Modron was a Welsh pagan witch who lived in Gloucester, Gloucestershire during the late 9th century AD.
Biography[]
Modron was born in Gloucester, Gloucestershire, England (then part of Mercia) to a family of non-Saxonized, Celtic pagan Britons. She became known as a "witch", coming to be the leader of Gloucestershire's pagan community by the late 9th century AD. In 856 AD, she became the lover of Ealdorman Cynon of Gloucester after they met at Ealdorman Simkin's sacrifice during Samhai, and Cynon later participated in a fertility ritual with Modron which produced an illegitimate daughter, Gwenydd. Modron practiced her faith at an underground temple in the Ochre Caves of Aelfwood in the Forest of Dean, and she also served as a healer and midwife in Gloucester.
Modron caring for a wounded Tewdwr
In 876 AD, ahead of Cynon's planned sacrifice at the Samhain festival, she and Cynon plotted to assassinate his successor, Tewdwr, a Christian zealot whom they feared would ban Samhain and destroy the hard-won unity between the shire's Christian and pagan populations. On the first night of Samhain, 31 October 876, Cynon's hired assassin Gwilim drugged the drinks of Tewdwr and his new friend, the Viking warrior Eivor, and he "disappeared" Tewdwr in the night and killed his guard, framing Eivor for the murder. Eivor sought Modron's help, unaware of her role in the plot, and she directed him to Halewyn the Druid. After meeting with Halewyn and discovering that the drugs had been purchased by a man from Cudd Lladron, he met with Modron at Rollendritch, and Modron told him that Cudd Lladron was Welsh for "Thieves' Warren". She then guided Eivor there, and he rescued Tewdwr (whom he found was still alive) and learned from Gwilim that Cynon was responsible for plotting Tewdwr's death. Eivor told Modron that he would go and confront Cynon back in Gloucester, while Modron volunteered to take care of the wounded Tewdwr. Modron, fearing that the conspiracy was about to unravel, took the unconscious Tewdwr to her underground altar, while Eivor convinced Cynon of Tewdwr's newfound respect for the pagan community (caused by the pagan Eivor's rescue of him) and persuaded a repentant Cynon to help him. Cynon told Eivor that, if he hurried, he could stop Modron from killing Tewdwr at her forest temple.
Modron dressed as a shaman
Eivor infiltrated the bandit camp in Aelfwood and headed into the caves, navigating his way to Modron's temple. There, he found Modron preparing to sacrifice Tewdwr. Modron - painted in woad and dressed as a shaman - decided to deal with Eivor before finishing off Tewdwr, and she and Eivor proceeded to have a running archery battle spanning across several platforms around the subterranean temple. He ultimately cut Modron down, and he persuaded Modron that Tewdwr had changed. Modron said that Tewdwr would gut her and burn his people if he came to power, but Eivor acknowledged that Modron's plot had been the prime factor in changing Tewdwr from a zealot to a tolerant man, and Modron said that, if that was true, she had no regrets. Eivor, understanding Cynon and Modron's earlier apprehensions about Tewdwr, decided to spare Modron, and he escorted a now-awake and oblivious Tewdwr back to Gloucester. There, next evening, Eivor, Tewdwr, Modron, and Gwenydd bade farewell to Cynon as he entered the Wicker Man, and Tewdwr promised to take care of Modron and Gwenydd once Cynon was gone. Eivor was then given the honor of lighting the Wicker Man, killing Cynon. Before Eivor left, Modron gave him a prophecy that he was a great conqueroor, but that, in the end, he would be left with nothing but his regrets.
