Epona
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Epona, goddess of horses, daughter of horse, rider of cock-horses, namesake of Epona. She is many things, and she premiered in episode 15, Epona a.k.a. Where Is The Lower Back Of A Horse?
Description
Epona is from Gallo-Roman religion, which is near where modern day France is now. She is protector of horses, goddess of fertility, guider of the dead, and dreamwalker, each of which will be explained in more detail. As protector of horses, Epona protects not only horses, but horse-like animals like ponies, donkeys, and mules as well. She does not protect Centaurs or any other creature that might be half horse abomination like that. She is typically depicted with a cornucopia, to help show that she's all about that fertility. Some say she helps to guide the dead to the otherworld as well, which could tie in a bit to her dreamwalker abilities. She is said to bring dreams atop her white mare, and help make them pleasant as long as you're fine hanging out with her for a bit. If you're not fine with it, then she brings nightmares.
Although the name is Gaulish, many descriptions of Epona are in Latin, or, more rarely so, Greek. A long Latin inscription for invoking Epona was found on a lead sheet in Rom, Deux-Sevres. The inscription says "Eponina (dear little Epona), Atanta (horse-goddess), Potia (powerful Mistress), Dibonia (the good goddess), Catona (of battle), noble and good Vovesia." Which are various ways to call Epona. This is usually a calling in order to ask for help in romantic affairs.
Pictures of Epona are found all across the world, in stables and such. She is mentioned in the book, The Golden Ass, but that is not the only book she's had influence on. A Les Misérables character, named Éponine, was named after Epona. In addition, of course, everyone's favorite Legend of Zelda character, Epona, was also named after Epona.
Epona's Feast Day is December 18th.
There is the Cult of Epona, who spread the word of their Goddess, and are usually very close to horses. You can tell if they're part of the cult if they have a tattoo of Epona on their body.
The brits aversion to eating horse meat likely stems from Epona, or because horse meat is gross, no one's real sure which one it is.
On Mackinac Island, Epona is celebrated each June with stable tours, a blessing o fthe animals, and a parade featuring Epona and Barkus. It is assumed that Barkus is a pug of some sort.
Epona is worshiped by neo-druids today.
Etymology
Epona, which means "Great Mare", comes from the Gaulish language word for horse, which gave rise to the Welsh word, ebol, meaning "foal", together with the augmentative suffix -on, plus the usual Gualish feminine singular -a. Which combines to give us ebolona, which is almost "Epona", so it works.
Abilities
Epona is a goddess, and therefore has physical prowess well above that of normal humans. In addition, she can call upon the help of horses.
Tale
Fulvius Stellus hated women and used to consort with a mare and in due time the mare gave birth to a beautiful girl and they named her Epona. She is the goddess that is concerned with protection of horses. So Agesilaus says in the third book of his Italian History.
Fulvius Stellus is really no one special, just a roman who hated women a lot. But this story is actually why a lot of horse beastiality started. Since Fulvius is such a normal person, people think it's still possible to produce a beautiful goddess by means of horse sex. It is possible that the Cult of Epona is doing nightly rituals to try and bring Epona back into the mortal world by this way.
A well-known nursery rhyme from Banbury in Oxfordshire also speaks of Epona:
Ride a cock-horse to Banbury Cross, to see a fine lady on a white horse,
with rings on her fingers and bells on her toes, she shall have music wherever she goes.
Statistics
Basic human in solid physical and mental form represents about a 3 in the numbered stats.
| Strength (1-10) | 6 |
|---|---|
| Speed (1-10) | 7 |
| Intelligence (1-10) | 6 |
| Durability (1-10) | 10 |
| Vulnerabilities | Meateaters, Horseharmers |
| Special | Horse Summoning, Polo |
Fight Club Results
| Battle | Result | Episode |
|---|---|---|
| vs. Furfur | Loss | 15 |
| vs. Horus (with Leshen) | Win | 20 |
| vs. Quetzalcoatl (with Leshen) | Loss | 27 |
