Post by DSkillz on Dec 4, 2014 6:29:58 GMT
Morgan le Fay
Morgan le Fay /ˈmɔrɡən lə ˈfeɪ/, alternatively known as Morgan le Faye, Morgane, Morgaine, Morgana and other names, is a powerful sorceress in the Arthurian legend. Early works featuring Morgan do not elaborate her character beyond her role as a fay or magician. She became much more prominent in the later cyclical prose works such as the Lancelot-Grail and the Post-Vulgate Cycle, in which she becomes an antagonist to King Arthur and Queen Guinevere.
The early accounts of Geoffrey of Monmouth and Gerald of Wales refer to Morgan in conjunction with the Isle of Apples (Avalon) to which the fatally wounded Arthur was carried. To the former, she was an enchantress, one of nine sisters. In the early romances of Chrétien de Troyes, she also figures as a healer. In later stories, Morgan is said to be the daughter of Arthur's mother Lady Igraine and her first husband Gorlois, so that Arthur (son of Igraine and Uther Pendragon) is her half-brother. She becomes an adversary of the Round Table when Guinevere discovers her adultery with one of her husband's knights, though she eventually reconciles with her brother and even retains her original role, serving as one of the four enchantresses who carry him to Avalon after his final Battle of Camlann. In Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur ("The Death of Arthur") and elsewhere, she is married, unhappily, to King Urien of Gore. Ywain is her son, and her sisters include Morgause.
As her epithet "le Fay" (from the French la fée, meaning fairy) indicates, the figure of Morgan appears to have been originally a supernatural being. Her main name could be connected to the myths of Morgens, or Morgans or Mari-Morgans, which are Welsh and Breton water spirits. While later works make her specifically human, she retains her magical powers. Inspiration for her character likely came from earlier Welsh mythology and literature. Additional speculation sometimes connects Morgan with the Irish goddess Morrígan, though there are few similarities between the two beyond the spelling of their names.
Links:
Wikipedia
The Camelot Project
Siân Echard's Home Page
Record:
W:
L:
The early accounts of Geoffrey of Monmouth and Gerald of Wales refer to Morgan in conjunction with the Isle of Apples (Avalon) to which the fatally wounded Arthur was carried. To the former, she was an enchantress, one of nine sisters. In the early romances of Chrétien de Troyes, she also figures as a healer. In later stories, Morgan is said to be the daughter of Arthur's mother Lady Igraine and her first husband Gorlois, so that Arthur (son of Igraine and Uther Pendragon) is her half-brother. She becomes an adversary of the Round Table when Guinevere discovers her adultery with one of her husband's knights, though she eventually reconciles with her brother and even retains her original role, serving as one of the four enchantresses who carry him to Avalon after his final Battle of Camlann. In Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur ("The Death of Arthur") and elsewhere, she is married, unhappily, to King Urien of Gore. Ywain is her son, and her sisters include Morgause.
As her epithet "le Fay" (from the French la fée, meaning fairy) indicates, the figure of Morgan appears to have been originally a supernatural being. Her main name could be connected to the myths of Morgens, or Morgans or Mari-Morgans, which are Welsh and Breton water spirits. While later works make her specifically human, she retains her magical powers. Inspiration for her character likely came from earlier Welsh mythology and literature. Additional speculation sometimes connects Morgan with the Irish goddess Morrígan, though there are few similarities between the two beyond the spelling of their names.
Links:
Wikipedia
The Camelot Project
Siân Echard's Home Page
Record:
W:
L: