| Morgan | |
|---|---|
| Matter of Britain character | |
 Morgan le Fay byFrederick Sandys, 1864 | |
| First appearance | Vita Merlini byGeoffrey of Monmouth |
| Based on | PossiblyModron,the Morrígan,Circe,Medea,Niamh,others |
| In-universe information | |
| Species | Human, fairy or goddess (depending on the source) |
| Gender | Female |
| Occupation | Enchantress, queen |
| Family |
|
| Spouse | Nentres orUrien |
| Significantother | Various, includingAccolon,Guiomar,Lancelot,Merlin,Ogier the Dane,Sebile |
| Children | Various or none (Ywain inLe Morte d'Arthur) |
| Home | Avalon,Broceliande,Camelot,Kingdom of Gorre [fr],Tintagel Castle |
Morgan le Fay (/ˈmɔːrɡənləˈfeɪ/;Welsh andCornish:Morgen; withle Fay being garbledFrenchla Fée, thus meaning 'Morgan the Fairy'), alternatively known asMorgan[n]a,Morgain[a/e],Morgant[e],Morg[a]ne,Morgayn[e],Morgein[e], andMorgue[in] among other names and spellings, is a powerful and ambiguous enchantress from the legend ofKing Arthur, in which most often she and he are siblings. Early appearances of Morgan in Arthurian literature do not elaborate her character beyond her role as agoddess, afay, awitch, or a sorceress, generally benevolent and connected to Arthur as his magical saviour and protector. Her prominence increased as the legend of Arthur developed over time, as did her moral ambivalence, and in some texts there is an evolutionary transformation of her to anantagonist, particularly as portrayed in cyclical prose such as theLancelot-Grail and thePost-Vulgate Cycle. A significant aspect in many of Morgan's medieval and later iterations is the unpredictable duality of her nature, with potential for both good and evil.
Her character may have originated fromWelsh mythology as well as from other ancient and medieval myths and historical figures. The earliest documented account, byGeoffrey of Monmouth inVita Merlini (writtenc. 1150) refers to Morgan in association with the Isle of Apples (Avalon), to which Arthur was carried after having been fatally wounded at theBattle of Camlann, as the leader of the nine magical sisters unrelated to Arthur. Therein, and in the earlychivalric romances byChrétien de Troyes and others, Morgan's chief role is that of a great healer. Several of numerous and often unnamed fairy-mistress and maiden-temptress characters found through the Arthurian romance genre may also be considered as appearances of Morgan in her different aspects.
Romance authors of the late 12th century established Morgan as Arthur's supernatural elder sister. In the 13th-century prose cycles – and the later works based on them, including the influentialLe Morte d'Arthur – she is usually described as the youngest daughter of Arthur's motherIgraine and her first husbandGorlois. Arthur, son of Igraine andUther Pendragon, is thus Morgan's half-brother, and her full sisters includeMordred's mother,the Queen of Orkney. The young Morgan unhappily marriesUrien, with whom she has a son,Yvain. She becomes an apprentice ofMerlin, and a capricious and vindictive adversary of some knights of theRound Table, all the while harbouring a special hatred for Arthur's wifeGuinevere. In this tradition, she is also sexually active and even predatory, taking numerous lovers that may include Merlin andAccolon, with an unrequited love forLancelot. In some variants, including in the popular retelling by Malory, Morgan is the greatest enemy of Arthur, scheming to usurp his throne and indirectly becoming an instrument of his death. However, she eventually reconciles with Arthur, retaining her original role of taking him on his final journey to Avalon.
Many other medieval and Renaissance tales feature continuations from the aftermath of Camlann where Morgan appears as the immortal queen of Avalon in both Arthurian and non-Arthurian stories, sometimes alongside Arthur. After a period of being largely absent from contemporary culture, Morgan's character again rose to prominence in the 20th and 21st centuries, appearing in a wide variety of roles and portrayals. Notably, her modern character is frequently being conflated with that of her sister, the Queen of Orkney, thus making Morgan the mother of Arthur's son and nemesis Mordred.
The earliest spelling of the name (found inGeoffrey of Monmouth'sVita Merlini, written c. 1150) isMorgen, which is likely derived fromOld Welsh orOld BretonMorgen, meaning 'sea-born' (fromCommon Brittonic*Mori-genā, the masculine form of which,*Mori-genos, survived inMiddle Welsh asMoryen orMorien; a cognate form inOld Irish isMuirgen, the name of aCeltic Christian shapeshifting female saint who was associated with the sea). The name is not to be confused with the unrelatedModern Welsh masculine nameMorgan (spelledMorcant in the Old Welsh period).[2][3] As her epithet "le Fay" (a pseudo-French phrase coined up in the 15th century byThomas Malory,[4] who derived it from the original French descriptive formla fée 'thefairy'; Malory would also use the form "le Fey" alternatively with "le Fay"[5]) and some traits indicate, the figure of Morgan appears to have been a remnant ofsupernatural females fromCeltic mythology, and her main name could be connected to the myths ofMorgens (also known as Mari-Morgans or just Morgans),[6] the Welsh and Breton fairywater spirits related to the legend of PrincessDahut (Ahes). Speculatively, beginning with Lucy Allen Paton in 1904,[7] Morgan has been connected with the shapeshifting and multifaced Irishgoddess of strife known asthe Morrígan ('Great Queen').[8] Proponents of this theory have includedRoger Sherman Loomis, who doubted the Muirgen connection.[9][10]
Further early inspiration for her figure likely came from otherWelsh folklore, as well as possibly other works ofmedieval Irish literature andhagiography, and perhaps historical figures such asEmpress Matilda.[11] One of the proposed candidates for thehistorical Arthur,Artuir mac Áedán, was recorded as having a sister named Maithgen (daughter of kingÁedán mac Gabráin, a 6th-century king ofDál Riata), whose name also appears as that of a propheticdruid in the Irish legend of SaintBrigid of Kildare. Geoffrey's description of Morgen and her sisters in theVita Merlini closely resembles the story of the nineGaulish priestesses of the isle of Sena (nowÎle de Sein) calledGallisenae (orGallizenae), as described by the 1st-century Roman geographerPomponius Mela, strongly suggesting that Pomponius'Description of the World (De situ orbis) was one of Geoffrey's prime sources for at least his own, unique version.[12][13][14][15] Also suggested have been possible influence by other magical women from theIrish mythology such as the mother of heroFráech,[16] and elements of the classicalGreek mythology sorceresses or goddesses such asCirce and especiallyMedea — who, similar to Morgan, are often alternately benevolent and malicious.[7][11][a]
Morgan has also been often linked with the supernatural motherModron,[6][18] derived from the continentalmother goddess figure ofDea Matrona and featured inmedieval Welsh literature. Modron appears inWelsh Triad 70 ("Three Blessed Womb-Burdens of the Island of Britain") – in which her children byUrien are namedOwain mab Urien (son) andMorfydd (daughter)[19] – and a later folktale have recorded more fully in the manuscript Peniarth 147.[20] A fictionalised version of the historical king Urien is usually Morgan le Fay's husband in the variations of Arthurian legend informed by continentalromances, wherein their son is namedYvain. Furthermore, the historical Urien had a treacherous ally namedMorcant Bulc who plotted to assassinate him, much as Morgan attempts to kill Urien.[21] Additionally, Modron is called "daughter ofAfallach",[22] a Welsh ancestor figure also known as Avallach or Avalloc, whose name can also be interpreted as a noun meaning 'a place of apples';[23] in the tale of Owain and Morfydd's conception in Peniarth 147, Modron is called the "daughter of the King ofAnnwn", aCeltic Otherworld.[24] This evokesAvalon, the marvelous "Isle of Apples" with which Morgan has been associated since her earliest appearances, and the Irish legend of the otherworldly womanNiamh including the motif of apple in connection to Avalon-like Otherworld isle ofTír na nÓg ("Land of Youth").[25] As summarised by Will Hasty, "while this is difficult to establish with certainty the relationship between female figures such as these in the Arthurian tradition and the otherworldly goddesses, sprites, and nymphs of Irish and Welsh myths (a relationship is assumed especially in the case of Morgan le Fay), both groups demonstrate similar ambivalent characteristics: they are by turns dangerous and desirable, implicated alternately in fighting, death, sexuality, and fertility."[26]
While many works make Morgan specifically human, she almost always keeps her magical powers[27] and often also her otherworldly if not divine attributes and qualities.[6] Some medieval authors refer to her as afairy queen or even outright a goddess (dea,déesse,gotinne).[28] According toGerald of Wales in his 12th-centuryDe instructione principis, a noblewoman and close relative ofKing Arthur namedMorganis carried the dead Arthur to her island of Avalon (identified by him asGlastonbury), where he was buried.[29] Writing in the early 13th century inSpeculum ecclesiae, Gerald also wrote that "as a result, the fancifulBritons and theirbards invented the legend that some kind of a fantastic goddess (dea quaedam phantastica)[30][31] had removed Arthur's body to the Isle of Avalon, so that she might cure his wounds there," for the purpose of enabling the possibility ofKing Arthur's messianic return.[32] In his encyclopaedic work,Otia Imperialia, written around the same time and with similar derision for this belief,Gervase of Tilbury calls herMorganda Fatata (Morganda the Fairy).[31] Morgan retains her early role as Arthur's legendary healer throughout later Arthurian tradition.
| Select element or episode | Earliest text |
|---|---|
| Morgan to heal the dyingKing Arthur inAvalon. | Vita Merlini (c. 1150) |
| Morgan being Arthur's sister and a member of his court, association withGuiomar and theVale of No Return (mentions, elaborated in the Vulgate Cycle), working as a healer during Arthur's reign. | Erec and Enide (c. 1170) |
| Association withMount Etna. | Jaufre (after 1170) |
| Morgan is Arthur's half-sister as a daughter of the Duke of Tintagel (Gorlois) born inTintagel Castle, learns magic during her education in a nursery. | VerseMerlin (c.1200) |
| Learning magic fromMerlin, association withSebile, hatred against Arthur's wifeGuinevere and scheming against her, marriage to Arthur's reconciled rival king, seducing knights and kidnappingLancelot, personally coming for the dying Arthur afterhis last battle. | Vulgate Cycle (early 13th century) |
| Morgan's hatred against Arthur and her plots on his life (notably the falseExcalibur story) foiled by theLady of the Lake, marriage toKing Urien andYvain being their son. | Post-Vulgate Cycle (c. 1235) |
| Being behind the death ofTristan. | ProseTristan (c. 1240) |
| Orchestrating the entireGreen Knight plot. | Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (late 14th century) |
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Morgan first appears by name inVita Merlini, written by Norman-Welsh clericGeoffrey of Monmouth. Purportedly an account of the life ofMerlin, it elaborates some episodes from Geoffrey's more famous earlier work,Historia Regum Britanniae (1136). InHistoria, Geoffrey relates how King Arthur, gravely wounded byMordred at theBattle of Camlann, is taken off to the blessed Isle of Apple Trees (LatinInsula Pomorum),Avalon, to be healed; Avalon (Ynys Afallach in the Welsh versions ofHistoria) is also mentioned as the place where Arthur's swordExcalibur was forged. (Geoffrey's Arthur does have a sister, whose name is Anna, but the possibility of her being a predecessor to Morgan is unknown.[4]) InVita Merlini, Geoffrey describes this island in more detail and namesMorgen as the chief of thenine magical queen sisters who dwell there, ruling in their own right. Morgen agrees to take Arthur, delivered to her byTaliesin to have him revived. She and her sisters are capable ofshapeshifting and flying,[33] and (at least seemingly[11]) use their powers only for good.[34] Morgen is also said to be a learned mathematician[35] and to have taught it andastronomy[36] to her fellownymph (nymphae)[30] sisters, whose names are listed as Moronoe, Mazoe, Gliten, Glitonea, Gliton, Tyronoe, Thiten (Thitis), and Thiton (Thetis).[37][38]
She who is first among them is more skilled in the healing art, and also surpasses her sisters in beauty. Morgen is her name, and she has learned what useful properties all the herbs contain, so that she can cure the body ills. She knows, too, the art by which to change her shape, and to fly through the air, likeDaedalus, on strange wings. When she wishes, she is now atBrest (Brisiti), now atChartres (Carnoti), now atPavia (Papie); and at will she glides down from the sky onto your shores. (...) Morgen received us with due honor. She put the king in her chamber on a golden bed, uncovered his wound with her noble hand and looked long at it. At length she said he could be cured if only he stayed with her a long while and accepted her treatment. We therefore happily committed the king to her care, and spred our sails to favourable winds on return journey.
In the making of this arguablyVirgin Mary-type[4] character and her sisters, Geoffrey might have been influenced by the first-century Roman cartographerPomponius Mela, who has described an oracle at theÎle de Sein off the coast ofBrittany and its nine virgin priestesses believed by the continental CelticGauls to have the power to cure disease and perform various other awesome magic, such as controlling the sea through incantations, foretelling the future, and changing themselves into any animal.[6][39] In addition, according to a theory postulated byR. S. Loomis, it is possible that Geoffrey has not been the original inventor of Morgan, as the character may have had already existed in Breton folklore in the hypothetical unrecorded oral stories that featured her as Arthur's fairy saviour, or even also hisfairy godmother (her earliest shared supernatural ability being able to traverse on or under water). Such stories being told by wandering storytellers (as credited by Gerald of Wales) would then influence multiple authors writing independently from each other, especially sinceVita Merlini was a relatively little-known text.[30]
Geoffrey's description of Morgan is notably very similar to that inBenoît de Sainte-Maure's epic poemRoman de Troie (c. 1155–1160), a story of the ancientTrojan War in which Morgan herself makes an unexplained appearance in this second known text featuring her.[10] AsOrvan the Fairy (Orva la fée, likely a corruption of a spelling such as*Morgua[b] in the original-text),[40] there she first lustfully[41] loves the Trojan heroHector and gifts him a wonderful horse, but then pursues him with hate after he rejects her. The abrupt way in which she is used suggests Benoît did expect his aristocratic audience to have been already familiar with her character.[7][11] Another such ancient-times appearance of a Morgan character can be found in the much laterPerceforest (1330s), within the fourth book which is set in Britain duringJulius Caesar's invasions, where the fairy Morgane lives in the isle of Zeeland and has learned her magic fromZephir. Here, she has a daughter named Morganette and an adoptive son named Passelion, who in turn have a son named Morgan, described as an ancestor of theLady of the Lake.[42]
InJaufre, an earlyOccitan language Arthurian romance dated c. 1180, Morgan seems to appear, without being named other than introducing herself as the "Fairy of Gibel" (fada de Gibel; Gibel was the Arabic name of Sicily'sMount Etna that is also occurring in an Italian version of the Avalon motif in some later works). Here, she is the ruler of an underground kingdom who takes the protagonist knight Jaufre (Griflet) through a fountain to gift him hermagic ring of protection.[30] In the romance poemLanzelet, translated by the end of the 12th century byUlrich von Zatzikhoven from a now-lost French text, the infantLancelot is spirited away by a water fairy (merfeine inOld High German) and raised in her paradise island country of Meidelant ('Land of Maidens'). Ulrich's unnamedfairy queen character might be also related to Geoffrey's Morgen,[16] as well as to the early Breton oral tradition of Morgan's figure, especially as her son there is named Mabuz, similar to the name of Modron's sonMabon ap Modron. InLayamon'sMiddle English poemThe Chronicle of Britain (c. 1215), Arthur was taken to Avalon by two women to be healed there by its most beautifulelfen (aluen) queen namedArgante or Argane;[7][43] it is possible her name had been originallyMargan(te) before it was changed in manuscript transmission.[44]
The 12th-century French poetChrétien de Troyes already mentions her in his first romance,Erec and Enide, completed around 1170. In it, a love of Morgan (Morgue) isGuigomar (Guingomar, Guinguemar), the Lord of the Isle of Avalon and a nephew of King Arthur, a character derivative of Guigemar from theBreton laiGuigemar byMarie de France.[16]Guingamor's own lai links him to the beautiful magical entity known only as the "fairy mistress",[45] who was later identified byThomas Chestre'sSir Launfal asDame Tryamour, the daughter of the King of theCeltic Otherworld who shares many characteristics with Chrétien's Morgan.[46][47] It was noted that even Chrétien' earliest mention of Morgan already shows an enmity between her and QueenGuinevere, and although Morgan is represented only in a benign role by Chrétien, she resides in a mysterious place known as theVale Perilous (which some later authors would say she has created as a place of punishment for unfaithful knights).[39][48] She is later mentioned in the same poem when Arthur provides the wounded heroErec with a healing balm made by his sister Morgan. This episode affirms her early role as a healer, in addition to being one of the first instances of Morgan presented as Arthur's sister. Healing remains Morgan's chief ability, but Chrétien also hints at her potential to harm.[49]
Chrétien again refers to Morgan as a great healer in his later romanceYvain, the Knight of the Lion, in an episode in which the Lady of Norison restores the maddened heroYvain to his senses with a magical potion provided by Morgan the Wise (Morgue la sage).[28][11] Morgan the Wise is female in Chrétien's original, as well as in the Norse versionIvens saga, but male in the EnglishYwain and Gawain. While the fairy Modron is mother ofOwain mab Urien in the Welsh myth, and Morgan would be assigned this role in the later literature, this first continental association between Yvain (the romances' version of Owain) and Morgan does not imply they are son and mother. The earliest mention of Morgan as Yvain's mother is found inTyolet, an early 13th-century Breton lai.[43]
TheMiddle Welsh Arthurian taleGeraint son of Erbin, either based on Chrétien'sErec and Enide or derived from a common source, mentions King Arthur's chief physician namedMorgan Tud. It is believed that this character, though considered a male inGereint, may be derived from Morgan le Fay, though this has been a matter of debate among Arthurian scholars since the 19th century (the epithet Tud may be aWelsh orBreton cognate or borrowing ofOld Irishtuath, 'north, left', 'sinister, wicked', also 'fairy (fay), elf').[50][51] There, Morgan is called to treatEdern ap Nudd, Knight of the Sparrowhawk, following the latter's defeat at the hands of his adversaryGeraint, and is later called on by Arthur to treat Geraint himself. Inthe German version ofErec, the 12th-century knight and poetHartmann von Aue has Erec healed by Guinevere with a special plaster that was given to Arthur by the king's sister, the goddess (gotinne)[30]Feimurgân (Fâmurgân, Fairy Murgan[52]):
When she began to demonstrate her magic powers, she had very soon circumnavigated the world and come back again. (...) Both in the air and on the earth she could hover at her ease, on the waves and beneath them. She was totally indifferent as to whether she lived in the fire or, just as much at her ease, in the dew. (...) And when it took her fancy she could change a man into a bird or an animal. (...) Mighty was she in magic and her life was greatly in defiance of God, for at her command were the birds in the wild, in the woods and fields, and what seems to me greatest, those evil spirits, that are called devils – they were all at her command. She was well capable of marvels for dragons had to bring from the air support in her affairs, as well as the fish in the sea. Moreover, she had kin deep in Hell: the Devil was her companion. He sent her aid, even from the fire, as much as she wanted. And whatever she would have from this earth, she took, without peril, in ample measure, all for herself. The earth bore no root, the power of which was not as familiar to her as the back of my hand is to me. (...) This earth never acquired a better mistress of magic arts than Feimurgân.[53]
In writing that, Hartmann might have not been influenced by Chrétien, but rather by an earlier oral tradition from the stories of Breton bards.[30] Hartmann also separated Arthur's sister (that is Feimurgân) from the fairy mistress of the lord of Avalon (Chrétien's Guigomar), who in his version is namedMarguel.[54] In the anonymous First Continuation of Chrétien'sPerceval, the Story of the Grail, the fairy lover of its variant of Guigomar (here as Guingamuer) is namedBrangepart, and the two have a son Brangemuer who became the king of an otherworldly isle "where no mortal lived".[55][56] In the 13th-century romanceParzival, another German knight-poetWolfram von Eschenbach inverted Hartmann's Fâmurgân's name to create that of Arthur's fairy ancestor named Terdelaschoye de Feimurgân, the wife of Mazadân, where the part "Terdelaschoye" comes fromTerre de la Joie, or Land of Joy; the text also mentions the mountain of Fâmorgân.[30][43]Jean Markale further identified a Morganian figure in Wolfram's ambiguous character of Cundrie the Sorceress (later better known as Kundry) through her plot function as mistress of illusions in an enchanted fairy garden.[57]
Speculatively, Loomis andJohn Matthews further identified other perceived avatars of Morgan as the "Besieged Lady" archetype in various early works associated with theCastle of Maidens motif, often appearing as (usually unnamed) wife ofKing Lot and mother ofGawain. These characters include the Queen of Meidenlant inDiu Crône, the lady of Castellum Puellarum inDe Ortu Waluuanii, and the nameless heroine of the Breton laiDoon, among others, including some in later works (such as with Lady Lufamore of Maydenlande inSir Perceval of Galles).[58] Loomis also linked her to the eponymous seductress evil queen fromThe Queen of Scotland, a 19th-century ballad "containing Arthurian material dating back to the year 1200."[59]
A recently discovered moralistic manuscript written inAnglo-Norman French is the only known instance of medieval Arthurian literature presented as being composed by Morgan herself. This late 12th-century text is purportedly addressed to her court official and tells of the story of a knight called Piers the Fierce; it is likely that the author's motive was to draw a satirical moral from the downfall of the English knightPiers Gaveston, 1st Earl of Cornwall.Morgayne is titled in it as "empress of the wilderness, queen of the damsels, lady of the isles, and governor of the waves of the great sea."[60] Morgan (Morganis) is also mentioned in theDraco Normannicus, a 12th-century (c. 1167–1169) Latin chronicle byÉtienne de Rouen, which contains a fictitious letter addressed by King Arthur toHenry II of England, written for political propaganda purpose of having 'Arthur' criticise King Henry for invading theDuchy of Brittany.[60] Notably, it is one of the first known texts that made her a sister to Arthur, as she is in the works of Chrétien and many others after him.[61] As described by Étienne,
Arthur, gravely wounded, sought the help of his sister, who held the holy Isle of Avalon. Morgan, the everlasting nymph (Morganis nympha perennis), received her brother here, cured him, nourished him, revived him, and made him immortal. He was presented theAntipodes as his kingdom. The faerie folk being unarmed, the great war leader comes to their aid: he fears no battle.[60]
Morgan's role was greatly expanded by the unknown authors of the early-13th-centuryOld French prose romances of theVulgate Cycle, also known as theLancelot-Grail cycle, and its subsequent rewrite, theProseTristan-influencedPost-Vulgate Cycle. (Both of these cycles are believed to be at least influenced by theCistercian religious order,[c] although some of these attitudes may be arguably shared with the pre-Christian source material.[d]) Integrating her figure fully into the Arthurian world, they also portray Morgan's ways and deeds as being much more sinister and aggressive than they are in Geoffrey or Chrétien, showing her undergoing a series of transformations in the process of becoming a much more chaotic and unpredictable character.[7][64] Beginning as an erratic ally of Arthur and a notorious temptress opposed to his wife and some of his knights (especially Lancelot, doubling as her unrequited love interest) in the original stories of the Vulgate Cycle, Morgan's figure eventually often turns into an ambitious and depraved nemesis of King Arthur himself in the Post-Vulgate stories.
A common image of Morgan becomes a malicious, jealous and cruel sorceress, the source of many intrigues at the royal court of Arthur and elsewhere. In some of the later works, she is also subversively working to take over Arthur's throne through her mostly harmful magic and scheming, including manipulating men.[36][65] Most of the time, Morgan's magic arts correspond with these of Merlin's and the Lady of the Lake's, featuring shapeshifting, illusion, and sleeping spells.[66][e] Some scholars even see the figure of the Lady (or Ladies) of the Lake as Morgan's split-offliterary double serving as a "benevolent anti-Morgan", especially in the Post-Vulgate tradition: a largely (but not entirely) opposite character created using Morgan's copied traits.[67][68] Although Morgan is usually depicted in medieval romances as beautiful and seductive,[69] the medieval archetype of theloathly lady is used frequently, as Morgan can be in a contradictory fashion described as both beautiful and ugly even within the same narration.[28]
This version of Morgan (usually namedMorgane,Morgain orMorgue) first appears in the few surviving verses of the Old French poemMerlin, which later served as the original source for the Vulgate Cycle and consequently also the Post-Vulgate Cycle. It was written c. 1200 by the French knight-poetRobert de Boron, who described her as an illegitimate daughter of LadyIgraine with an initially unnamed Duke ofTintagel, after whose death she is adopted by KingNeutres of Garlot.[7][71]Merlin is the first known work linking Morgan to Igraine and mentioning her learning sorcery after having been sent away for an education. The reader is informed that Morgan was given her moniker 'la fée' ("the fairy") due to her great knowledge.[72] A 14th-century massive prequel to the Arthurian legend,Perceforest, also implies that Arthur's sister was later named after itsfée character Morgane from several centuries earlier. In theHuth-Merlin version ofMerlin, Morgain and Morgue la fee are introduced as two different half-sisters of Arthur who then become merged into one character later in the text.[73]
In a popular tradition, Morgan is the youngest of the daughters of Igraine and her husband, aDuke of Cornwall (or Tintagel) who today is best known asGorlois. Her father dies in battle with the army of the British high kingUther Pendragon in a war over his wife (Morgan's mother) at the same moment as when Arthur is conceived by Uther, who infiltratesTintagel Castle with the half-demon Merlin's magic aid. In the poem's prose version and its continuations, she has at least two elder sisters. Various manuscripts list up to five sisters or half-sisters of Arthur, sometimes from different fathers, and some do not mention Morgan being a bastard (step)child.[7] In the best-known version, her sisters areElaine (Blasine) and the Queen ofOrkney sometimes known asMorgause, the latter of whom is the mother of Arthur's knights Gawain,Agravain,Gaheris andGareth by King Lot, and the traitor Mordred by Arthur (in some romances the wife of King Lot is called Morcades, a name that R. S. Loomis argued was another name of Morgan[74]). At a young age, Morgan is sent to aconvent after Arthur's father Uther marries her mother, who later gives him a son, Arthur (which makes him Morgan's younger half-brother). There, Morgan mastersthe seven arts and begins her study of magic, going on to specialise inastronomie (astronomy andastrology) and healing;[60][75] the ProseMerlin describes her as "wonderfully adept" and "working hard all the time."[60] The VulgateSuite du Merlin narration describes Morgan's unmatched beauty and her various skills and qualities of character:
She was comely in body and features, she stood straight and was wonderfully pleasant and a good singer. She was the best worker with her hands that anyone knew about in any land, and she was the cleverest of all. And she had the fairest head of any suited for a woman, and the most beautiful hands, and her skin was softer than millet. But she was the most lustful woman in all Great Britain and the lewdest. And as long as she was in her right mind, she was more courteous than any, but when she was angry with anyone, there was no need in trying to reconcile them.[76]
Uther (or Arthur himself in the Post-Vulgate[7]) betroths her to his ally, KingUrien of Gorre (Gore), the realm described as an Otherworldly northern British kingdom, possibly the historicalRheged (early versions have alternatively named Morgan's husband asNentres of Garlot, who later was recast as the husband of her sister Elaine). Now a queen but unhappy with her husband, Morgan serves as alady-in-waiting for the high queen, Arthur's newly married young wife Guinevere. At first, Morgan and the also young Guinevere are close friends, even wearing shared near-identical rings. However, everything changes when Morgan is caught in an affair with her loverGuiomar (derived from Chrétien's Guigomar) by Guinevere. Usually, Guiomar is depicted as Guinevere's cousin (alternatively, appearing there as Gaimar, he is Guinevere's early lover instead of her relative in the German versionLancelot und Ginevra). The high queen intervenes to break their relationship to prevent the loss of honor (according to some scholarship, possibly also because of Guinevere's perception of Morgan, with her kinship and close relationship with Arthur, as a rival in political power[77]). This incident, introduced in the ProseMerlin and expanded in the VulgateLancelot[78] and the Post-VulgateSuite du Merlin (the HuthMerlin),[7] begins a lifelong feud between Guinevere and Morgan, who leaves the court ofCamelot with all her wealth to seek out Merlin and greater powers. The pregnant Morgan later gives birth to Guiomar's son, who is not named in the story but is said to grow up to become a great knight.[79]
Morgan then either undertakes or continues her studies of dark magic under Merlin, enamored for her, the details of which vary widely depending on the telling.[41] In the ProseMerlin, for instance, it is Morgan who finds Merlin, whom she "loves passionately".[7] In theLivre d'Artus, where Morgan's first lover is a knight namedBertolais,[80] it is rather Merlin who goes to live with Morgan and her two ladies for a long time following the betrayal of him by Niniane (the Lady of the Lake) with her other lover, just as Morgan wished for him to do.[7][41] In the Post-VulgateSuite, Morgan had been tutored by Merlin even before her relationship with Guiomar, and later she returns to learn more.[7] They meet at Lot's funeral, during the time when Morgan is pregnant with Yvain. After Merlin teaches her so much she becomes "the wisest woman in the world", Morgan scorns and drives Merlin away by threatening to torture and kill him if he would not leave her alone, which causes him great sorrow out of his "foolish love" (fol amor) for her.[7][31] In the VulgateLancelot, Morgan learns all her magic only from Merlin (and not in the nunnery). In any case, having finished her studies under Merlin, Morgan begins scheming her vengeance as she tries to undermine virtue and achieve Guinevere's downfall whenever she can.
While Morgan's antagonistic actions in the Vulgate Cycle have been motivated by her "great hatred" (grant hayne) toward Guinevere,[82] in the Post-Vulgate Cycle, where Morgan's explicitly evil nature is directly stated and accented, she also works to destroy Arthur's rule and end his life. The most famous and important of these machinations is introduced in the Post-VulgateSuite, where she arranges for her devoted loverAccolon to obtain the enchanted sword Excalibur as well as its protectivescabbard, which has been previously confided to Morgan by Arthur himself as he had trusted her even more than his wife, replacing the real ones with fakes. In a conspiracy with the villainous lord Damas, Morgan plans for Accolon to use Arthur's own magic items against him in single combat, so she and her beloved Accolon would become the rulers. As part of her convoluted plan, both Arthur and Accolon are spirited away from their hunt with Urien by a magical boat of twelve damsels. Confident of her coming victory, Morgan also attempts to murder her sleeping husband Urien with his own sword, but in this act she is stopped by their son Yvain (Uwayne), who pardons her when she protests she has been under the devil's power and promises to abandon her wicked ways.[79] After Arthur nevertheless mortally defeats Accolon in a duel arranged by Morgan, her former mentor Merlin, still having feelings for her, saves her from Arthur's wrath by enabling her to escape.[83] To avenge Accolon's death, which caused her great sorrow, Morgan again steals the scabbard from the sleeping king. Pursued by Arthur for her betrayal, Morgan throws the scabbard into a lake, before temporarily turning herself and her entourage to stone, the sight of which makes Arthur think they have been already punished by God. That action of Morgan ultimately causes the death of Arthur, who would otherwise be protected by the scabbard's magic in his final battle. On her way out, Morgan saves Arthur's knight named Manassen (Manessen) from certain death when she learns Accolon was Manessen's cousin and enables him to kill his captor.
In the same narrative, having been banished from Camelot, Morgan then retires to her lands in the magical kingdom of Gorre and then to her castle near the stronghold of Tauroc (possibly inNorth Wales). However, her treacherous attempts to bring about Arthur's demise in theSuite are repeatedly frustrated by the king's new sorceress advisor Ninianne (the Lady of the Lake). An iconic case of Morgan's such further and very underhanded plots to kill Arthur in the Post-Vulgate occurs when Morgan sends him a supposed offering of peace in the form of a richmantle cloak, but Morgan's messenger maiden is made put on the gift first by Ninianne'a advice to Arthur, for "if she dies of it, Morgan will be angrier than at anything else that could happen to her, for she loves her with a very great love." The girl indeed falls dead, and Arthur has her body burned.[84] It is possible that this motif was inspired by classical stories like that how Medea killed her rival forJason's affection[85] or howDeianira sent a poisoned tunic toHercules.[86] The reasons for Morgan's hatred of her brother in the Post-Vulgate narrative are never fully explained, other than by just a "natural" extreme antipathy against goodness by the evil that she is an embodiment of.[7]
Morgan is often emphasised as promiscuous, even more than her sister Morgause, as she is "so lustful and wanton that a looser [noble]woman could not have been found."[87] In some versions, she also associates with two other lascivious enchantresses, QueenSebile (Sedile) and the unnamed Queen of Sorestan. Together, the three "knew so much about magic, they enjoyed one another's company and always rode together and ate and drank together." Sebile and Morgan are particularly close companions, working their magic together, but they tend to fall into petty squabbles due to their rivalries and bad tempers, including a conflict between them when they both seduceHector de Maris in the late 13th-centuryProphéties de Merlin. Their friendship is further tested when a quarrel over a handsome widower named Berengier (captured by Sebile after Morgan kidnapped his child) ends in a violent attack by Sebile that leaves Morgan half-dead; Morgan swears revenge, but their relationship is later restored.[71] After Merlin's entombment by the Lady of the Lake, Morgan and her three enchantresses also try to find and rescue him but they fail in that task.[31] Morgan's other allies in theProphéties include the opponents ofchivalry such asMark andClaudas, and she enlists the help of the latter in her failed attempt to eliminate the Lady of the Lake.[88]
Morgan uses her skills in her dealings, amorous or otherwise, with several of Arthur'sKnights of the Round Table. It applies in particular to the greatest of them all, Lancelot, whom she alternately tries to seduce and to expose as Guinevere's adulterous lover. Her magic aside, Lancelot is always disempowered in his dealings with Morgan as he could never hurt a woman, which, coupled with her being his king's kin, made the Vulgate's Morgan a perfectfoil for Lancelot as "the woman he most feared in the world."[7][90] As told in the ProseLancelot, they first meet in her magical domain known as theVal sans Retour (the Vale of No Return), serving as an enchanted prison for false lovers since she took an unnamed knight as her lover but then discovered his affair with another woman.[7] There, Lancelot frees the 250 unfaithful knights entrapped by Morgan, including her former lover Guiomar whom she has turned to stone for his infidelity,[43] but Morgan then captures Lancelot himself under her spell, using a magic ring and keeps him prisoner in the hope Guinevere would then go mad or die of sorrow. She also otherwise torments Guinevere, causing her great distress and making her miserable until the Lady of the Lake gives her a ring that protects her from Morgan's power.[91] Since then, Lancelot becomes Morgan's prime object of sexual desire but he consistently refuses her obsessive advances due to his great love of Guinevere, even as Morgan repeatedly courts, drugs, enchants or imprisons the knight. Their one-sided relationship (as well as interactions between her and Arthur[7]) may evoke that of the goddessMorrígan and the Celtic heroCú Chulainn.[92] One time, she lets the captive Lancelot go to rescue Gawain when he promises to come back (but also keeping him the company of the most beautiful of her maidens to do "whatever she could to entice him"), and he keeps his word and does return; she eventually releases him altogether after over a year, when his health falters and he is near death.[93] On another occasion, Lancelot captured in Cart Castle (Charyot) by Morgan and her fellow magical queens, each of whom tries to make Lancelot her lover; he refuses to choose either of them and escapes with the help of one of their maidservants, Rocedon.[43]
Another of Morgan's illicit love subjects is the rescued-but-abducted young Cornish knight Alexander the Orphan (Alisaunder le Orphelin), a cousin of Tristan and Mark's enemy from a later addition in the ProseTristan as well as theProphéties de Merlin, whom she promises to heal but he vows to castrate himself rather than to pleasure her. Nevertheless, Alexander promises to defend her castle of Fair Guard (Belle Garde), where he has been held, for a year and a day, and then dutifully continues to guard it even after the castle gets burned down;[43][94] this eventually leads to his death.[35] Morgan's other fancied good knights include Alexander's relativeTristan, but her interest in him turns into burning hatred of him and his true loveIsolde after he kills her lover as introduced in the ProseTristan. In this story, Morgan's paramours include Huneson the Bald (Hemison in Malory's version) who is mortally wounded when he attacks the great Cornish knight out of his jealously for her attention; the knight soon dies after returning to her, and the anguished Morgan buries him in a grand tomb. In one variation, Morgan then takes revenge as she takes possession of the lance that was used to kill Huneson, enchants it, and sends it to KingMark of Cornwall, her possible lover,[95] who years later uses it to slay Tristan.[43]
In the ProseTristan, wherein Morgan presents herself as Arthur's full sister,[7] she delivers byLamorak to Arthur's court a magical drinking horn from which no unfaithful lady can drink without spilling, hoping to disgrace Guinevere by revealing her infidelity, but it is Isolde whose adultery is disclosed instead. With same intent, when Tristan was to be Morgan's champion at a jousting tournament, she also gives him an enchanted shield depicting Arthur, Guinevere and Lancelot to deliver to Camelot in the ProseTristan.[91] In the VulgateQueste, after Morgan hosts her nephews Gawain, Mordred and Gaheriet to heal them, Mordred spots the images of Lancelot's passionate love for Guinevere that Lancelot painted on her castle's walls while he was imprisoned there. Morgan shows it to Gawain and his brothers, encouraging them to take action in the name of loyalty to their king, but they decide not to do this.[96]
It is said that Morgan concentrates on witchcraft to such degree that she goes to live in seclusion in the exile of far-away forests. She learns more spells than any other woman, gains an ability to transform herself into any animal, and people begin to call her Morgan the Goddess (Morgain-la-déesse,Morgue la dieuesse).[30][31][88] In the Post-Vulgate version ofQueste del Saint Graal, Lancelot has a vision of Hell where Morgan still will be able to control demons even in afterlife as they torture Guinevere.[97] In one of her castles, Tugan in Garlot, Morgan has hidden a magic book given to her by Merlin, which actually prophesied the deaths of Arthur and Gawain and who would kill them, but no one can read this passage without dying instantly.[43][83] In the VulgateLa Mort le Roi Artu (The Death of King Arthur, also known as just theMort Artu), Morgan ceases troubling Arthur and vanishes for a long time, and the king assumes her to be dead. One day, he andSagramor wander into Morgan's incredibly beautiful castle while lost in a forest, where Arthur is received extremely well and instantly reconciles with his sister. Overjoyed with their reunion, the king allows Morgan to return to Camelot, but she refuses and declares her plan to move to the Isle of Avalon, "where the women live who know all the world's magic," so she can dwell there with these (unspecified) other sorceresses.[98]
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However, disaster strikes Arthur when the sight of Lancelot's frescoes and Morgan's confession finally convinces him about the truth to the rumours of the two's secret love affair (about which he has been already warned by his nephew Agravain). This leads to a great conflict between Arthur and Lancelot, which brings down the fellowship of theRound Table. At the end of the VulgateMort Artu, Morgan is the only one who is recognised among the black-hooded ladies who take the dying Arthur to his final rest and possible revival in Avalon. Depending on the manuscript, she is either the leading lady (usually, being recognised by Griflet as the one holding Arthur's hand as he enters the boat), a subordinate to another who is unnamed, or neither of them are superior.[99] The latter part of the Post-Vulgate versions ofQueste andMort both seem to revert to Morgan's friendly attitude toward Arthur from the end of the Vulgate Cycle, despite the Post-Vulgate' own characterisation of Morgan as thoroughly evil and the earlier fierce hostility between them. As Arthur steps into her boat after Camlann but assures he is not going to return, she makes no mention of Avalon or her intentions when taking him away. His supposed grave is later said to be found mysteriously empty but for his helmet.[7] (Spanish poemLa Faula has Morgan explain that by saying the tomb's purpose was to prevent knights from searching for Arthur.[100])
Middle English writerThomas Malory follows Morgan's portrayals from the Old French prose cycles in his late-15th-century seminal work of the selective compilation bookLe Morte d'Arthur (The Death of Arthur), though he reduces her in role and detail of characterisation, in particular either removing or limiting her traditions of healing and prophecy, and making her more consistently and inherently evil than she is in most of his sources, just as he makes Merlin more good.[7] He also diminishes Morgan's conflict with Guinevere, since there is no mention of Guiomar and instead Accolon ("ofGaul") is her first named lover in a much abbreviated version of his story,[5] but does not clarify Morgan's motivations for her very antagonistic behaviour against Arthur.[61][87] Overall, up until the war between Arthur and Lancelot and the rebellion of Mordred, it is the evil and chaotic Morgan who remains the main and constant source of direct and indirect threat to the realm.[61][f]
In Malory's backstory, Morgan has studied astrology as well asnigremancie (which might actually meanblack magic in general rather than "necromancy"[106]) in the nunnery where she was raised, before being married to Urien (Uriens) as a young teenager; in this narrative she did not study with Merlin.[61] Unlike Malory's good sorceressNimue, Morgan deals mostly in "black" rather than"white" magic, employed usually through enchantments and potions.[5] Her powers, however, seem to be inspired by fairy magic of Celtic folklore rather than by medievalChristian demonology.[35] Morgan is widely feared and hated, so much that "many knights wished her burnt." She is now the leader of the four (not three) witch queens who capture Lancelot (the others being the Queen of the Northgales, the Queen of Eastland, and the Queen of the Outer Isles). In an episode that had been first introduced by the anonymous writer of the earlier ProseLancelot, Lancelot rescuesElaine of Corbenic from being trapped in an enchanted boiling bath by Morgan and the Queen of the Northgales, both envious of Elaine's great beauty (echoingCirce's treatment ofScylla[7]). Malory also reused the magic mantle assassination plot from the HuthMerlin in a slightly modified form, resulting in Morgan's damsel instantly burnt to cinders by its curse when she is forced to take it on. In one of later episodes, Morgan plots an elaborate ambush in "The Book of Sir Tristram de Lyons", after learning of the death of one of her favourites in a tournament, but Tristan ends up killing or routing thirty of her knights. Malory mentions Arthur's attempts to conquer at least one of her castles, which originally had been his own gift to her, and which he could not retake (apparently due to magical defences[104]). Nevertheless, despite all of their prior hostility towards each other and her numerous designs directed against Arthur personally (and his own promise to get a terrible revenge on her as long as he lives[61]), she is still redeemed and is one of the four grieving enchantress queens (the others being Nimue, marking the end of conflict between her and Morgan,[107] and two of Morgan's allies, the Queen of the Northgales and the Queen of theWasteland) who arrive in a black boat to transport the wounded king to Avalon in the end. Unlike in the French and earlier stories on whichLe Morte d'Arthur is based, and where Morgan and Arthur usually would either have first made peace or have just never fought to begin with, here her change of attitude towards him is sudden and unexplained (similar to the Post-Vulgate).[4][61][108] Arthur is last seen in Morgan's lap, with her lament of sorrow referring to him as her "dear brother" (dere brothir), as they disappear from the work's narrative together.
In the c. 1400 English poemAlliterativeMorte Arthure, Morgan appears in Arthur's dream as Lady Fortune (that is, the goddessFortuna) with theWheel of Fortune to warn Arthur prior to his fatal final battle, foretelling his death.[109][110] She also appears in some other English texts, such as the early-13th-centuryAnglo-NormanRoman de Waldef where she is only "name-dropped" as a minor character.[111] Middle English romanceArthour and Merlin, written around 1270, casts a villainous Morgan in the role of the Lady of the Lake and gives her a brother named Morganor as an illegitimate son of King Urien; her wondrous castle Palaus is built mostly of crystal and glass.[43] Conversely, a 14th-century Middle English version of the VulgateMort Artu known as theStanzaicMorte Arthur makes Morgan an unquestionably good sister of Arthur, concerned only about his honour in regard to the affair of Lancelot and Guinevere. Entering her boat (she is not named in the scene, but addresses him as her brother), Arthur believes he is going to be healed, yet his tomb is later discovered byBedivere.[7]
At the end of the 14th-century Middle English romanceSir Gawain and the Green Knight, one of the best-known Arthurian tales, it is revealed that the entireGreen Knight plot has been instigated by Gawain's aunt, the goddess[112] Morgan le Fay (Morgue la Faye,Morgne þe goddes[31]), whose prior mentorship by Merlin is mentioned.[113] Here, she is an ambiguoustrickster[114] who takes an appearance of an elderly woman (contrasting from the beautifulLady Bertilak in a role evoking the loathly lady tradition[115]), as a test for Arthur and his knights and to frighten Guinevere to death. Morgan's importance to this particular narrative has been disputed and called adeus ex machina[116] and simply an artistic device to further connect Gawain's episode to the Arthurian legend, but some regard her as a central character and the driving force of the plot.[28][77] Opinions are also divided regarding Morgan's intentions and whether she succeeds or fails,[117] and how the story's shapeshifting and enigmatic Morgan might be, or might be not, also Lady Bertilak herself.[108][g]
Morgan further turns up frequently throughout the Western European literature of theHigh andLate Middle Ages, as well as of theRenaissance. She appears in a variety of roles, generally appearing in works related to the literary cycles of Arthur (theMatter of Britain) orCharlemagne (theMatter of France) and written mostly in variousRomance languages and dialects, especially still in France but also in Italy, Spain and elsewhere. In the case of Spain, even public edicts dating from the end of the 14th and the beginning of the 15th century tell of the belief in Morgan continuing to enchant and imprison people at Tintagel and in "the Valley of False Trickery".[120]
Later standalone romances often feature Morgan as a lover and benefactor of various heroes, and yet she can also be their opponent, especially when abducting those who turned down her amorous offers or working to separate true lovers. Such texts may also introduce her additional offspring or alternate siblings, or connect her closer with the figure of the Lady of the Lake. For instance, the fairy queen Lady Morgan (Dame Morgue,Morgue li fee) shows up inAdam de la Halle's late-13th-century French farceJeu de la feuillée, in which she visits a contemporaryArras.[121] She arrives accompanied by two of her fay sisters named Arsile and Maglore to dispense enchantment gifts to and curses upon several characters including the author himself, and in the course of the story reverts her love interest in the local mortal (and unfaithful) knight Robert to her previous loverHellequin (Hellekin), a demonic prince ofFaerie who has been trying to woo her back.[122][123] Hellequin's character in this case may be connected in some way to Arthur, who like him sometimes also figures as the leader of theWild Hunt.[124][125] InThomas III of Saluzzo'sLe Chevalier Errant, the fairy Morgan (la fée Morgane) holds the eponymous Wandering Knight captive inside a magnificent castle in her forest realm Païenie ('Pagania'), until messengers from her brother Arthur arrive with a request to lift her enchantment and let him go, to which she agrees.[126] Loosely drawing from the Vulgate Cycle, the Old French anonymousLi Romans de Claris et Laris better known as justClaris and Laris (c. 1270),[127] has its Morgan (Morgane la Faye) as a fairy sister of Arthur as well as a former pupil of the Lady of Lake, Viviane. Ever lascivious and sexual, Morgan lives in a splendid enchanted castle in the wilderness (identified asBrocéliande in a later manuscript) with twelve other beautiful fairy ladies including the sorceress Madoine.[30][128][129] There, they lure and ensnare many hundreds of young and attractive knights, who then spend the rest of their lives in the palace:
Morgana made several conquests, and of course, many enemies amongst the damsels who found themselves forsaken by their disloyal Knights. The fairy gave proofs of her partial preference to the great Lancelot of the Lake, which Genievre, Arthur's beauteous consort, bore very impatiently. At last, whether she took a dislike to the court, or the court to her, she thought proper to retire to the forest we speak of; where, at her command, her invisible agents erected an enchanted palace. She was followed in her delicious retreats by young and beautiful Varlets, Esquires, and as many Knights as preferred the inglorious, but delightful pleasures that awaited them with Morgana, to the honourable toils ofknight-errantry. The fairy was also constantly attended by spirits, and other familiars, who gave her an exact account of what passed within a certain distance from her palace, and assisted her in inveigling every traveller whom she best thought worth her notice.[127]
A human Morgan is namedDioneta in the 14th-century Welsh fragment known asThe Birth of Arthur, where she is a sister of both Gwyar (Morgause) and Gwalchmei (Gawain), as well as of the other sisters Gracia and Graeria, and is sent off by Uther to Avallach (Avalon).[131] The island of Avalon is often described as an otherworldly place ruled by Morgan in other later texts from all over Western Europe, especially these written inIberia. In the 14th-century French Crusadic fantasyLe Bâtard de Bouillon, the island kingdom of Arthur and his fairy sister Morgan the Beautiful is hidden by a cloud in theRed Sea,[132] where it is visited by King Bauduins (Baldwin II of Jerusalem). In his 14th-centuryCatalan poemLa faula,Guillem de Torroella writes about having visited the Enchanted Isle and met Arthur who has been brought back to life by the fay Morgan (Morgan la feya,Morguan la fea)[30] and they both are now forever young due to the power of theHoly Grail.[133] In the 15th-centuryValencian romanceTirant lo Blanc, the noble Queen Morgan searches the world for her missing brother. Finally finding him entranced inConstantinople, Morgan brings Arthur back to his senses by removing Excalibur from his hands, after which they celebrate and leave to Avalon.[134][135] TheCastilianArderique begins where theMort Artu ends, that is with the departure and disappearance of Arthur and his sister Morgaina, described there as a fairynecromancer, after the battle with Mordred.[136] Another Spanish work,Francisco de Enciso Zárate'sFlorambel de Lucea (1532), features a later appearance of Arthur together with his sister Morgaina, "better known as Morgana the fairy" (fada Morgana), who explains how she saved her brother and gifts Excalibur to the eponymous hero Florambel.[137][138] InTristán de Leonis, Morgana offers her love to Tristan.[139] In therondalla ('folk tale' in Catalan)La fada Morgana, the protagonist Joana ends up marrying the fairy queen Morgana's son named Beuteusell after passing his mother's test with his help.[140][141]
In the legend of thePaladins of Charlemagne, she is most associated with one of the Paladins, the Danish folklore heroOgier the Dane: following his initial epics, when he is 100 years old, the fairy queen Morgan restores him to his youthful form but removes his memory, then takes him to her mystical island palace in Avalon (where Arthur and Gawain are also still alive) to be her lover for 200 years. She later protects him during his adventures in the mortal world as he defends France from Muslim invasion, before his eventual return to Avalon.[142] In some accounts, Ogier begets her two sons, including Marlyn (Meurvin).[43][143] In the 14th-century pseudo-chronicleLy Myreur des Histors written by the French-Belgian authorJean d'Outremeuse, one of their sons is a giant[30] and they live in a palace made of jewels.[60] In the 13th-centurychanson de geste story of another Paladin,Huon of Bordeaux, Morgan is a protector of the eponymous hero and the mother of the fairy kingOberon by none other thanJulius Caesar.[144] In the 14th-centuryOgier le Danois, a prose redaction of the epic poemRoman d'Ogier, Morgue la Fée lives in her palace in Avalon together with Arthur and Oberon, who both seem to be her brothers.[43][145] Variants of Ogier's and Huon's stories typically involve Morgan, Arthur, and Oberon (Auberon) all living in a fairyland where time passes much slower than in human world. Such works include the 14th century's FrenchTristan de Nanteuil and theChanson de Lion de Bourges, the 15th-century FrenchMabrien,[146][147] andJohn Bourchier's 16th-century EnglishThe Boke of Duke Huon of Burdeux in which Arthur's sister Morgan is mother of not Oberon but Merlin.[148] In another Frenchchanson de geste, the early-13th-centuryLa Bataille Loquifer, the fays[30] Morgan (Morgue) and her sister Marsion (Marrion) bring theSaracen hero Renoart (Renouart,Rainouart) to Avalon, where Arthur is the king. Renoart falls in love with Morgan and impregnates her with his illegitimate son named Corbon (Corbans), "a live devil who did nothing but evil."[43][147] When Renoart jilts her and escapes to rescue his other son Maileffer, Morgan sends her demonic monster servant Kapalu (character derived from the Welsh legends'Cath Palug[149]) after him; the shipwrecked Renoart ends up luckily rescued by a mermaid.
The 14th-century Italian romance titledLa Pulzella Gaia (The Merry Maiden)[150] features the titular beautiful young fairy daughter of Morgana (Italian version of Morgan's name, here too also a sister of the Lady of the Lake) with Hemison. In her own tale, Morgana's daughter defeats Gawain (Galvano) in her giant serpent form before becoming his lover; she and her fairy army then save Gawain from the jealous Guinevere, who wants Gawain dead after having been spurned by him. She then herself is imprisoned in a magical torment in her mother's glass-and-diamond magical castle Pela-Orso, because of how Morgana wanted to force her to marry Tristan. Eventually, Gawain storms the castle after three years of siege and frees her from a cursed dungeon, also capturing her tyrannical mother for the same punishment.[151][152] The 15th-century Italian compilation of Arthur and Tristan legends,La Tavola Ritonda (The Round Table), too makes Morgan a sister to the Lady of the Lake as well as to Arthur (about the fate of whom it says Morgan "brought him away to a little island in the sea; and there he died of his wounds, and the fairy buried him on that island"[153]). It is based on the French prose romances, but here Morgan is a prophetic figure whose main role is to ensure the fulfilment offate.[95] Her daughter also appears, as Gaia Donzella, in theTavola Ritonda, where she is kidnapped by the knight Burletta of the Desert (Burletta della Diserta) who wants to rape her but she is rescued by Lancelot. The Italian Morgana appears in a number ofcantari poems of the 14th to 15th century. Some of these are original new episodes, such as theCantari di Tristano group'sCantare di Astore e Morgana, in which Morgana heals the wounded Hector de Maris (Astore) but turns him evil, and gives him an armour made in Hell as well as a magical ship in her revenge plot against Gawain as well as Arthur himself, and theCantari del Falso Scudo that features her evil fairy son, the Knight of the False Shield, who ends up slain byGalahad. Other includeLasencis, a standalone version of theTavola Ritonda story of the eponymous Corsican knight armed by Morgan with enchanted weapons to avenge his brother killed by Lancelot, and a yet another telling of the familiar story of Morgana's good fairy daughter titled thePonzela Gaia.[154][155][156][157][158] Evangelista Fossa combined and retold some of those in hisInnamoramento di Galvano (Gawain Falling in Love, c. 1494).[159]
Morgan le Fay, orFata Morgana in Italian, has been in particular associated withSicily as a location of her enchanted realm in the mythological landscape of medieval Europe (at least since theNorman conquest of southern Italy),[160] and local folklore describes her as living in a magical castle located at or floating overMount Etna.[43] As such she gave her name to the form ofmirage common off the shores of Sicily, theFata Morgana, since the 14th century.[160][161] References linking Avalon to Sicily can be found inOtia Imperialia (c. 1211) andLa faula, as well as in Breton andProvençal literature, for example in the aforementionedJaufre andLa Bataille Loquifer. The 13th-century Chrétien-inspired romanceFloriant et Florete places Morgan's secret mountain castle of Mongibel (alsoMontgibel orMontegibel, derived from theArabic name for Etna), where, in the role of a fairy godmother, Morgane and two other fays[30] spirit away and raises Floriant, a son of a murdered Sicilian king and the hero of the story. Floriant, with the help of her magic ship, eventually reunites with Morgane at her castle when he returns there with his wife Florete.[43] The 15th-century French romanceLa Chevalier du Papegau (The Knight of the Parrot) gives Morgaine the Fairy of Montgibel (Morgaine, la fée de Montgibel, as she is also known inFloriant et Florete)[162] a sister known as the Lady Without Pride (la Dame sans Orgueil), whom Arthur saves from the evil Knight of the Wasteland (similar to the story in theTavola Ritonda). Meanwhile, theFastnachtspiel (Ain Hupsches Vasnacht Spill von Künig Artus), a German retelling of the enchanted horn episode, moved Morgan's Mediterranean Sea island domain to the east of Sicily, referring to her only as the Queen ofCyprus.[163]
During theItalian Renaissance, Morgan has been primarily featured in relation to the cycle of epic poems of Orlando (based onRoland of the historical Charlemagne). InMatteo Maria Boiardo's late-15th-centuryOrlando Innamorato, fata Morgana (initially as lady Fortune[164]) is beautiful but wicked fairy enchantress, a sister of King Arthur and a pupil of Merlin. Morgana lives in her paradise-like garden in a crystal cavern under a lake, plotting to eventually destroy the entire world. There, she abducts her favourites until she is thwarted by Orlando who defeats, chases and captures Morgana, destroying her underwater prison and letting her keep only one of her forced lovers, a knight named Ziliante.[165] InLudovico Ariosto's continuation of this tale,Orlando Furioso (1532), Morgana is revealed as a twin sister of two other sorceresses, the good Logistilla and the evil Alcina; Orlando again defeats Morgana, rescuing Ziliante who has been turned into a dragon, and forces Morgana to swear by her lordDemogorgon to abandon her plots. The story also features the medieval motif where uses a magic horn to convince Arthur of the infidelity of his queen (Geneura), here successfully.Bernardo Tasso'sL'Amadigi (1560) further introduces Morgana's three daughters: Carvilia, Morganetta, and Nivetta, themselves temptresses of knights.[166] Morgan's other 16th-century appearances include these of Morgue la fée inFrançois Rabelais' French satirical fantasy novelLes grandes chroniques du grand et énorme géant Gargantua et il publie Pantagruel (1532)[167] and of the good Morgana in Erasmo di Valvasone's Italian didactic poemLa caccia (1591).[168] InEdmund Spenser's English epic poemThe Faerie Queene (1590), Argante (Layamon's name for Morgan) is lustful giantess queen of the "secret Ile", evoking the Post-Vulgate story of Morgan's kidnapping of Sir Alexander. It also features three other counterpart characters: Acrasia, Duessa, and Malecasta, all representing different themes from Malory's description of Morgan.[169] Morgan might have also inspired the characters of the healer Loosepaine and the fay Oriande in theScots language poemGreysteil,[170] possibly originally written in 15th-century England.
The character of Morgan has become ubiquitous in works of themodern era, spanningfantasy, historical fiction and other genres across various mediums, especially since the mid-20th century.[171]
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