Everything about Morrigan totally explained
The
Morrígan ("terror" or "phantom queen") or
Mórrígan ("great queen") (also known as
Morrígu,
Morríghan,
Mor-Ríoghain, sometimes given in the plural as
Morrígna) is a figure from
Irish mythology who appears to have once been a
goddess, although she isn't explicitly referred to as such in the texts.
She is associated with sovereignty, prophecy,
war and death on the battlefield. She sometimes appears in the form of a carrion
crow, flying above the warriors, and in the
Ulster cycle she also takes the form of an
eel, a
wolf and a
cow. She is generally considered a war deity comparable with the
Germanic Valkyries, although her association with cattle also suggests a role connected with fertility, wealth and the land.
She is often interpreted as a
triple goddess, although membership of the triad varies: the most common combination is the Morrígan, the
Badb and
Macha, but sometimes includes
Nemain,
Fea,
Anann and others.
Etymology
There is some disagreement over the meaning of the Morrígan's name. It can be straightforwardly interpreted as "great queen" (
Old Irish mór, great;
rígan, queen, deriving from a hypothetical
Proto-Celtic *
Māra Rīganī-s. However it often lacks the
diacritic over the
o in the texts. Alternatively,
mor (without diacritic) may derive from an
Indo-European root connoting terror or monstrousness,
cognate with the
Old English maere (which survives in the modern English word "nightmare") and the Scandinavian
mara. This can be reconstructed in Proto-Celtic as *
Moro-rīganī-s. Current scholarship mostly holds to Morrígan, often translated as "Phantom Queen" being the older, more accurate form.
Sources
Glosses and glossaries
The earliest sources for the Morrígan are
glosses in Latin manuscripts, and glossaries (collections of glosses). In a 9th century manuscript containing the Latin
Vulgate translation of the
Book of Isaiah, the word
Lamia is used to translate the Hebrew
Lilith. A gloss expains this as "a monster in female form, that is, a
morrígan".
Cormac's Glossary (also 9th century), and a gloss in the later manuscript H.3.18, both explain the plural word
gudemain ("spectres") with the plural form
morrígna.
In the
Táin Bó Cuailnge queen
Medb of
Connacht launches an invasion of
Ulster to steal the bull
Donn Cuailnge; the Morrígan, glossed as equivalent to
Alecto of the Greek
Furies, appears to the bull in the form of a crow and warns him to flee. Cúchulainn defends Ulster by fighting a series of single combats at fords against Medb's champions. In between combats the Morrígan appears to him as a young woman and offers him her love, and her aid in the battle, but he spurns her. In response she intervenes in his next combat, first in the form of an
eel who trips him, then as a
wolf who stampedes cattle across the ford, and finally as a red heifer leading the stampede, just as she'd threatened in their previous encounter. However Cúchulainn wounds her in each form and defeats his opponent despite her interference. Later she appears to him as an old woman bearing the same three wounds that her animal forms sustained, milking a cow. She gives Cúchulainn three drinks of milk. He blesses her with each drink, and her wounds are healed. As the armies gather for the final battle, she prophesies the bloodshed to come.
In one version of Cúchulainn's death-tale, as the hero rides to meet his enemies, he encounters the Morrígan as a
hag washing his bloody armour in a ford, an
omen of his death. Later in the story, mortally wounded, Cúchulainn ties himself to a standing stone with his own entrails so he can die upright, and it's only when a crow lands on his shoulder that his enemies believe he's dead.
Mythological Cycle
The Morrígan also appears in texts of the
Mythological Cycle. In the
12th century pseudohistorical compilation
Lebor Gabála Érenn she's listed among the
Tuatha Dé Danann as one of the daughters of
Ernmas, granddaughter of
Nuada.
The first three daughters of Ernmas are given as
Ériu,
Banba and
Fódla. Their names are synonyms for
Ireland, and they were married to
Mac Cuill,
Mac Cécht and
Mac Gréine, the last three Tuatha Dé Danann kings of Ireland. Associated with the land and kingship, they probably represent a triple goddess of sovereignty. Next come Ernmas's other three daughters: the
Badb,
Macha and the Morrígan. A quatrain describes the three as wealthy, "springs of craftiness" and "sources of bitter fighting". The Morrígan's name is said to be
Anann, and she'd three sons, Glon, Gaim and Coscar. According to
Geoffrey Keating's
17th century History of Ireland, Ériu, Banba and Fódla worshipped the Badb, Macha and the Morrígan respectively, suggesting that the two triads of goddesses may be seen as equivalent.
The Morrígan also appears in
Cath Maige Tuireadh (the Battle of Mag Tuired). On
Samhain she keeps a tryst with the
Dagda before the battle against the
Fomorians. When he meets her she's washing herself, standing with one foot on either side of the river Unius. In some sources she's believed to have created the river. After they've sex, the Morrígan promises to summon the magicians of Ireland to cast spells on behalf of the Tuatha Dé, and to destroy Indech, the Fomorian king, taking from him "the blood of his heart and the kidneys of his valour". Later, we're told, she'd bring two handfuls of his blood and deposit them in the same river (however, we're also told later in the text that Indech was killed by
Ogma).
As battle is about to be joined, the Tuatha Dé leader,
Lug, asks each what power they bring to the battle. The Morrígan's reply is difficult to interpret, but involves pursuing, destroying and subduing. When she comes to the battlefield she chants a poem, and immediately the battle breaks and the Fomorians are driven into the sea. After the battle she chants another poem celebrating the victory and prophesying the end of the world.
In another story she lures away the bull of a woman called
Odras, who follows her to the otherworld via the cave of
Cruachan. When she falls asleep, the Morrígan turns her into a pool of water.
Nature and functions
The Morrígan is often considered a
triple goddess, but her supposed triple nature is ambiguous and inconsistent. Sometimes she appears as one of three sisters, the daughters of
Ernmas: the Morrígan, the
Badb and
Macha. Sometimes the trinity consists of the Badb, Macha and
Nemain, collectively known as the Morrígan, or in the plural as the Morrígna. Occasionally
Fea or
Anu also appear in various combinations. However the Morrígan also frequently appears alone, and her name is sometimes used interchangeably with the Badb, with no third "aspect" mentioned.
The Morrígan is usually interpreted as a "war goddess": W. M. Hennessey's "The Ancient Irish Goddess of War," written in 1870, was influential in establishing this interpretation. Her role often involves premonitions of a particular warrior's violent death, suggesting a link with the
Banshee of later folklore. This connection is further noted by Patricia Lysaght: "In certain areas of Ireland this supernatural being is, in addition to the name banshee, also called the
badhb".
It has also been suggested that she was closely tied to Irish
männerbund groups (described as "bands of youthful warrior-hunters, living on the borders of civilized society and indulging in lawless activities for a time before inheriting property and taking their places as members of settled, landed communities") and that these groups may have been in some way dedicated to her. If true, her worship may have resembled that of
Perchta groups in Germanic areas.
However, Máire Herbert has argued that "war
per se isn't a primary aspect of the role of the goddess", and that her association with cattle suggests her role was connected to the earth, fertility and sovereignty; she suggests that her association with war is a result of a confusion between her and the Badb, who she argues was originally a separate figure. She can be interpreted as providing political or military aid, or protection to the king - acting as a goddess of sovereignty, not necessarily a war goddess.
There is a
burnt mound site in
County Tipperary known as
Fulacht na Mór Ríoghna - "the cooking pit of the Mórrígan". The
fulachta sites are found in wild areas, and usually associated with outsiders such as the
Fianna and the above-mentioned
männerbund groups, as well as with the hunting of deer. The cooking connection also suggests to some a connection with the three mythical
hags who cook the meal of dogflesh that brings the hero
Cúchulainn to his doom. The
Dá Chich na Morrigna or two breasts of the Mórrígan, a pair of hills in
County Meath, suggest to some a role as a tutelary goddess, comparable to
Danu or
Anu, who has her own hills in
County Kerry. Other goddesses known to have similar hills are
Áine and Grian of
County Limerick who, in addition to a tutelary function, also have solar attributes.
Arthurian legend
There have been attempts by some modern authors of fiction to link the
Arthurian character
Morgan le Fay with the Morrígan. Morgan first appears in
Geoffrey of Monmouth's
Vita Merlini (
The Life of Merlin) in the
12th century. However, while the creators of the literary character of Morgan may have been somewhat inspired by the much older tales of the goddess, the relationship ends there. Scholars such as Rosalind Clark hold that the names are unrelated, the Welsh "Morgan" being derived from root words associated with the sea, while the Irish "Morrígan" has its roots either in a word for "terror" or a word for "greatness".
Further Information
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