RavenStar
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Joined: 11 Aug 2007
Posts: 2378
Location: Worcester, UK
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 Posted: Sun Aug 12, 2007 4:04 pm Post subject: Sabrina..... |
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...... Goddess of the River Severn
The legend of Sabrina relates to how the river got its name of Severn, first the Welsh name Habren which later became Hafren, translated into English became Sabren, then Sabrina and finally Severn. There was an ancient warrior called Brutus who was leader of a band of Trojan exiles from Italy who had fled to and settled in ancient Britain. He ruled Britain for twentyfour years and on the death of Brutus of Troy, the legendary second founder of Britain, his lands were divided into three parts, one part for each of his sons.
The eldest son, Locrine, took the part which is now England, the second son, Camber, took a part, which is now Wales and the youngest son, Albanact, took a part, now known as Scotland.
This left one part of Britain, known as Cornwall, in the hands of Brutus' friend Corineus. During this period Britain was invaded by the Huns, under their chief Humber. King Locrine of Loegria as he now was, led the fight against these invaders and succeeded in beating Humber, who was eventually killed by drowning in the river now named after him. The Huns had a princess, Estrildis, who after the battle was captured and on seeing King Locrine they fell in love. But Locrine was already engaged to Guendolen, daughter of Corineus and such a scandalous thing couldn't be allowed to happen. Locrine was threatened by Corineus by a battle axe and thus forced him to marry his daughter. King Locrine couldn't give up his love for Estrildis and secretly kept her in the palace near Abermule for seven years. Locrine fathered two children, a son, Madan, by Guendolen and a daughter, Sabre by Estrildis. [Sabre was also known as Sabrina in the Romanised language.] Following the death of Corineus, Locrine divorced Guendolen and lived with Estrildis and daughter Sabre. The jealous Guendolen, mad with rage, raised a Cornish army and marched against Locrinus. Defeating her former husband's forces and killing Locrinus in a battle near the River Stour (probably the Severn tributary, that joins the Severn at Stourport). Gwendolen then ordered that Estrildis and Habren be put to death, whereupon they are drowned in the Severn.
In tribute to the guiltless Habren, she pronounces that the river should bear the child's name - Habren or Hafren in Welsh, Severn in English, and Sabrina in Latin 25 . Sabrina effectively becomes the genius loci of the river, and may even be a memory of a genuine river goddess.
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