What is the difference between the goddesses connected to December 11th?

Question

That's my birthday so I'm trying to figure this out and I'm not finding a lot of info online. I read a bit about Arianrhod, but here's what left me confused:
1) I couldn't find any myths as to WHY December 11th is considered sacred to Arianrhod.
2) Does the "Snow Queen Goddess" have a name? Who is she specifically?
3) I understand the celebration known as the Day of Bruma that fell on this day, but is Bruma a Roman goddess?
4) I can gather no information at all on Yuki Onne.
Thanks for any help in advance!

Answer 1

ARRIANRHOD ~ December 11 (Celtic Mother-goddess)

It's hard to find the answer to your questions since the only remaining source is a story in the Mabinogion (see links).

There was a Roman festival of Bruma - goddess or Winter.

And you can find Yuki Onne in the Far East Realm of the Forgotten Goddesses (Japan) - "To those lost in blizzards, struggling futilely against the cold, she came, soothing them, singing to lull them to sleep, then breathing a deathly cold breath on them. The "snow maiden" was the spirit of death by freezing; a calm, pale woman who appeared to the dying, making their death quiet and painless."

Answer 2

1. and some sites say Dec 2 is her holy day. There aren't a lot of details because until the Christian era, many of the Celtic myths were oral and not written down until much later, when a lot of the details were forgotten or lost in the past. Check lists of early saints and their legends. Many old gods and goddesses were turned into saints (as well as demonized) in order to convert the locals to Christianity. If there is a St. Arianrhod or some such similar saint, you may find a clue in her story as to why that day is sacred to her.

2. No, the Snow Queen does not have a name. She is the anthropomorphic personification of the Winter of the Far North--cold and harsh, and the teacher of the Spring Maiden. Since she is more common to the north (that is, Scandinavian countries), chances are she's some version of the ancient Norse goddess Skaði, who in later Norse myths was a giantess and the goddess of Mountains and winter, the wife of the leader of the Vanir-Njord, god of the sea.

3. Bruma was the Roman goddess of the winter season.

4. yuki-onne or yuki-onna is the snow woman, a malevolent winter spirit in Japanese folklore. follow this link to a full explanation. http://japanese123.com/yukionna.htm
*the yukionna probably goes back even further into the ancient past and may be a very old goddess of the winter--she could belong to the Ainu-the indigenous people of Japan. When new populations move into an area they demonize the gods of the older population and place their gods in power.

the yukionna:
A woodcutter and his apprentice were out in the forest gathering wood to take back into the village for sale. It was winter and storm was coming, they couldn't get back to the village before the storm hit, so they sought shelter in an abandoned cottage. During the night the young man awoke to see a beautiful woman leaning over his master. She was blowing her cold breath over his face, he watched as his master's life drained away and his master froze to death. The woman then came to him and told him, "you are young and handsome, I will spare you, but you must never speak of what you saw here this night. If you do, I will come and take you." The young man swore he would remain silent forever.

The next morning he headed back to the village and on his way he met a beautiful young woman who was traveling to visit her aunt. He escorted her to the village, in time he fell in love with the young woman and they married and had several children. One winter's night a harsh storm blew through the village. The storm reminded him of that night long ago in the forest with his master. And he told his wife the story of that night. When he finished his story, his wife became very angry and yelled at him. "I was the one who was with you that night. You promised you would never tell. If it weren't for those children in the next room, I would strike you dead!" and she disappeared into a mist and nothing was left of her but a small puddle of water. He never saw her again.

in some versions, he loses the children too.

Answer 3

"Since she is more common to the north (that is, Scandinavian countries), chances are she's some version of the ancient Norse goddess Skaði, who in later Norse myths was a giantess and the goddess of Mountains and winter, the wife of the leader of the Vanir-Njord, god of the sea."

Skaði ALWAYS was a giantess, see Skáldskaparmal. And she wasn't Njordh's wife for long as she could not stand the sound of the birds when she stayed as Nóatún, and he could not stand staying at Thrymheim, saying that:

"I could not sleep on the sea's beds for the birds' screaming; he wakes me who comes from the sea every morning, that gull."

and Njordh is to have said that "I hate mountains--not long was I there, just nine nights: wolves' howling I thought ugly compared with the swans' song." Gylfaginning, Faulkes translation.



Njordh was not so much the god of the sea as he was more attributed to travel,trade and the like. Aegir is more known for being god of the sea, amongst his MANY other attributes, like all the Norse deities, they were not simply "gods/goddesses of", to do so disrespects and pigeonholes them as well as making the person making such claims look ignorant.

From Gylfaginning, Laing translation:

"The third As is the one called Niord. He lives in heaven in a place called Noatun. He rules over the motion of wind and moderates sea and fire. It is to him one must pray for voyages and fishing. He is so rich and wealthy that he can grant wealth of lands or possessions to those who pray to him for this. Niord is not of the race of the Aesir. He was brought up in the land of the Vanir, but the Vanir gave him as hostage to the gods and took in exchange as an Aesir-hostage the one called Hoenir. He came to be the pledge of truce between the gods and the Vanir."