Morgan le Fay
dresses the more religious views developed with the influence of Christianity on the Morgan le Fay legend; and inheritance, a look at Morgan’s depiction after the implementation of staunch religious scrutiny into the legend. Her origins began in Celtic mythology. Although Morgan was first introduced in Geoffrey’s work, her character seems to have been derived from multiple ancient Celtic myths. Irish legends present a triple goddess and war deity named Morrigan, thought of as “the great queen” and a goddess of death (Dee). In Welsh tales, Modron, which translates as “Mother,” was the wife of the great king Urien and the mother of Owain, son of Urien. Later in Arthuriana, “romances from early on make Morgan the wife of Urien of Rheged and the mother of Owain/Uwain/Yvain” (Carver 30). While none of these figures are actually named Morgan, they are clearly similar. In fact, Morgan, in Wales, is actually a masculine name. Geoffrey likely derived “Morgen” from the Bretons’ idea of water-fairies, known as morgans, an identification that suits Morgan’s presumed character perfectly (Geoffrey 31). According to legend: The Morgan is a fairy eternally young . . . Her place of abode is beneath the sea; there she possesses marvelous palaces where gold and diamonds glimmer. Accompanied by other fairies, of whom she is in some respects the queen, she rises to the surface of the waters in the splendor of her unveiled beauty (Loomis 198). Most authors relate Morgan to the Isle of Avalon, another strand of her origin drawn from Celtic mythology. Finally, Morgan’s full title, in most works, including le Fay further suggests her mystical nature; “fay” means fairy, clearly meaning that Morgan is fairy-like, or supernatural in some way (Geoffrey 31). Morgan’s complex history clearly begins in pagan traditions and this perspective resonates in Geoffrey’s Vita Merlini. These Celtic beginnings of Morgan’s character, though, are stifled as the tradition progresses. Geoffrey serves as the primary historical source for Morgan’s beginnings. After Geoffrey’s first installment of the legend of Arthur in 1136, he introduced several new characters in his second, Vita Merlini, written circa 1150 AD, including Morgan. Geoffrey’s accounts of the legend are historical in focus rather than religious as later works prove to be. This work clearly relies on the aforementioned Celtic myths to develop setting, characters, and plot. Geoffrey’s reference to Morgan is brief: “Her name is Morgen, and she has learned the uses of all plants in curing the ills of the body. She knows, too, the art of changing her shape, of flying through the air, like Daedalus, on strange wings” (Geoffrey 101); thus, in Geoffrey’s work, she is marked as a healer and a shape shifter, though never
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