page_title: Morgan le Fay
section_title: Etymology and origins
hierarchical_section_title: Morgan le Fay / Etymology and origins
caption_attribution_description: English: Giambologna, Fata Morgana (Morgan le Fay), statue for "Fonte della Fata Morgana" (Morgan le Fay's spring) building. Grassina, Bagno a Ripoli, Firenze, Italy.
context_page_description: Morgan le Fay, alternatively known as Morgan[n]a, Morgain[a/e], Morg[a]ne, Morgant[e], Morge[i]n, and Morgue[in] among other names and spellings, is a powerful enchantress in the Arthurian legend. Early appearances of Morgan do not elaborate her character beyond her role as a goddess, a fay, a witch, or a sorceress, generally benevolent and related to King Arthur as his magical saviour and protector. Her prominence increased over time, as did her moral ambivalence, and in some texts there is an evolutionary transformation of her to an antagonist, particularly as portrayed in cyclical prose such as the Lancelot-Grail and the Post-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 been rooted in Welsh mythology as well as other earlier myths and historical figures. The earliest account, by Geoffrey of Monmouth in Vita Merlini, refers to Morgan in conjunction with the Isle of Apples, which is where Arthur was carried after being fatally wounded in the Battle of Camlann.
context_section_description: The earliest spelling of the name (found in Geoffrey of Monmouth's Vita Merlini, written c. 1150) is Morgen, which is likely derived from Old Welsh or Old Breton Morgen, meaning "Sea-born" (from Common Brittonic *Mori-genā, the masculine form of which, *Mori-genos, survived in Middle Welsh as Moryen or Morien; a cognate form in Old Irish is Muirgen, the name of a Christian shapeshifting female saint who was associated with the sea). The name is not to be confused with the unrelated Modern Welsh masculine name Morgan (spelled Morcant in the Old Welsh period). As her epithet "le Fay" (invented in the 15th century by Thomas Malory from the earlier French la fée, "the fairy"; Malory would also use the form "le Fey" alternatively with "le Fay") and some traits indicate, the figure of Morgan appears to have been a remnant of supernatural females from Celtic mythology, and her main name could be connected to the myths of Morgens (also known as Mari-Morgans or just Morgans), the Welsh and Breton fairy water spirits related to the legend of Princess Dahut (Ahes). While many later works make Morgan specifically human, she retains her magical powers, and sometimes also her otherworldly if not divine attributes. In fact she is often referred to as either a Fairy Queen or outright a goddess (dea, déesse, gotinne) by authors.
  Geoffrey's description of Morgen and her sisters in the Vita Merlini closely resembles the story of the nine Gaulish priestesses of the isle of Sena (now Île de Sein) called Gallisenae (or Gallizenae), as described by the geographer Pomponius Mela during the first century, strongly suggesting that Pomponius' Description of the World (De situ orbis) was one of Geoffrey's prime sources. Further inspiration for her character likely came from Welsh folklore and medieval Irish literature and hagiography. Speculatively, beginning with Lucy Allen Paton in 1904, Morgan has been connected with the Irish shapeshifting and multifaced goddess of strife known as the Morrígan ("Great Queen"). Proponents of this have included Roger Sherman Loomis, who doubted the Muirgen connection. Possible influence by elements of the classical Greek mythology sorceresses or goddesses such as Circe and especially Medea, and other magical women from the Irish mythology such as the mother of hero Fráech, as well as historical figure of Empress Matilda, have been also suggested. A chiefly Greek construction is a relatively new origin theory proposed by Carolyne Larrington. One of the proposed candidates for the historical Arthur, Artuir mac Áedán, was recorded as having a sister named Maithgen (daughter of king Áedán mac Gabráin, a 6th-century king of Dál Riata), whose name also appears as that of prophetic druid in the Irish legend of Saint Brigid of Kildare.
  Morgan has also been often linked with the supernatural mother Modron, derived from the continental mother goddess figure of Dea Matrona and featured in medieval Welsh literature. Modron appears in Welsh Triad 70 ("Three Blessed Womb-Burdens of the Island of Britain") – in which her children by Urien are named Owain mab Urien (son) and Morfydd (daughter) – and a later folktale have recorded more fully in the manuscript Peniarth 147. A fictionalised version of the historical king Urien is usually Morgan le Fay's husband in the variations of Arthurian legend informed by continental romances, wherein their son is named Yvain. Furthermore, the historical Urien had a treacherous ally named Morcant Bulc who plotted to assassinate him, similar to how Morgan attempts to kill Urien. Additionally, Modron is called "daughter of Afallach", a Welsh ancestor figure also known as Avallach or Avalloc, whose name can also be interpreted as a noun meaning "a place of apples"; in the tale of Owain and Morfydd's conception in Peniarth 147, Modron is called the "daughter of the King of Annwn", a Celtic Otherworld. This evokes Avalon, the marvelous "Isle of Apples" with which Morgan has been associated since her earliest appearances, and the Irish legend of the otherworldly woman Niamh including the motif of ap
caption: Fata Morgana (Italian for "Morgan the Fairy"[2]) by Giambologna (c. 1574)
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