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In dim samite was she bedight,
And on her hair a hoop of gold,
Like foxfire, in the tawn moonlight,
Was glimmering cold.
With soft gray eyes she gloomed and glowered;
With soft red lips she sang a song:
What knight might gaze upon her face,
Nor fare along?
For all her looks were full of spells,
And all her words, of sorcery;
And in some way they seemed to say,
"Oh, come with me!
"Oh,come with me! oh, come with me!
Oh, come with me, my love, Sir Kay!"-
How should he know the witch,
I trow, Morgan le Fay?
How should he know the wily witch,
With sweet white face and raven hair?
Who, through her art, bewitched his heart,
And held him there.
Eftsoons his soul had waxed amort,
To wold and weald, to slade and stream;
And all he heard was her soft word,
As one adream.
And all he saw was her bright eyes,
And her fair face that held him still:
And wild and wan she led him on,
O'er vale and hill.
- Madison Cawein (1865-1914)
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Morgan le Fay, auch bekannt als Morgaine, Morgain oder Morgana und unter weiteren Namen, ist eine sehr alte keltische Sagengestalt. Bekannt wurde sie u.a. als wichtige weibliche Figur in der Mythologie um König Artus (Artussage). Viele Leute würden sogar behaupten, dass sie eine der bekanntesten und sagenumwobendsten Magierinnen der Literaturgeschichte ist. Es gibt viele Legenden, die sich um sie ranken, und am meisten verblüfft dabei wohl ihr stets merkwürdig zwiespältiger Charakter: Morgana ist zugleich Heilerin als auch eine Meisterin der schwarzen Magie. Sie ist der Stachel in König Artus' Leben, seine härteste Rivalin - und doch ist sie es, die ihm schließlich in seinem Todeskampf zur Seite steht. Ihr sei dieser Thread gewidmet.
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Morgan Le Fay, a powerful female figure in the Arthur legends, represents control, sorcery, and manipulation. She uses underhanded, often manipulative methods to create her power. During King Arthur's reign, and in various romances and folk tales, Morgan shows up as a shape-shifter. She is a fairy, a queen, a mermaid, a beautiful young woman, a crone, a hag, an enchantress or a witch. In some accounts, Morgan has a bad reputation; she is evil, sexual, a temptress. Elsewhere, Morgan is a heroine. The inconsistency of the research material available makes it difficult to pinpoint who Morgan Le Fay actually was. But one thing is for certain: Morgan is a woman of mystery.
Morgan is often said to be the half-sister of King Arthur, who had a child with him. Sometimes she is the mistress of Merlin, who taught her magic. Others say she learned her magical arts in a nunnery. It is said that Morgan was the most intelligent and educated woman of her time.
Morgan Le Fay was first introduced into Arthurian legend by Geoffrey of Monmouth in the Vita Merlini (c. 1150) but her true origin, as with many Arthurian characters, leads back into Celtic mythology and inevitably develops with each new rendition of the tale. Morgan Le Fay's character is interesting enough, but so is her name.
In Celtic terms, Morgan (or Morcant) is a man's name. The feminine version is more correctly Morgain (or Morgue or Morgne). Also Morrigan equates with Morrigu of Irish mythology. According to Celtic tradition the Morrigan (a Triple Goddess of Celtic myth, thought of as the Goddess of Death) flew over battles, shrieking like ravens and claiming dead soldiers' heads as trophies. Or the answer may lie in Uriens - in early Welsh literature Modron (a version of Matrona) was the daughter of Avallach, wife of Urien, and mother of Owein. The Welsh and Arthurian story lines were later merged, forming a link between Modron and King Arthur. Further, there was a sixth-century Cumbrian ruler called Urien Rheged who presided over a loose coalition of kings (according to some accounts there was also an Arthur, son of King Aedan of dal Riada). Urien had a loose ally: Morcant Bulc - a man - who eventually plotted to assassinate him, which could have been Sir Thomas Malory's inspiration for the plot in Le Morte d'Arthur where Morgan Le Fay attempts to kill Arthur and Uriens.
'Le Fay' is an ancient word for a fairy and to this day, apparently, the Breton name for a water-nymph is a 'Morgan'.
The possible roots of the Arthurian character Morgan Le Fay therefore run deep into early British mythology and can be traced across several hundred years up to her final act as one of the three women who transported the fatally wounded King Arthur in a barge to the Isle of Avalon to be healed (outcome unrecorded). A speculative summary, based on Welsh and other Arthurian legend, suggest an identification with Modron and also with the river goddess Matrona, possibly derived from the Irish goddess Morrigan. Given the superstitious Christian attitude to supernatural women in the medieval era, the more she is humanised, the more the name Morgan Le Fay descends into an easy literary metaphor for devious, sometimes evil mischief.
Nonetheless the much-maligned Morgan Le Fay never becomes purely evil. Her attractive qualities remain - a healer, she is associated with art and culture, she is sexy, and in the end is worthy of redemption.
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Übrigens entstand der Begriff "Fata Morgana" tatsächlich aus den Legenden um Morgan le Fay. "Fata" ist italienisch und bedeutet ebenso Fee wie "Fay" auf Englisch.
Weiterführende Links:
http://www.arthurian-legend.com/more-about/more-about-arthur-8.php
http://csis.pace.edu/grendel/projs993a/arthurian/morgan2.htm
http://www.hippogreif.de/harrypot/morgana.htm
http://www.mythicalrealm.com/legends/morgan_le_fay.html
http://members.fortunecity.com/rowansterling/morgan.html
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morgan_le_Fay
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