Angharradh
[ON-gahr-rath]
The Truine Goddess, The One and the Three, The Union of the Three, Queen of Arvandor
Goddess of spring, fertility, planting, birth, defense, wisdom
Angharradh is the face of the power who is both three separate goddesses---Aerdrie Faenya, Hanali Celanil, and Sehanine Moonbow who are collectively known as the Three---as well as a single goddess--the One--who subsumes their separate aspects. The Triune Goddess presents many different faces, depending upon cirumstances. In spring and during harvest time she is a fertility goddess. She watches over the planting of the crops, blesses births, and keeps the land green and growing. In wartime, she is a grim warrior deity who wields a red sword and mercilessly slays the enemies of the elves. When wisdom is required, the One and the Three is a source of guidance and council. Among the Fair Folk, Angharradh is worshiped nearly exclusively by moon elves and a handful of half-moon elves. The other elven ubraces worship Angharradh's aspects as separate goddesses, but they rarely give homage to the Union of the Three. Whether Angharradh is truly a combination of the three goddesses or a separate deity in her own right actually lies in the hearts of her individual worshipers.
According to silver elven mythology, Angharradh was born from the essence of the three greatest goddesses of the Seldarine before the first of the Fair Folk walked the forests of Faerun. The Triune Goddess arose in the aftermath of a great battle between the Seldarine and the anti-Seldarine, a host of evil powers who had invaded Arvandor at the bequest of Araushnee (now Lloth), Corellon's traitorous consort. When an arrow launched by Eilistraee at an onrushing ogrish god was subtly warped by the magic of the treacherous Araushnee and felled the Protector instead, Aerdrie struck down the Dark Maiden in revenge. The Seldarine assumed the unconscious daughter of Araushnee and Corellon was to blame for her father's collapse. Sehanine's timely escape from Vhaeraun's prison allowed the Goddess of Moonlight to expose Araushnee's crimes and the Masked Lord's complicity, but the Weaver of Destiny defiantly rejected the collective authority of the assembled Seldarine to convene a council to investigate her actions. In response, Aerdrie, Hanali, and Sehanine drew together and merged into a luminous cloud before coalescing in the form of the Triune Goddess. Angharradh then restored Corellon to health, taking her place by the Protector's side and declaring her intention to prevent treachery from even entering the heart of a goddess of Arvandor again.
As the consort of Corellon and co-ruler of the Seldarine, Angharradh is on excellant terms with the other members of the elven pantheon. The Triune Goddess has a strong, mtoherly interest in both Eilistraee and Mielikki, and, more so than Corellon, maintains strong ties with the paramount goddesses of other human and demihuman pantheons. Angharradh strongly opposes the destructive forces of Talos and the Gods of Fury (particularly Malar, for it was the Beastlord who unleashed the Elf-Eater on Evermeet). The Triune Goddess reserves her strongest hatred for Lloth, as the Spider Queen has never concealed her efforts to undermine Corellon or to destroy his progeny, the Fair Folk.
As the One and the Three, Angharradh is both three distinct goddesses and a goddess in her own right. While some Teu-Tel'Quessir assume that the aspect of Sehanine is Angharradh's primary facet--a point of confusion due in part to the belief by other subraces of the Fair Folk that Sehanine, not Aerdrie or Hanali, is Correlon's consort--in truth all three goddesses are equal and each reflects the duality that is their individual nature and that of the Triune Goddess. As such, Angharradh's nature reflects the personality traits of each of the Three, including the impulsive and whimsical nature of the Winged Mother, the romantic and affectionate nature of the Heart of Gold, and the seren and ephemeral nature of the Daughter of the Night Skies. The fusion of the Three was born of Araushnee's betrayal and the collective threat to Arvandor and the Seldarine. As such, the Triune Goddess exhibits the fierce protectiveness and unbending resolve of the Queen of Arvandor.
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Copyright 2001-2003 Robin Connor. All Rights Reserved.