Rowena

Rowena /rˈnə/ was the daughter of the Anglo-Saxon chief Hengist and a wife of Vortigern, King of the Britons, in British legend. Presented as a beautiful femme fatale, she won her people the Kingdom of Kent through her treacherous seduction of Vortigern. Contemporary sources do not mention Rowena, which leads modern historians to regard her as fictitious.

Name

The name "Rowena" does not appear in Old English sources such as Bede's Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum or the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. It was first recorded by Geoffrey of Monmouth in his 12th-century Historia regum Britanniae (in various spellings, including Ronwen, Renwein, and Romwenna), and may represent a medieval Latin corruption of some lost Germanic or Old English name. Another possibility is that it comes from the Welsh, where the name becomes Rhonwen, and could be connected to the word rhawn "horsehair", which might be significant given her father and uncle's association with horses, but this is simply conjecture based on similarity of pronunciation.

Rowena (horse)

Rowena (foaled 1817) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and broodmare that won the classic 1000 Guineas at Newmarket in 1820. On her only other appearance, she finished second in the Oaks Stakes. She later became a successful broodmare.

Background

Rowena was a chestnut mare bred by her owner George FitzRoy, 4th Duke of Grafton at his stud at Euston Hall in Suffolk. Her sire Haphazard won 15 races between 1800 and 1804 before becoming a successful breeding stallion. His offspring included the 2000 Guineas winners Antar and Reginald, as well as the St Leger winner Filho da Puta. Rowena's dam Prudence was a daughter of Prunella, described as one of the most important broodmares in the history of the Thoroughbred breed. Prudence herself produced several major winners (all beginning with the letter "R") including the 2000 Guineas winner Reginald and the Riddlesworth Stakes winners Rebecca and Rufus. Rowena was Prudence's third foal, but the first to appear on a racecourse, her two older siblings having died young. Grafton sent the filly to be trained at Newmarket by Robert Robson, the so-called "Emperor of Trainers".

Rowena (disambiguation)

Rowena is a figure in Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae, the daughter of the Saxon king Hengest and wife of Vortigern.

Rowena can also refer to:

Places

  • Rowena, Kentucky, an unincorporated community
  • Rowena, Minnesota, an unincorporated community
  • Rowena, Missouri, an unincorporated community
  • Rowena, Oregon, an unincorporated community
  • Rowena, South Dakota, an unincorporated community
  • Rowena, Texas, an unincorporated community
  • Rowena, New South Wales, a town
  • Rowena, New Brunswick
  • People

  • Rowena Fulham (born 1960), former footballer who represented New Zealand at the international level
  • Rowena Jackson (born 1926), New Zealand prima ballerina
  • Rowena Kennett (born 1979), a former MTV VJ in Thailand
  • Rowena King (born 1970), British actress
  • Rowena Meeks Abdy (18871945), American painter in Northern California
  • Rowena Moore (19101998), union and civic activist
  • Rowena Morrill (born 1944), science-fiction and fantasy illustrator and painter
  • Rowena Sánchez Arrieta, a Filipina pianist, born in 1962
  • Podcasts:

    PLAYLIST TIME:

    Rowena

    by: Loudon Wainwright Iii

    Rowena, my darling, please don’t let me down -
    A few words from you can lift me off the ground.
    Your letters are treasures, you don’t know their worth.
    Days I don’t receive one, I fall back to earth.
    Rowena, my darling, just a word or two -
    It means the world to me, those few words from you.
    But when you don’t send them, why can’t you see?
    It’s as if the whole world had gone back on me.
    Tonight when I’m sleeping, I will dream of you -
    Wishfully thinking, what else can I do?
    Then in the morning, it’s always the same,
    When dreaming is done, then I call out your name.
    Tonight when I’m sleeping, I will dream of you -
    Wishfully thinking, what else can I do?
    Until tomorrow, I can only hope
    For my heart’s deliverance in an envelope.
    Rowena, my dear, yours to hand this a.m. -
    I’m holding your letter, in heaven again.
    A few words from me now, to make sure you know,
    As ever, I’m yours, yes, and I love you so.
    Loudon Wainwright III guitar, vocal
    Paul Asaro piano
    Paul Woodiel, David Mansfield violin
    Danielle Farina viola
    Erik Friedlander cello




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