Morgan Le Fay should be a name well known to anyone who likes Arthurian Legend. You know, King Arthur, Excalibur and the Knights of the Round Table. Morgan Le Fay was a sorceress noted in several versions of the legend.
In the early legends she did not have much of a story behind her. She was a sorceress, healer and sometimes fairy. Most of the time she is one of the maidens who takes a dying Arthur to the Isle of Avalon to be healed. According to the Vulgate Cycle, she is married to King Urien and is the handmaiden of Queen Guinevere, King Arthur's wife.
It's not until Sir Thomas Mallory's Le Morte d'Arthur that Morgan is established as Arthur's half sister by his mother Igraine. Here she plays a small role as advarsary for Arthur and Guinevere as she conspires to become Queen. Some have depicted her as the mother of Mordred, who mortally wounded King Arthur. However, this is actually her sister Morgause. Despite having a small role in the legends, Morgan Le Fay has been depicted in hundreds of stories.
In Marion Zimmer Bradley's "The Mists of Avalon" Morgaine (Morgan Le Fay) is the main character of the story. She is the half sister of King Arthur and a priestess of the Goddess religion struggling to keep her worship alive in the midst of rising Christianity. Though, the book dragged for me, I loved the depiction of the Goddess worship in this story.
In Marvel Comics Morgan Le Fay is a half faeries sorceress who is the sometimes villain of the Avengers, Captain Britain, and Dr. Strange (among others).
In DC Comics she is a super-villain sorceress who practices the black arts. She has shown up in the comics as well as the Justice League cartoon.
Katie McGrath as Morgana
She is Morgana, an eventual villain, in the BBC television series Merlin. I have to give my cheesy BBC show some love and I really need to catch up on the seasons.
Even J.K. Rowling mentions her in Harry Potter.
What are your favorite references to Morgan Le Fay?
I wanted to be her when I was little! Have you ever seen the movie Mists of Avalon? Julianna Margulies plays Morgaine and it features a TON of other fantastic actors. It is one of my all time favorites. This post made my day.
ReplyDeleteMovie: http://youtu.be/YQYkxsrZalQ
I've seen and love the movie. I think I still have a dvd copy.
DeleteI'm always interested when someone does a re-telling of the Arthur legend, what aspect they'll take with Morgan Le Fay. I, too, really enjoyed the Mists of Avalon movie. It was superb! More recently, Starzz did a Camelot series with Morgan Le Fay as the main villain. She was portrayed by the amazing Eva Green and I absolutely LOVED it. I was so sad when it was cancelled after only one season. Thanks for this post. Arthurian legend is always fun to think/read/write/post/anything! about! :D
ReplyDeleteLove the Mists of Avalon movie as well. I will have to check on the Starzz Camelot series.
DeleteI've always been intrigued by Morgan Le Fay, but admittedly never knew much about her, so it was fun to learn a little bit about her in this post! And oh, Merlin! Love that show! I'm behind on the seasons, too. They only aired one season where I am (I don't have BBC) and have been wanting to watch more ever since....
ReplyDeleteI watched up to season two with some searching on the internet.
DeleteHonestly, the only written portrayal I really recall is from The Mists of Avalon. I liked the fact that the character is multi-faceted and the motivations were given dimension.
ReplyDeleteShe did well with all the characters in that book. You could she the hero and villain in most off them.
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