Morgause
Encyclopedia
Morgause mɔrˈɡeɪz, known in earlier works as Gwyar or Anna, is the sister or half-sister of King Arthur
in the Arthurian legend. In her earliest appearance she is Arthur's full sister by Uther Pendragon
and Igraine
; Gwyar is her name and she is the mother of Gwalchmei. In Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae (History of the Kings of Britain), she is Anna, mother of Gawain
and the villainous Mordred
. In later works she appears as Morgause, daughter of Igraine by her first husband, Gorlois
. Later Morgause becomes pregnant with Mordred after sleeping with Arthur while they were unaware of their familial relation. Her husband is King Lot
, an enemy of Arthur in the rebellions following Arthur's coronation.
Her other siblings include sisters Elaine and Morgan le Fay
. The later material gives her five children, all sons, while earlier works named daughters as well. From eldest to youngest, the sons of Morgause are Gawain
, who becomes one of King Arthur's greatest knights, Agravaine, a wretched traitor, Gaheris
, Gareth
, a gentle and loving knight, and Mordred
, her son with Arthur. Her children play key roles in the story of Arthur and his kingdom. She is active in Thomas Malory
's Le Morte d'Arthur
, and the Vulgate
and Post-Vulgate
versions of Merlin.
In Le Morte d'Arthur and the Post-Vulgate, her husband is killed by King Pellinore in battle, starting a blood feud between the families of Pellinore and Lot. Pellinore is killed by Gawain and Gaheris, and Morgause later has an affair with Lamorak
, son of Pellinore and one of the best knights of the Round Table
. Her son Gaheris catches them together, and kills Morgause in bed, though he lets Lamorak go. Thinking it is Lamorak who killed their mother, Gawain, Agravain, and Mordred (Gareth takes no part) join Gaheris to ambush Lamorak and kill him. The brothers do eventually find out that Gaheris was the real killer, and he is banished from the court (though he appears later in the narrative).
, Morgause's character is sometimes combined with Morgan le Fay's, and her role as the mother of Mordred is transferred to Morgan.
T. H. White
named one of the four volumes in The Once and Future King
, The Queen of Air and Darkness
, in reference to Morgause, who is a major figure in the book. A later section deals with Morgause's death at the hands of her own son; White transfers the crime to Agravaine rather than Gaheris.
In Mary Stewart
's Merlin cycle of novels, Morgause is an ambitious and resentful young princess who wants to be taught magic by Merlin, who refuses her. She seduces Arthur in the hope that she will later have something to use against him.
Morgawse is a central figure in the first two volumes of Gillian Bradshaw
's Arthurian series Down the Long Wind. In Hawk of May
she is the wife of King Lot
of The Orcades, mother of Agravain
, Gwalchmai
, and Medraut
, and a sorceress with authority over dark powers. In the sequel, Kingdom of Summer
, she and her husband are intriguing with King Maelgwn of Gwynedd
, whom she has taken as lover.
Marion Zimmer Bradley
in her novel The Mists of Avalon
made Morgause the sister of Igraine
and Viviane and the aunt of Morgan le Fay
. After Morgaine delivers Mordred
, Morgause takes Mordred as a foster child and rears him for Morgaine. In the film adaptation, Morgause attempts to kill the child until she tricks Morgaine into revealing Mordred's parentage. She then decides to raise him as her own, thus taking on the role of mother to the infant.
In Gerald Morris
's Squire's Tale series she is the widow of King Lot, mother of his four sons, and an incarnation
or Avatar
of "the Enchantress," bent on ruling the world of men by removing the world's kings and princes. She is defeated at the end of the first book, The Squire's Tale, by Sir Gawain's squire; in a subsequent book, The Princess, the Crone, and the Dung-Cart Knight, she is revealed to be still alive and still plotting.
In Patricia Kennealy-Morrison
's Keltiad
, she appears as the evil Marguessan, attempted usurper of the Throne of Scone and twin sister to Morgan.
Morgause, played by Emilia Fox
, is one of the main antagonists in the BBC
television series Merlin
. She is portrayed as a Lady Macbeth
-like character: a powerful sorceress, a Machiavellian mastermind and a skilled warrior and half-sister to Morgana, whom she seeks to set up as Queen of Camelot.
King Arthur
King Arthur is a legendary British leader of the late 5th and early 6th centuries, who, according to Medieval histories and romances, led the defence of Britain against Saxon invaders in the early 6th century. The details of Arthur's story are mainly composed of folklore and literary invention, and...
in the Arthurian legend. In her earliest appearance she is Arthur's full sister by Uther Pendragon
Uther Pendragon
Uther Pendragon is a legendary king of sub-Roman Britain and the father of King Arthur.A few minor references to Uther appear in Old Welsh poems, but his biography was first written down by Geoffrey of Monmouth in his Historia Regum Britanniae , and Geoffrey's account of the character was used in...
and Igraine
Igraine
Igraine , in Arthurian legend, is the mother of King Arthur. She is also known in Latin as Igerna, in Welsh as Eigyr, in French as Igerne, in Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur as Ygrayne— often modernized as Igraine—and in Wolfram von Eschenbach's Parzival as Arnive...
; Gwyar is her name and she is the mother of Gwalchmei. In Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae (History of the Kings of Britain), she is Anna, mother of Gawain
Gawain
Gawain is King Arthur's nephew and a Knight of the Round Table who appears very early in the Arthurian legend's development. He is one of a select number of Round Table members to be referred to as the greatest knight, most notably in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight...
and the villainous Mordred
Mordred
Mordred or Modred is a character in the Arthurian legend, known as a notorious traitor who fought King Arthur at the Battle of Camlann, where he was killed and Arthur fatally wounded. Tradition varies on his relationship to Arthur, but he is best known today as Arthur's illegitimate son by his...
. In later works she appears as Morgause, daughter of Igraine by her first husband, Gorlois
Gorlois
Gorlois was a Duke of Cornwall and Igraine's first husband before her marriage to Uther Pendragon, according to the Arthurian legend...
. Later Morgause becomes pregnant with Mordred after sleeping with Arthur while they were unaware of their familial relation. Her husband is King Lot
King Lot
Lot or Loth is the eponymous king of Lothian in the Arthurian legend. He is best known as the father of Sir Gawain. Such a ruler evidently first appeared in hagiographical material concerning Saint Kentigern , which feature a Leudonus, king of Leudonia, a Latin name for Lothian...
, an enemy of Arthur in the rebellions following Arthur's coronation.
Her other siblings include sisters Elaine and Morgan le Fay
Morgan le Fay
Morgan le Fay , alternatively known as Morgane, Morgaine, Morgana and other variants, is a powerful sorceress in the Arthurian legend. Early works featuring Morgan do not elaborate her character beyond her role as a fay or magician...
. The later material gives her five children, all sons, while earlier works named daughters as well. From eldest to youngest, the sons of Morgause are Gawain
Gawain
Gawain is King Arthur's nephew and a Knight of the Round Table who appears very early in the Arthurian legend's development. He is one of a select number of Round Table members to be referred to as the greatest knight, most notably in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight...
, who becomes one of King Arthur's greatest knights, Agravaine, a wretched traitor, Gaheris
Gaheris
Gaheris is a figure of Arthurian legend, a knight of the Round Table, and a son of Morgause and King Lot of Orkney and Lothian. His brothers are Gawain, Agravaine, Gareth and Mordred, a half-brother. His mother is a daughter of Gorlois and Igraine, and a sister of Elaine and Morgan le Fay...
, Gareth
Gareth
Sir Gareth was a Knight of the Round Table in Arthurian Legend. He was the youngest son of Lot and of Morgause, King Arthur's half-sister, thus making him Arthur's nephew, as well as brother to Gawain, Agravain, Gaheris, and half brother of Mordred...
, a gentle and loving knight, and Mordred
Mordred
Mordred or Modred is a character in the Arthurian legend, known as a notorious traitor who fought King Arthur at the Battle of Camlann, where he was killed and Arthur fatally wounded. Tradition varies on his relationship to Arthur, but he is best known today as Arthur's illegitimate son by his...
, her son with Arthur. Her children play key roles in the story of Arthur and his kingdom. She is active in Thomas Malory
Thomas Malory
Sir Thomas Malory was an English writer, the author or compiler of Le Morte d'Arthur. The antiquary John Leland as well as John Bale believed him to be Welsh, but most modern scholars, beginning with G. L...
's Le Morte d'Arthur
Le Morte d'Arthur
Le Morte d'Arthur is a compilation by Sir Thomas Malory of Romance tales about the legendary King Arthur, Guinevere, Lancelot, and the Knights of the Round Table...
, and the Vulgate
Lancelot-Grail
The Lancelot–Grail, also known as the Prose Lancelot, the Vulgate Cycle, or the Pseudo-Map Cycle, is a major source of Arthurian legend written in French. It is a series of five prose volumes that tell the story of the quest for the Holy Grail and the romance of Lancelot and Guinevere...
and Post-Vulgate
Post-Vulgate Cycle
The Post-Vulgate Cycle is one of the major Old French prose cycles of Arthurian literature. It is essentially a rehandling of the earlier Vulgate Cycle , with much left out and much added, including characters and scenes from the Prose Tristan.The Post-Vulgate, written probably between 1230 and...
versions of Merlin.
In Le Morte d'Arthur and the Post-Vulgate, her husband is killed by King Pellinore in battle, starting a blood feud between the families of Pellinore and Lot. Pellinore is killed by Gawain and Gaheris, and Morgause later has an affair with Lamorak
Lamorak
Lamorak is a Knight of the Round Table in Arthurian legend. He is the son of King Pellinore and the brother of Tor, Aglovale, Percival, the Grail maiden Dindrane and sometimes others....
, son of Pellinore and one of the best knights of the Round Table
Round Table (Camelot)
The Round Table is King Arthur's famed table in the Arthurian legend, around which he and his Knights congregate. As its name suggests, it has no head, implying that everyone who sits there has equal status. The table was first described in 1155 by Wace, who relied on previous depictions of...
. Her son Gaheris catches them together, and kills Morgause in bed, though he lets Lamorak go. Thinking it is Lamorak who killed their mother, Gawain, Agravain, and Mordred (Gareth takes no part) join Gaheris to ambush Lamorak and kill him. The brothers do eventually find out that Gaheris was the real killer, and he is banished from the court (though he appears later in the narrative).
In modern fiction
In modern variations, such as the film ExcaliburExcalibur (film)
Excalibur is a 1981 dramatic fantasy film directed, produced and co-written by John Boorman that retells the legend of King Arthur and the knights of the Round Table. Adapted from the 15th century Arthurian romance, Le Morte d'Arthur by Thomas Malory, Excalibur features the music of Richard Wagner...
, Morgause's character is sometimes combined with Morgan le Fay's, and her role as the mother of Mordred is transferred to Morgan.
T. H. White
T. H. White
Terence Hanbury White was an English author best known for his sequence of Arthurian novels, The Once and Future King, first published together in 1958.-Biography:...
named one of the four volumes in The Once and Future King
The Once and Future King
The Once and Future King is an Arthurian fantasy novel written by T. H. White. It was first published in 1958 and is mostly a composite of earlier works written in a period between 1938 and 1941....
, The Queen of Air and Darkness
The Queen of Air and Darkness
The Queen of Air and Darkness, originally titled The Witch in the Wood, is a novel by English writer T. H. White. It is the second book in his epic work, The Once and Future King...
, in reference to Morgause, who is a major figure in the book. A later section deals with Morgause's death at the hands of her own son; White transfers the crime to Agravaine rather than Gaheris.
In Mary Stewart
Mary Stewart
Mary Florence Elinor Stewart is a popular English novelist, best known for her Merlin series, which straddles the boundary between the historical novel and the fantasy genre.-Career:...
's Merlin cycle of novels, Morgause is an ambitious and resentful young princess who wants to be taught magic by Merlin, who refuses her. She seduces Arthur in the hope that she will later have something to use against him.
Morgawse is a central figure in the first two volumes of Gillian Bradshaw
Gillian Bradshaw
Gillian Marucha Bradshaw is an American writer of historical fiction, historical fantasy, children's literature, science fiction, and contemporary science-based novels, who currently lives in Britain...
's Arthurian series Down the Long Wind. In Hawk of May
Hawk of May
Hawk of May is the first of a trilogy of fantasy novels written by Gillian Bradshaw which interprets the King Arthur legend. It recounts, from the viewpoint of the warrior Gwalchmai ap Lot, Arthur's rise to power...
she is the wife of King Lot
King Lot
Lot or Loth is the eponymous king of Lothian in the Arthurian legend. He is best known as the father of Sir Gawain. Such a ruler evidently first appeared in hagiographical material concerning Saint Kentigern , which feature a Leudonus, king of Leudonia, a Latin name for Lothian...
of The Orcades, mother of Agravain
Agravain
Sir Agravain or Sir Agravaine is a nephew of King Arthur and a Knight of the Round Table in Arthurian legend. He is the second son of King Lot of Orkney and Lothian and Morgause , full brother to Gawain, Gaheris and Gareth. His half-brother and most frequent associate in the Post-Vulgate Cycle is...
, Gwalchmai
Gawain
Gawain is King Arthur's nephew and a Knight of the Round Table who appears very early in the Arthurian legend's development. He is one of a select number of Round Table members to be referred to as the greatest knight, most notably in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight...
, and Medraut
Mordred
Mordred or Modred is a character in the Arthurian legend, known as a notorious traitor who fought King Arthur at the Battle of Camlann, where he was killed and Arthur fatally wounded. Tradition varies on his relationship to Arthur, but he is best known today as Arthur's illegitimate son by his...
, and a sorceress with authority over dark powers. In the sequel, Kingdom of Summer
Kingdom of Summer
Kingdom of Summer is the second book in a trilogy of fantasy novels written by Gillian Bradshaw. The novel tells of the ascendancy of King Arthur and the planting of the seeds of his downfall...
, she and her husband are intriguing with King Maelgwn of Gwynedd
Kingdom of Gwynedd
Gwynedd was one petty kingdom of several Welsh successor states which emerged in 5th-century post-Roman Britain in the Early Middle Ages, and later evolved into a principality during the High Middle Ages. It was based on the former Brythonic tribal lands of the Ordovices, Gangani, and the...
, whom she has taken as lover.
Marion Zimmer Bradley
Marion Zimmer Bradley
Marion Eleanor Zimmer Bradley was an American author of fantasy novels such as The Mists of Avalon and the Darkover series. Many critics have noted a feminist perspective in her writing. Her first child, David R...
in her novel The Mists of Avalon
The Mists of Avalon
The Mists of Avalon is a 1983 novel by Marion Zimmer Bradley, in which she relates the Arthurian legends from the perspective of the female characters.-Plot introduction:...
made Morgause the sister of Igraine
Igraine
Igraine , in Arthurian legend, is the mother of King Arthur. She is also known in Latin as Igerna, in Welsh as Eigyr, in French as Igerne, in Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur as Ygrayne— often modernized as Igraine—and in Wolfram von Eschenbach's Parzival as Arnive...
and Viviane and the aunt of Morgan le Fay
Morgan le Fay
Morgan le Fay , alternatively known as Morgane, Morgaine, Morgana and other variants, is a powerful sorceress in the Arthurian legend. Early works featuring Morgan do not elaborate her character beyond her role as a fay or magician...
. After Morgaine delivers Mordred
Mordred
Mordred or Modred is a character in the Arthurian legend, known as a notorious traitor who fought King Arthur at the Battle of Camlann, where he was killed and Arthur fatally wounded. Tradition varies on his relationship to Arthur, but he is best known today as Arthur's illegitimate son by his...
, Morgause takes Mordred as a foster child and rears him for Morgaine. In the film adaptation, Morgause attempts to kill the child until she tricks Morgaine into revealing Mordred's parentage. She then decides to raise him as her own, thus taking on the role of mother to the infant.
In Gerald Morris
Gerald Morris
Gerald Morris is an American author. Morris is known for his series of stories for preteen and teen readers based in the Middle Ages during the time of King Arthur...
's Squire's Tale series she is the widow of King Lot, mother of his four sons, and an incarnation
Incarnation
Incarnation literally means embodied in flesh or taking on flesh. It refers to the conception and birth of a sentient creature who is the material manifestation of an entity, god or force whose original nature is immaterial....
or Avatar
Avatar
In Hinduism, an avatar is a deliberate descent of a deity to earth, or a descent of the Supreme Being and is mostly translated into English as "incarnation," but more accurately as "appearance" or "manifestation"....
of "the Enchantress," bent on ruling the world of men by removing the world's kings and princes. She is defeated at the end of the first book, The Squire's Tale, by Sir Gawain's squire; in a subsequent book, The Princess, the Crone, and the Dung-Cart Knight, she is revealed to be still alive and still plotting.
In Patricia Kennealy-Morrison
Patricia Kennealy-Morrison
Patricia Kennealy-Morrison is an American author and journalist. Her published works include rock criticism, a memoir, and a series of science fiction/fantasy and murder mystery novels...
's Keltiad
The Keltiad
The Keltiad is a body of fantasy works written by Patricia Kennealy-Morrison. Currently there are eight novels in the series.The books are set in a star system far from our own, where various Celtic peoples emigrated after the rise of Christianity and the purge of the Old Religion that followed...
, she appears as the evil Marguessan, attempted usurper of the Throne of Scone and twin sister to Morgan.
Morgause, played by Emilia Fox
Emilia Fox
Emilia Rose Elizabeth Fox is an award-winning English actress, known for her role as Dr. Nikki Alexander on BBC crime drama Silent Witness, having joined the cast in 2004 following the departure of Amanda Burton. She also appears as Morgause in the BBC's Merlin beginning in the programme's second...
, is one of the main antagonists in the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
television series Merlin
Merlin (TV series)
Merlin is a British fantasy-adventure television programme by Julian Jones, Jake Michie, Julian Murphy and Johnny Capps. It began broadcasting on BBC One on 20 September 2008. The show is based on the Arthurian legends of the wizard Merlin and his relationship with Prince Arthur but differs from...
. She is portrayed as a Lady Macbeth
Lady Macbeth
Lady Macbeth may refer to:*Lady Macbeth, from William Shakespeare's play Macbeth**Queen Gruoch of Scotland, the real-life Queen on whom Shakespeare based the character...
-like character: a powerful sorceress, a Machiavellian mastermind and a skilled warrior and half-sister to Morgana, whom she seeks to set up as Queen of Camelot.