Morgan Le Fay – the Archetypal Fairy
Frederick Sandys (1829–1904 British)
Of late I have been thinking of Morgan le Fay, the enigmatic fae woven through the tales and versions of the King Arthur and Knights of the Round Table legend. Morgan le Fay (Morgan the fairy) is a very complex character and is at one time or another, pretty much described as everything – contrary, evil, healer, protector, jealous, petty, a sorceress, a sister, seductress, queen, manipulative and the list goes on, describing the full spectrum of fae (and female) characteristics. She is also attributed many feminine traits, and there are layers of interpretation around this. Overall my thoughts have been how Morgan le Fay is representative of the fae in general, exhibiting most all their tendencies and actions at one point or another.
W. H. Margetson’s illustration for Legends of King Arthur and His Knights by James Knowles
The earliest mentions of Morgan le Fay (or Morgana) around the 12th century depict her as primarily a healer and wise woman. She seems to be an evolution from either The Morrigan, the Celtic Goddess of war, fate and death, or Modron, the divine mother goddess of ancient Gaul, or similar sources such as older figures from Celtic or Welsh folklore and mythology, or some combination of these origins. Since that time, her character has been described and retold along with the tales of King Arthur and its many tellings, and evolved with the stories according to author and century. During the 1500’s, her character became much more devious, and dangerous, perhaps a reflection of the times. In any case, her character became much more complex, grey, amoral and other such descriptives, and remained that way for the next several centuries. Only in the last century or so with the latest and recent retellings of the story of King Arthur, has the character regained some of the original traits of goodness, healing, protector and even as a misunderstood figure.
The basic storyline of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table is as follows, for reference. Arthur grows up in ancient England which has no king and is a land of chaos. Merlin, a great wizard has placed a sword into a stone and decried that whosoever pulls the sword from the stone shall be the rightful King of England. As fate happens, Arthur, a young and unknown boy, pulls the sword out and is subsequently named king. As king, he establishes a round table of knights, the table a symbol of equality to be shared by the best, most loyal and bravest knights in the kingdom. From there many stories are spun of various quests or hunts the knights undertake, the best known being the quest for the holy grail. During this time, the king’s wife falls in love with Sir Lancelot, one of King Arthurs most trusted knights, and a tragic love affair follows, which breaks the trust of all and eventually leads to the downfall of Camelot, the kingdom. In the wake of the scandal of Lancelot and Guinevere, Arthur’s illegitimate son, Mordred rises up against Arthur and though killed, also mortally wounds Arthur. Finally he is taken to Avalon, the misty island of Morgan le Fay and sisters, to an unclear fate, either to fade away or be healed and to return one day as the once and future king.
Woven through this tale, is the character Morgan le Fay. She and King Arthur have a complex, multifaceted relationship involving family, trust, magic and ultimately compassion. At various times during the stories, Morgan le Fay is both enemy and protector, and to complicate things, they share the same mother, but by different fathers. Even more complicating is that Morgan is a powerful sorceress, able to shape shift, create enchantments, illusions or objects, cast spells, fly, and capable of great healing, which she learned from Merlin, another complicated relationship, one marked by mutual respect, rivalry, and even enmity at times. And even though she is King Arthur’s half sister, she also acts as a temptress and seductress, so the word complex may fall a bit short here. In any case, Morgan le Fay is resentful and vengeful in the later tellings of the legend, and deliberately tries to undermine Arthur in many ways, with both magic, scheming and gossip. This is due to her perception of being wronged, that she is overshadowed by his position as king and not duly respected or included. Yet at the end of times when Arthur is mortally wounded, it is Morgan le Fay who takes him to her island Avalon for care and healing. It seems deep down, despite everything, there is a a sense of shared destiny and mutual respect between them.
So it is this spectrum of actions and attitudes from Morgan le Fay that has recently been on my mind. She is ambivalent, amoral, duplicitous, capable of both good and evil, misunderstood, both petty and compassionate and so on. More to the points, she exhibits many, many of the characteristics of the fae and can be viewed as the quintessential ‘fairy’. As such, when trying to describe the character Morgan le Fay’s role or meaning, it quickly becomes obvious that human interpretation falls short, that… fairies are fairies, they do what they do, and human understandings are usually misunderstandings. Consider the following passage of a student essay on the matter –
‘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.’
Or in other words, everything one might expect a fae to be, unbound by human conventions, morals or expectations. Or another way to consider this, is from the vantage point of the feminine, how strong female characters both encounter the resistances of male dominated environments and the ways in which the feminine seeks to balance, challenge or respond to those situations. Morgan le Fay is a powerful sorceress, possessing a witchcraft rivaling Merlin, a power that cannot be controlled. And such power can be used to create or destroy, and can be unpredicatable, a fearsome combination. Her magic and inherent abilities of creation and regeneration challenge the male rule where it is weakest, and as such create tension and reaction. But the confusing thing is that her powers can be used for good also, as exemplified at the end of the legend where only Morgan le Fay’s superior healing powers are able to save King Arthur from his death, and symbolically the future of Britain.
Finally, consider the following quote from a critical essay from Emerson College on Morgan le Fay – for a final perspective about this fascinating character,
‘Perhaps, like the Fae, Morgan’s witchcraft was too powerful, too otherworldly, to be confined fully by human moral logic. Saving a person that you’ve just spent years trying to destroy is the sort of thing the Fae would do.’
In conclusion…
Morgan le Fay is a character of great depth and nuance, embodying the duality of the human condition. She is both a healer and a destroyer, a loving sister and a vengeful enemy, a figure of immense power and tragic vulnerability. Her enduring presence in the Arthurian legend speaks to the timeless appeal of her character, as she continues to captivate audiences with her magic, her mystery, and her complex motivations.