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Morgan le Fay (; Welsh: Morgên y Dylwythen Deg; Cornish: Morgen an Spyrys; all meaning 'Morgan the Fairy'), alternatively known as Morgan[n]a, Morgain[a/e], Morg[a]ne, Morgant[e], Morge[i]n, and Morgue[in] among other names and spellings, is a powerful and ambiguous enchantress from the legend of King Arthur, in which most often she and he are siblings. Early appearances of Morgan in Arthurian literature do not elaborate her character beyond her role as a goddess, a fay, a witch, or a sorceress, generally benevolent and connected to Arthur as his magical saviour and protector. Her prominence increased as the legend of Arthur developed over time, as did her moral ambivalence, and in some texts there is an evolutionary transformation of her to an antagonist, particularly as portrayed in cyclical prose such as the Lancelot-Grail and the Post-Vulgate Cycle. A significant aspect in many of Morgan's medieval and later iterations is the unpredictable duality of her nature, with potential for both good and evil. Her character may have originated from Welsh mythology as well as from other ancient and medieval myths and historical figures. The earliest documented account, by Geoffrey of Monmouth in Vita Merlini (written c. 1150) refers to Morgan in association with the Isle of Apples (Avalon), to which Arthur was carried after having been fatally wounded at the Battle of Camlann, as the leader of the nine magical sisters unrelated to Arthur. Therein, and in the early chivalric romances by Chrétien de Troyes and others, Morgan's chief role is that of a great healer. Several of numerous and often unnamed fairy-mistress and maiden-temptress characters found through the Arthurian romance genre may also be considered as appearances of Morgan in her different aspects. Romance authors of the late 12th century established Morgan as Arthur's supernatural elder sister. In the 13th-century prose cycles – and the later works based on them, including the influential Le Morte d'Arthur – she is usually described as the youngest daughter of Arthur's mother Igraine and her first husband Gorlois. Arthur, son of Igraine and Uther Pendragon, is thus Morgan's half-brother, and her full sisters include Mordred's mother, the Queen of Orkney. The young Morgan unhappily marries Urien, with whom she has a son, Yvain. She becomes an apprentice of Merlin, and a capricious and vindictive adversary of some knights of the Round Table, all the while harbouring a special hatred for Arthur's wife Guinevere. In this tradition, she is also sexually active and even predatory, taking numerous lovers that may include Merlin and Accolon, with an unrequited love for Lancelot. In some variants, including in the popular retelling by Malory, Morgan is the greatest enemy of Arthur, scheming to usurp his throne and indirectly becoming an instrument of his death. However, she eventually reconciles with Arthur, retaining her original role of taking him on his final journey to Avalon. Many other medieval and Renaissance works feature continuations of her evolutionary tale from the aftermath of Camlann as she becomes the immortal queen of Avalon in both Arthurian and non-Arthurian stories, sometimes alongside Arthur. After a period of being largely absent from contemporary culture, Morgan's character again rose to prominence in the 20th and 21st centuries, appearing in a wide variety of roles and portrayals. Notably, her modern character is frequently being conflated with her sister's as mother of Arthur's son and nemesis Mordred, the status that Morgan herself never had in medieval legend. Etymology and origins The earliest spelling of the name (found in Geoffrey of Monmouth's Vita Merlini, written c. 1150) is Morgen, which is likely derived from Old Welsh or Old Breton Morgen, meaning 'sea-born' (from Common Brittonic *Mori-genā, the masculine form of which, *Mori-genos, survived in Middle Welsh as Moryen or Morien; a cognate form in Old Irish is Muirgen, the name of a Celtic Christian shapeshifting female saint who was associated with the sea). The name is not to be confused with the unrelated Modern Welsh masculine name Morgan (spelled Morcant in the Old Welsh period). As her epithet "le Fay" (a pseudo-French phrase derived in the 15th century by Thomas Malory from its original French form la fée 'the fairy'; Malory would also use the form "le Fey" alternatively with "le Fay") and some traits indicate, the figure of Morgan appears to have been a remnant of supernatural females from Celtic mythology, and her main name could be connected to the myths of Morgens (also known as Mari-Morgans or just Morgans), the Welsh and Breton fairy water spirits related to the legend of Princess Dahut (Ahes). Speculatively, beginning with Lucy Allen Paton in 1904, Morgan has been connected with the shapeshifting and multifaced Irish goddess of strife known as the Morrígan ('Great Queen'). Proponents of this theory have included Roger Sherman Loomis, who doubted the Muirgen connection. Further inspiration for her character likely came from other Welsh folklore as well as possibly other works of medieval Irish literature and hagiography. Possible influence by elements of the classical Greek mythology sorceresses or goddesses such as Circe and especially Medea (who, similar to Morgan, are often alternately benevolent and malicious), and other magical women from the Irish mythology such as the mother of hero Fráech, as well as historical figure of Empress Matilda, have been also suggested. A chiefly Greek construction is a relatively new origin theory by Carolyne Larrington. Geoffrey's description of Morgen and her sisters in the Vita Merlini closely resembles the story of the nine Gaulish priestesses of the isle of Sena (now Île de Sein) called Gallisenae (or Gallizenae), as described by the geographer Pomponius Mela during the first century, strongly suggesting that Pomponius' Description of the World (De situ orbis) was one of Geoffrey's prime sources for at least his unique version. One of the proposed candidates for the historical Arthur, Artuir mac Áedán, was recorded as having a sister named Maithgen (daughter of king Áedán mac Gabráin, a 6th-century king of Dál Riata), whose name also appears as that of a prophetic druid in the Irish legend of Saint Brigid of Kildare. Morgan has also been often linked with the supernatural mother Modron, derived from the continental mother goddess figure of Dea Matrona and featured in medieval Welsh literature. Modron appears in Welsh Triad 70 ("Three Blessed Womb-Burdens of the Island of Britain") – in which her children by Urien are named Owain mab Urien (son) and Morfydd (daughter) – and a later folktale have recorded more fully in the manuscript Peniarth 147. A fictionalised version of the historical king Urien is usually Morgan le Fay's husband in the variations of Arthurian legend informed by continental romances, wherein their son is named Yvain. Furthermore, the historical Urien had.... 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