Ol School Library & Round Table

The question about Ygerna, which has been brought up by rosalba, seems to be in relation to the curiosity about Morgan Le Fay. I'll make a simple statement then pose my hypothesis. From the items I have read to date, Ygerna is the Welsh-Cornish form of the name Igraine, a fair maiden wed to Gorlois, Duke of Cornwall. Her beauty began her misfortune, as she then became the target of Uther Pendragon's obsession. By legend, Uther bid Merlin to cast a spell so he could appear to Igraine as her husband. Arthur was born to Igraine and was a younger sibling to Igraine's daughter, Morgana.

If that isn't enough to twist your life, here's where I hypothesize about the evolution of Morgan Le Fay: The lineage gets disrupted by Arthur's arrival. Morgana might have been queen by succession otherwise. She also has sisters that follow, Anna and Morgause, and these names are sometimes interchanged with Morgan's in the stories, or given more importance (Some lineages state Mordred is Anna's son). So, for me, Morgan Le Fay is a creature of envy. There's plenty of world history to uphold the basis of this literary character's angst. The threat of evil doings or sorcery that always seems to get wrapped about Morgan has more to do with regional politics and religious intolerance of individual authors throughout the ages. I think author viewpoint has also accounted for whether Morgan is depicted as powerful or decrepit. So, the real question is - Is she a metaphor for the injustice done to Igraine?

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