Morgan Le Fay

Early Years of Morgan Le Fay

There once lived a little girl named Morgan Le Fay. She was the cousin of King Arthur, but they did not know that they were related until they were much older. Morgan lived with her mother and father inside the castle at Camelot. Her father happened to be the brother to Uther Pendragon.

One night when she was around four years old the evil King Ursher took over the castle and killed her family. Merlin was able to find her, protect her, and get her out of the castle safely. After the death of parents Morgan went to live with a family far away. As Morgan began to grow up, she knew something was different because she did not seem like the other children her age. When she was around eight or nine, she figured out that she could talk to animals and understand them. When she was around the other children, they teased her mercilessly. As she continued to grow up, she began to exhibit other abnormal powers, like being able to control other people by staring directly into their eyes. Eventually, all the teasing took its toll upon her and she started to harbor unrelenting anger. She was angry that everyone avoided her.

One day, when she was around eighteen, she wandered into the forest behind the town she lived in. After she had wandered deep into the forest she came upon a little house. Receiving no response after she had knocked, Morgan entered the house and disappeared for a while. After a few years had passed she emerged looking the same, yet she emitted a dark presence. What had transpired in that house no one really knows. There are theories that she was taught by dark witches how to control her gift, while also leading her to believe that Arthur was the reason that her family was killed. As Morgan emerged from the forest, she set forth on a path to Camelot to end Arthur. Along the way she caused chaos and destruction wherever she went. She had become such a powerful witch that she was able to conjure evil soldiers to cause chaos in the land to lure Arthur out of Camelot. Everywhere her soldiers went she made sure that they left the same message that read: Morgan is coming for you, Arthur. This message was usually written in blood of the innocents that had been struck down by Morgan’s soldiers. Eventually the message found its way to Arthur.

Revelations

After Arthur had found out that it was Morgan who sent the soldiers to strike down the innocent villagers, he became furious. He vowed to make sure that she paid for her crimes. He called together his round table and they began to discuss a plan of action that they would take against Morgan. Unbeknownst to them, Morgan had sent one of her pet ravens to spy on Arthur, and report back what they had heard. After communicating with her pet, she decided that she would appear to Arthur in a vision and they could finally face each other one on one. So, one night when Arthur was sleeping, he had a dream and, in this dream, Morgan appeared and said to him, “I have found you, Arthur. We shall meet at the creek behind the castle tomorrow night. You will pay for what you have done to my family!” Arthur woke up covered in a cold sweat. He then pondered what she had meant by the last part. During the following day Arthur was in deep thought wondering what would happen during their confrontation. Meanwhile, Morgan was practicing what she would say to him and then do to him to get revenge for her family. As night befell the kingdom of Camelot Arthur and Morgan made their way to the creek. Morgan had brought a staff she constructed that contained different spells, while Arthur brought Excalibur. When Morgan saw Arthur standing opposite of her, the anger she had held inside exploded. She started casting spells right and left trying to cause Arthur much pain. As soon as the spells started flying, in little green bursts, Arthur brought out Excalibur and tried to deflect most of them. This fight continued for a while, and eventually Morgan was able to knock Excalibur out of Arthur's hand. As she stood over him about to deliver the killing blow, Merlin came out of nowhere and called out, “Stop! Arthur is not the one responsible for the deaths of your family! You are his cousin.” Morgan, stood in shock, as did Arthur. They both looked at Merlin and asked him to explain what he meant. Merlin then proceeded to tell them how he had separated them when they were younger to keep them out of the reach of Ursher, who killed both families. Arthur recovered much faster than Morgan did when they were both told this news. All of a sudden, Morgan crumpled to ground and burst into tears. The realization finally struck her that she had killed innocent people for no reason at all and that the hate that had consumed her whole life was directed at the wrong person.

Arthur went over to her and held her while saying, “We can’t take back what we did in the past but all we can do is move on and try to make amends moving forward.” Morgan turned to him and said, “You are right, Arthur. I can’t change what I’ve done but I will try to help you whenever you need it. First, you must help me find Ursher and finish him.” After thanking Merlin, they both set off to find Ursher and together they were able to kill him and rid Camelot of the evil that plagued the land.

Author's Note

I took different pieces of what I read in the stories about Morgan Le Fay. Often, she is presented as a good witch and yet sometimes she is portrayed as evil. I thought it would be unique to make her evil at the beginning and the good as the story wrapped up. The original story had Arthur being attacked by evil people that Morgan had sent after him. Arthur actually gets close to being defeated and has the scabbard for Excalibur thrown into a lake, never to be seen again. In regard to the story of Morgan attacking Arthur, we are never really given a clear reason on why she hates him so much. I thought that by adding the background info of her family being killed by the same man who killed Arthur’s family would tie the two stories together. Also, I thought giving her the mysterious background of how she developed her powers would add an interesting take on this story. To me it definitely shows how outside influences can shape the path of our lives. Finally, I wanted to be able to show that no matter what darkness follows a person, they can always find the light and try to make amends for what they have done.

Bibliography.

Clay, Beatrice. Stories From Le Morte D’ Arthur and the Mabinogion.

The Treachery of Queen Morgan Le Fay