Welsh ·
Female
According to the late Professor Proinsias Mac Cana of University College Dublin and Visiting Professor of Celtic Studies at Harvard University, Rhiannon derives "from Rigantona Divine Queen" (Proinsias Mac Cana, 1992, page. 51).
Dr Anne Ross gives Rhiannon's derivation as, "Welsh Riannon from Rigantona, great queen" (Ross, 1992, page. 313). Professor Miranda Green of the University of Wales gives two meanings, combining the above derivations: "Her name may derive from that of a pagan goddess Rigantona ('Great – or Sacred – Queen')" (Green, 1993, page. 30).
The prefix "Ri" gives the meaning "queen", who thus may be great, divine or sacred. Rhiannon does not mean "witch" or, as some sites claim, "nymph".
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