What is "rhiannon"

Rhiannon is a major and classic figure in the earliest prose literature and mythology of Britain, the Mabinogi. This is a set of tales classified as Celtic or British mythology, Welsh literature, Welsh mythology. This British literature was compiled c. 1100 in mediaeval Wales from earlier oral traditions. It is culturally prominent in literary, mythological or Welsh circles today, known worldwide in English translations.

The Mabinogi is made up of Four Branches, or nodes. It is published on its own but also forms part of a larger collection known as the Mabinogion. The Mabinogion is a name based on an old mediaeval scribal error in the original manuscripts.

Rhiannon features prominently in these earliest British prose texts which survive in three mediaeval manuscripts. The oldest complete version of the Mabinogi is in Llyfr Gwyn (The White Book of Rhydderch). There is also a fragmentary manuscript known as Peniarth 6 which includes a little of Rhiannon's story. Both these manuscripts are now held at NLW (the National Library of Wales. Another later copy is in Llyfr Coch (The Red Book of Hergest), a manuscript now held at Jesus College, Oxford.

Rhiannon's tales are retold today in countless publications as well as plays, film, storytelling and other arts. Rhiannon's original story is mainly in the First Branch of the Mabinogi, with more in the Third Branch. She is a strong minded Otherworld woman, who chooses Pwyll, prince of Dyfed (west Wales), as her consort, in preference to another man to whom she has already been betrothed. Rhiannon is highly intelligent, politically strategic, and famed for her wealth and generosity. Their son is the hero Pryderi, who later inherits the lordship of Dyfed. Rhiannon as a mother endures tragedy when her newborn child is abducted, and she is accused of infanticide. As a widow she marries Manawydan of the British royal family, and has further adventures involving enchantments.

Like some other figures of British/ Welsh literary tradition, Rhiannon may be a reflex of an earlier Celtic deity. Her name appears to derive from the reconstructed Brittonic form *Rīgantōna, a derivative of *rīgan- "queen". In the First Branch Rhiannon is strongly associated with horses, and so is her son Pryderi. She is often considered to be related to the Gaulish horse goddess Epona. The resemblance is her horse affinity, and her son's, as mare and foal; also a paradoxical way of sitting on her horse in a calm, static way, like a key image of Epona. While this is generally accepted connection among scholars of the Mabinogi and Celtic studies, Ronald Hutton as a general historian, is sceptical.

"Rhiannon" is a song written by Stevie Nicks and originally recorded by Fleetwood Mac on their eponymous album in 1975; it was subsequently issued as a single the following year.

"Rhiannon" was voted #488 in The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time by Rolling Stone magazine. Its US chart peak was in June 1976, when it hit #11. It peaked at #46 in the UK singles chart for three weeks after re-release in February 1978.

The song is always referred to as simply "Rhiannon" on Fleetwood Mac albums. The title "Rhiannon (Will You Ever Win)" was used only on single versions in some countries.

Live performances of the song were sometimes prefaced with Nicks saying, "This is a story about a Welsh witch." During 1975–1980, Fleetwood Mac's live performances of "Rhiannon" took on a theatrical intensity not present on the FM-radio single. The song built to a climax in which Nicks' vocals were so impassioned that, as drummer and band co-founder Mick Fleetwood said, "her Rhiannon in those days was like an exorcism."

Rhiannon is a Welsh given name (pronounced ) and may refer to:

• Rhiannon Lassiter (born 1977), British writer
• Rhiannon Jeffrey or Rhi Jeffrey (born 1986), American swimmer
• Rhiannon Roberts, British footballer

• Lee Rhiannon (born 1951), Australian politician

Rhiannon is a queen in Welsh mythology.

Rhiannon may also refer to:

• Rhiannon (given name), a Welsh given name
• Rhiannon (song), a 1976 Fleetwood Mac song
• Rhiannon: Curse of the Four Branches, a 2008 video adventure game
• The Song of Rhiannon, a 1972 fantasy novel by Evangeline Walton
• The Sword of Rhiannon, a 1942 science fiction novel by Leigh Brackett
• Rhiannon's Ride, a 2004–06 series of novels written by Kate Forsyth
• 16912 Rhiannon, an asteroid discovered in 1998