Morgan le Fay
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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"To Malory, Spenser was greatly indebted, as Warton has shown at much length in his remarks on that poet's imitations of the old romances, where he also attempts to prove that Ariosto borrowed from Lancelot du Lac the notion of Orlando's madness, of his enchanter Merlin, and of his magic cup. The fairy Morgana, who is a principal character in this romance, and discovered to Arthur the intrigue of Geneura with Lancelot, is a leading personage not only in other tales of chivalry, but also in the Italian poems. In the Orlando Furioso she convinces her brother of the infidelity of his queen, by means of a magical horn. About a fifth part of the Orlando Innamorato, beginning at canto thirty-six, is occupied with the Fata Morgana. "--History of Fiction (1814) by John Colin Dunlop |
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Morgan le Fay 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.
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