triple-goddesses of the
same name who bestowed gifts of fertility and prosperity.
The
goddess, Dea Matrona, in Gaul was another personification of Modron
in Welsh mythology.
The
Celts and Romanised Celts in Gaul portrayed Maponos as a god of
youth, music and hunting. His title of “The Divine Hunter”
inferred he enjoyed hunting as a typical pursuit of young warriors.
The
Catuvellauni lived in the around the River Marne and were
particularly associated with the cults of Dea Matrona and Maponos
during the Iron Age.
Historians
believe the Catuvellauni were one of the tribes who settled in
England during the Belgic migration in 100 BC.
The
veneration of Dea Matrona and Maponos was enhanced among the Britons
as the Catuvellauni became one of the largest and most prosperous
tribes in Britain.
The
Romans paired Maponos with Apollo, the Roman god of healing and the
sun, possibly because Apollo was the Roman ideal of youth.
An
inscription dedicated to Apollo Maponos was found at a healing spring
in Bourbonne-les-Bains in north-eastern France. Maponos became a god
of healing among the Romano-Gallic inhabitants of Gaul because of his
association with Apollo.
The
popularity of Maponos as a Romano-Gallic god was evident at a healing
spring called Les Roches in Chamalières. Chamalières is near
Clermont-Ferrand in central France.
Over
three thousand wooden votive offerings were made to Maponos in
Chamalières as a deity of hunting and healing. Some of the offerings
took the form of sculptures of limbs. The hoard of Celtic artefacts
in
Chamalières
is one of the largest ever found in France.
An
inscription dedicated to Maponos in Chamalières was engraved on one
of a small number of lead curse tablets. The curse tablets suggested
Maponos was possibly one of the gods of the Underworld because of his
association with the River Marne near Paris.
The
Gallic tribe of the Lingones venerated Maponos as a regional pagan
god around Bourbonne-les-Bains in north-eastern France and
Chamalières in central France.
The
cult of Apollo Maponos was popular among all ranks of the Roman army
stationed around Hadrian's Wall in northern Britain. Inscriptions
were found of the veneration of Apollo Maponos as well as Maponos as
a god in his own right.
The
prefect in charge of the Roman legions stationed at a Roman fort near
Hadrian's in Corbridge in Northumberland dedicated an altar to Apollo
Maponos
(Wikimedia
Commons-
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Roman_altar,_North_Nave_Aisle,_Hexham_Abbey_-_geograph.org.uk_-_749305.jpg
). The present-day site of the altar is Hexham Abbey.
Hexham
Abbey is also home to another altar dedicated to Apollo Maponos by a
centurion at the fort.
A
tribune from the same fort dedicated an altar to Apollo Maponos in
the village of Corbridge.
The
acting commander and prefect of a Roman fort honoured Apollo Maponos
with a monument in the present-day village of Ribchester in
Lancashire. The fort was built near Hadrian's Wall.
Maponos
was also honoured as an important Celtic god by the Roman soldiers
stationed near Hadrian's Wall.
A
silver plaque dedicated to “Dea Mapono”, or the “god Maponos”,
was discovered at the Roman fort of Vindolanda to the south of
Hadrian's Wall. The Roman fort of Vindolanda is now found near the
village of Bardon Mill in Northumberland.
Roman
soldiers paid homage to the pagan deity as the cult of Mabon as an
incarnation of Maponos was popular in northern Britain.
The
Lochmaben Stone in Dumfriesshire in Scotland is an ancient boulder
dating to 3000 BC which was once surrounded by a large Druidic stone
circle. The druids considered the area sacred to the god, Mabon,
because of a healing well.
The
cult of Mabon spread to Wales and remained popular after the
withdrawal of the Roman legions in 410 AD. Ruabon Mountain near
Wrexham in Wales means 'Mabon's Hill'.
The
Welsh hero, Mabon ap Modron, was another personification of Maponos.
Mabon was the son of the Modron, “the Great Mother goddess” and
Mellt, meaning “lightning”.
According
to the Mabinogion, Mabon was abducted from his mother, the goddess
Modron, when he was only “three nights old”. Mabon was taken to a
place in the Otherworld called Caer Loyw where he was imprisoned.
Caer
Loyw means “city of light” and is located the present-day
Gloucester. The “city of light” was closely associated with the
cult of Mabon as a sun-god in Wales.
The
kidnapping of Mabon when he was an infant and the reason he was
imprisoned remained a mystery in the legend.
Some
scholars believe the imprisonment of Mabon referred to the mid-winter
solstice as a sun-god who is released after the shortest day of the
year or 21st December.
Culhwch
was set the impossible task of bringing the tusks (razor), bristles
(comb) and jaw (shears) of the fierce, white boar, Twrch Trwyth. Only
Mabon possessed the exceptional skills necessary to hunt and kill
Twrch Trwyth as he was the greatest hunter in the land.
The
quest to find Mabon was aided by King Arthur, the uncle of Culhwch,
and his brave knights.
Culhwch
and King Arthur's knights eventually found Mabon after asking for his
whereabouts from different animals.
The
magical Salmon of Llyn Llyw knew the place where Mabon was held
prisoner because it was the oldest animal on the earth.
The
sadness of Mabon was heard by King Arthur's knights as they approached the prison of Caer Loyw in the Otherworld. Mabon was rescued by two
knights called Cei and Bedwyr so that the pagan god could take part
in the hunt for the boar.
Mabon
hunted the boar known as Twrch Trwyth as soon as he was freed. He
snatched the tusks, bristles and jaw of the ferocious boar, Twrch
Trwyth while riding swiftly on a horse called Gwynn Mygdwn, or the
“White Brown-mane”.
Culhwch
cut the hair and shaved the beard of Ysbaddaden, the father of Olwen,
with the body parts which were taken from the boar, Twrch Trwyth.
Ysbaddaden
died shortly afterwards which allowed Culhwch to marry his beloved,
Olwen.
Mabon
was portrayed in the Mabinogion as a benevolent ancient, deity. He
was a god who was always willing to help mankind.
The
cult of Maponos may have been present in Iberia (Spain and Portugal)
where he was known as Mabonios.
The
Blanchard's Stone discovered in Vermont in New Hampshire in the USA
also referred to Mabon in the Ogham inscriptions engraved on the
stone.
“According
to Barry Fell discovered in Vermont, is 'a
prayer for rain inscribed in a form of Gaelic used by Iberian Celts'
(Academia -
https://www.academia.edu/21466006/The_Blanchard_Stone_Vermont ).
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