Fascinating character of medieval legends, belonging to the Arthurian Cycle, the witch Morgana is a powerful sorceress who acquires diabolical traits as the main enemy of King Arthur and Queen Guinevere. Although she is presented as a wicked witch, andhe origin of Morgana is a goddess of Celtic mythology and a good fairy of the sea. Discover the two faces of the witch/fairy Morgana.
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Morgana Le Fay, the witch of the Arthurian legends
In the first version of the Arthurian legends, the goddess Modron married King Urien and gave birth to Owain and Gwayr, sister of Arthur, who was the mother of Medrawt and a powerful witch. Morgana is later said to be the eldest of nine sisters who rule the magical island of Avalon. This was the basis for the creation of a fundamental character of the Arthurian cycle, the witch Morgana.
The most widespread version presents her as a sorceress with the fabulous ability to change her appearance and, therefore, she is attributed the quality of deception and manipulation. Also, received from the magician Merlin the teachings of black magicwhich he then used against him and to harm Arturo.
In her confused status in the Arthurian family, Morgana is the daughter of Arthur’s mother and her first husband, Gorlois, Duke of Cornwall, and therefore Arturo is his stepbrother. She is initially a good fairy, but medieval Christianity made her a bad sorceress since Chretien de Troyes first attributed her kinship to King Arthur.
Morgana and Merin
Precisely with the narration of Chretien de Troyes, the great French medieval chronicler, Morgana takes relevance in the legend of King Arthur. In that story, Morgana is described as a disciple of Merlin, the most powerful magician, and later becomes his enemy.
Her conversion begins when Arthur’s father, Uther Pendragon, kills her father Gorlois, and she vows revenge. His great obsession is to destroy Merlinwho has helped with his powers to murder his father, and kill his brother to take revenge on Uther.
Morgana retreats to the forest, where she cultivates her black magic arts, and returns to King Arthur’s court as a benevolent sister while plotting treason behind his back. Then takes on the appearance of Queen Guinevere and conceives a son with King Arthur, Mordred, who as an adult, will return to the round table to take the place of the traitor and fight for his right to the throne.
Morgan and Lancelot
The knight Lancelot manages to soften Morgana’s heart, but he does not love her but Queen Guinevere. He kidnaps them several times, but he manages to escape, and then plots revenge. He gets Merlin to disappear from the court of Camelot and discovers in front of everyone the betrayal of Lancelot and Guineveresparking a fight between the knights of the round table.
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The internal fights and the invasion of the Romans leave Great Britain on the verge of collapse, which Mordred takes advantage of to enthrone himself as king. This, however, also falls for the charms of Geneva, which is enclosed at the top of the tower. Fate is decided in a fight to the death between Arthur and Mordredwhich ends with the defeat of Morgana’s son.
This is the moment when the bad witch realizes how much suffering and pain she has caused, and repents, rescuing the badly wounded Arthur from the battlefield and moving him to the island of Avalon.
The powers and attributes of the witch Morgana
From her role in the telling of the Arthurian legends, the witch Morgana has become through the centuries one of the most famous sorceresses in western literature. Although she started out as just a practitioner of white magic, literature has shaped her character into the classic archetype of evil linked to witchcraft.
The character of the witch Morgana concentrates the attributes of evil, hatred and revenge, and is often characterized by the classic image of old raggedy woman with hooked nose. However, in some versions the character has a dual character, since he also represents the fiery beauty, desire and temptation.
Among the powers that the witch Morgana has is the ability to turn into any animal, persuade mortals through telepathy, see the future and the ability to alter itand tempt responsible men to lead them to perdition.
His victims include Arthur Pendragon and Merlin the Bard.two representatives of duty and responsibility who lose their glory and greatness through their wicked arts.
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Morgana: a bad witch or a good fairy?
But the construction of the antagonist of the Arthurian legends turned into a wicked witch of Western literature is only a distortion of an original character whose complexity is develops in the stories of Celtic mythology.
The most truthful origin of Morgana is a Celtic queen nicknamed Mohr Righan, «The Great Queen», who held a place in the Irish pantheon as a goddess of war.
This calls into question the right of the throne in the Arthurian myth, since ancient Celtic societies were matriarchal and governed by the law of Druid succession: the royal dignity was inherited by the son of the older sister, that is, the true heir was his nephew Modred. That subverts Arthur’s rights to the throne.
That is why the Christian clergymen, contrary to matriarchy and supporters of the law of the firstborn, turned Modred into a bastard son of an incestuous union between the brothers Arthur and Morgana, which detracts from all legitimacy.
But it is clear that there is a connection between the Celtic Great Queen and Morgana, because both can become animals and have a developed sexuality. Both are creators and destroyers at the same time, capable of the best and the worst.
Another version maintains the connection between Morgana and Muirgein, a fairy of the sea which is linked to Modron, the Great Mother Goddess of Celtic mythology who is related to the sea through her father, the god Avallach. In the French tradition, Morgens are the spirits of water.
The witch Morgana in fiction
The epic of the legend of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table has been made into a movie on many occasions. These are the films that you cannot miss if you want to know more about the story, and in which the witch Morgana appears in one way or another.
1. King Arthur’s Knights (1953)
This was the first staging of the Arthurian myth in fictiona film in which Anne Crawford gave life to Morgana as an ambitious lady who wants the throne of England and who will fight against Arthur to usurp her power since he ripped the sword of Excalibur from the stone.
For such a company he has Mordred, the son he had with Arturo, although in the film that detail is not revealed. Instead, the rivalry between Morgana and Merlin appearsbecause the magician wants to stop the evil witch’s intentions until she manages to poison him.
2. Excalibur (1981)
But if an actress is especially linked to the role of Morgana, this is the unforgettable Helen Mirren, who in the free version of the Arthurian myth of this film her role plays a fundamental role. This time, Morgana and Merlin they are master and disciple, but they also maintain a relationshipalthough Morgana falls in love with Lancelot, who is in turn in love with Guinevere.
But Morgana is blinded by hatred for the son of her father’s killer and wants to take the throne from him. That’s why she kills Merlin and steals her powers to impersonate Guinevere. As a novelty, this film presents the death of Morgana, who does not appear in any story.
3. Merlin (1998)
Morgana’s association with the figure of Helena Bonham Carter, in the miniseries, has also been remembered. Marline released in 1998. In this version, Morgana does not have the role of antagonist, but is a person moved by betrayal, but manipulated by the true evilQueen Mab, who has the true intention of defeating her great enemy, the wizard Merlin.
4. Game of Thrones (2011)
The hit series Game of Thrones, based on the novels by Geogre RR Martin, has used Morgana as a mythological reference to build the character of Melissandre. While the Morgana of the Arthurian legends has a strong sexual dimension, in Game of Thrones, men favor her.
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Additionally, Melissandre uses powers to change her appearance., in the same way that Morgana in the legendary narrations had acquired the powers to change her appearance and fly. in the series Game of ThronesMelissandre is played by Clarice von Houten.