Morgan le Fay: Shaping the History of Fantasy

With a long-standing history in Arthurian legend, Morgan Le Fay is synonymous with the concept of magic, especially as it is linked to feminine power. Her character’s relevance has hardly diminished due to the numerous reiterations produced throughout history. Even when she does not appear in modern media herself, evidence of her influence can still be found in other characters. Modern fantasy has undoubtedly been shaped by Morgan Le Fay, who’s presence played a significant role in crafting contemporary fantasy as well as the femme fatale archetype.

Despite Morgan Le Fay’s original magical attributes (healing and regeneration) which could be considered benevolent magic, she is most commonly characterized as a villainous sorceress. To understand this transition, it is important to uncover the roots of Morgan le Fay’s character. Morgan Le Fay’s origins can be traced to Celtic traditions. In an article researching the link between Celtic religion and Arthurian legend, Ana Rita Martins suggests that the character draws inspiration from various Celtic goddesses. The most prominent connection lies between Morgan Le Fay and the Celtic goddess known as The Morrígan. When The Morrígan is united with The Dagda, the Celtic chief god, she provides balance to nature by counteracting his “ reason, good and safety…” with her own “evil, horror and irrationality…” (Martins 2015, 157). Martins lists more similarities between the two, including their masterful healing abilities and the tendency to resort to anger and violence when rejected (157). Both of these traits are exemplified in Morgan le Fay as she is responsible for both bringing Arthur to Avalon to heal and seeking revenge on Lancelot for rejecting her advances. Morgan le Fay’s alignment with The Morrígan is a plausible explanation for her more popular role as the antagonist in most media that features her.

Morgan’s connections to villainy and lust for power can be highly emphasized in her more recent interpretations, often serving as her only motivation. In Marvel Comic’s imagining of Morgan Le Fay, she maintains essentially the same background she has in traditional Arthurian tales. Morgan’s initial motivation appears to be getting revenge on Arthur, but as time goes on she seeks more power, attempting to use magic and even possess the bodies of others to gain immortality (Cink, 2020). The idea of women’s desire for power as inherently evil is frequently touched upon in medieval literature. If a woman possessed magic, it could be seen as a means to control men. Many believed this power came at the cost of their youth or physical attractiveness, linking outer beauty with the person’s character (Martins 2015, 165).

However, Morgan le Fay’s character would eventually be given more depth in Marvel’s continuity. One Marvel comic titled Weirdworld features Morgan Le Fay as the queen of a mystical land. The story contextualizes her acts of evil as necessary actions that she must take in order to protect her loved ones, adding more depth to her character (Cink 2020). Morgan’s characterization would continue to be expanded upon, especially in television adaptations. The most notable example of this is BBC’s Merlin, which chooses to highlight the evolution of her relationship with both Uther and Arthur as her main reason for becoming the series’ antagonist. Due to Uther’s disdain for magic, Morgana hides her abilities and slowly grows a hatred for him as she sees the injustice he commits to those capable of using magic. In this way, the show effectively displays how Uther’s shortcomings as a father ultimately lead to Morgana’s downfall, as well as Arthur’s (Mediavilla 2015, 51).

The portrayals of Morgan Le Fay throughout time have varied greatly, but are all connected by her association with dark magic. This has unquestionably inspired a plethora of female fantasy characters such as Yennefer from The Witcher series. One significant difference between Yennefer and Morgan, however, is that Yennefer could be read as a protagonist of the series. Now that Morgan Le Fay is finally being given depth and nuance as a character, it is possible that as she continues to evolve, we might even see her as a heroic figure.

• Cink, Lorraine. “A Deep Dive into Marvel’s Malevolent Mistress of Magic Morgan Le Fay.” Marvel Entertainment, Marvel Entertainment, 7 Jan. 2020, www.marvel.com/articles/comics/a-deep-dive-into-marvel-s-malevolent-mistress-of-magic-morgan-le-fay
• Martins, Ana Rita. “Morgan Le Fay: The Inheritance of the Goddess.” Brathair, vol. 15, no. 1, Jan. 2015, pp. 153–168. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=116393167&site=eds-live.
• Meidavilla, Cindy. “From ‘Unthinking Stereotype’ to Fearless Antagonist: The Evolution of Morgan Le Fay on Television.” Arthuriana, vol. 25, no. 1, 2015, pp. 44–56., http://www.jstor.org/stable/24643428. Accessed 09 May 2020.