EPONA
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Epona, the horse goddess
Epona is a Gallo-Roman goddess of horses, ponies, and motherhood. Her name means Great Mare, from the Gaulish word for horse. Roman writers mention her, her festival falls on 18 December, and she is described as the only Celtic deity worshipped in the city of Rome itself.
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Name
Sculptures show her riding side-saddle, seated on a throne, or standing with a foal. The objects in her hands are a patera, a cornucopia, fruit, bread, or grain. I am not adding a triskelion or a three-horse symbol. That reading was in an early note and not in the Wikipedia text I used, so it stays out. Juvenal’s Satires, written around 100–127 CE, are the earliest literary mention Wikipedia cites. Apuleius puts a stable shrine in The Golden Ass. Worship runs through the first to third centuries across the empire.
Why Zelda uses the name
Link’s mare inherits the goddess’s name and nothing else from the cult. The games do not retell the Roman festival. Scholars also compare Epona with the Welsh figure Rhiannon, another woman tied to horses and the Otherworld. That comparison is a Wikipedia summary of academic opinion, not a claim that the two are the same goddess. The anime character Epona Rhiannon borrows both names and is a third person entirely. The UK charity Epona describes a modern protector of horses, donkeys, and ponies. That sentence is their wording, not a Roman inscription.
The photograph on this page is a relief in the National Museum of History and Art in Luxembourg, inventory 264, found at Contern. Wikimedia Commons hosts the file. It is a stone, not a screenshot, and it is here so the goddess page is not illustrated with a game horse.
FAQ
What does Epona mean?
Great Mare. The root is the Gaulish word epos, horse.
How do you pronounce Epona?
Players say ee-POH-nuh, following Zelda Wiki. A classical Latin class may stress it differently. I am not merging those into one “correct” sound.
What is Epona the goddess of?
Horses, ponies, fertility, and motherhood. The charity site adds donkeys to the modern description.
When is her festival?
18 December, according to the Wikipedia summary of the Roman calendar.
Related
Sources
- Oxford Classical Dictionary — Epona — checked 2026-11-14
- Encyclopedia of Religion — Epona — checked 2026-11-14
- Wikipedia — Epona — checked 2026-11-13
- Epona UK charity — checked 2026-11-13
- Zelda Wiki — pronunciation — checked 2026-11-13
- Wikimedia Commons — Contern relief — checked 2026-11-14
