Sabrina: Goddess of the River Severn

The topic of this week's post is Sabrina, the fabled goddess of the River Severn. Now the River Severn is a very important to us Telfordians, if only to confuse generations of children with how to spell the number seven.

When I tell people where I am from I ordinarily get met with one of two responses:

1. "Where's Telford?" which elicits the reply, "It's near Shrewsbury...no?...Wolverhampton?....Okay Birminghamish!"

or

2. "Oh really, I've been to your bridge!"... Yes I am from a town that is known for a bridge, it's a very nice bridge mind (see below!) and I would highly recommend visiting it. And that infamous Iron Bridge crosses the beautiful River Severn.

(I have recently been informed the Ironbridge isn't exactly in Telford, but it is in our borough so we are keeping it!)

I digress. Now from a bit of research I have have found that Sabrina gets her name from a girl called Hafren (Sabrina in Latin). Hafren's mother had a love affair with an early King of England. When eventually cast aside for his mistress the King's wife raised an army in Cornwall to exact her revenge which I believe went something like:

"Darling I'm afraid I'm divorcing you"

"Oh really? Well say that to my ARMY!"

The estranged wife won, and Hafren and her mother were drowned in the river. For a more in depth look at their story try this article.

Sabrina was born by naming the river after Hafren, which then over time sparked stories about a goddess! On Terry Pratchett's Discworld gods exist when we believe in them, which is a nice way of looking at it and comparable to Sabrina's beginning. By giving a female name to the Severn, the consequential anthropomorphic manifestation of the river seems like a natural step.

A lot of sources list Geoffrey of Monmouth as recording the earliest Sabrina origin story, a welsh cleric who also wrote about King Arthur! Another story I found here is that Sabrina is one of three 'sister' rivers trying to get to the sea. How are the river sisters represented? One is very direct and quick in her quest to the sea, one likes a bit of sightseeing but still wants to get to the sea reasonably quickly, and the third, Sabrina, wants to explore the land thoroughly as she travels without short cuts. It's very satisfying when you see three sisters with clear segmented characteristics don't you think? The classic witch trio of the crone, the mother and the maid. The three grecian Fates. I like it! I find this very useful to consider and shall explore further with research as I am currently writing a story about three sisters.

I first encountered Sabrina in The Dingle, in Shrewsbury park (another recommended pit-stop next time you sight-see near my home town). It's a beautiful garden, and hidden away is this statue:

Plaque reads:

Sabrina Fair,

Listen where thou art sitting,

Under the glassie, cool, translucent wave,

In twisted waves of lilies knitting,

The loose train of thy amber-dropping hair;

Listen for dear honors sake,

Goddess of the silver lake,

Listen and save.

It was delightful walking around The Dingle and finding this hidden bit of mythology. Through time Sabrina has transformed from a drowned girl into a beautiful deity that can be beseeched for help. The way I read the poem, in light of Sabrina's origin, is that the writer is calling upon Sabrina to stir from her new-found comfort underwater and to direct attention once more to the surface, perhaps to save others from the very fate that befell her.

It's been great to find out more about Sabrina, do you have any stories about this goddess to add? Have you found her hidden away somewhere like The Dingle? Let's discuss below, or with me on twitter @EMinipop!

Photography Credits: Mark Thomas. See more of his excellent photos here.

Thank you for reading. Next week's post will be about fantasy and folklore character names!