Morgan le Fay: The Eternal Shapechanger
Many elements of the Arthurian legends owe their origins (or part of them) to pre-Christian Celtic religion and folklore. Although the stories that have been written by the time of the Vulgate Cycle and beyond use these elements in individual and unique stories that often emphasize non-Celtic European and Christian values, the echo of the earlier symbolism can still be found -- in particular, in the character Morgan le Fay.
Although the literary character of Morgan le Fay has taken on an identity in her own right, she is very likely derived from certain goddesses and spirits from Celtic legends and mythology. So we will examine the fictional character and two of her conceivable origins to get a better understanding of this interesting and paradoxical character and how she has changed... and continues to change.
One of the most important things to keep in mind about Morgan in all her incarnations is that she is a shapeshifter. She can work magic, and she possesses great knowledge and power. But she can change her form, and the forms of other people, and manipulate appearances to suit her needs. This is how she survives, in life and in fiction.
The Fictional Character
Earliest descriptions (@1148-1200) show her as a possibly supernatural maiden, maker of magic oils and ointments, beautiful and skilled, lady of Avalon (Isle of Apples) and oldest and most beautiful of 9 sisters (priestesses) there. (Later she was described as the lover (or daughter) of the lord of that isle -- that is, the queen.) Within the next 50 years or so, Chrétien names her as Arthur's sister (NOT Mordred's mother!), and notes her skills at herbcraft and her healing powers. She is also sometimes associated with the magical forest, sometimes called Broceliande. She comes in a boat filled with women to take Arthur to Avalon after the battle of Camlann for his mortal wounds to be healed (!). She also has gifts of prophecy and shapeshifting, and can transform the shapes of others as well. She is mentioned as someone everyone knows about, but about whom everyone knows very little indeed except what they've heard. Her presence is otherworldly and ambiguous, much more so than any other character (except maybe Merlin, but she is a more constant presence than he at this point).
In the Vulgate cycle, her character has begun to change from ambiguous in a mortal/magical sense (human/faery?) to ambiguous in a moral sense (good/bad?). Although she is still powerful, beautiful and desirable, and on good terms with Arthur by the time this text ends, during these romances she is banished from the court in the Tristane for her "faithlessness"; in the Lancelot she develops a grudge against Guenevere because the queen broke up Morgan's affair with her cousin Guiomar. Morgan revenges herself upon Guenevere by imprisoning Lancelot for "two winters and a summer." She reconciles with Arthur during the course of this text, and arrives to take him to Avalon after his battle with Mordred. Although she performs "faithless" and malevolent acts, she is usually reacting to something that has happened to her, and working to avenge a wrong; by The Death of King Arthur she is helpful once again to her brother the king and sees him safely to Avalon.
By the time we get to Malory, she is promiscuous, capricious and malignant -- a slighted mistress who seeks revenge for spurned love, a once-beautiful creature who must keep up her formerly attractive appearance with magical arts and trickery, a onetime healer who seeks to hurt and destroy those at court. More than once she stages battles in attempts to unseat Arthur from his throne and to cause his death. She arranges for Sir Gawain to fight the Green Knight. Yet it is always she who comes to take Arthur away to the Island of Avalon after the fatal final battle.
Is it just that we need an evil character, a sorceress and a vexing sibling to stir up trouble with her magical mischief? A bad witch? Maybe, but that seems simplistic, considering that some of the more contradictory elements of her nature might be better appreciated by knowing their possible origins. A handful of connections have been suggested, but the two which seem most pertinent here are the ones which correspond directly to her very name: "Morgan" to an Irish goddess of war, and "Le Fay" to a Celtic spirit of the otherworld sometimes known as a fate or fay.
Next... Queen of Glass and Apples
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