Morgan Le fay?

[Doomduck]

Did you guys know that there is a person named Morgan Le Fay..?
http://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morgan_le_Fay
Morgan Leflay's name is obiously based this person..

Just wondering if this is something that was not known, sorry if this is common knowledge.. Did a quick search but it said "Le" and "fay" were both to short or something so it only searched on "Morgan"



EDIT: Sorry, didn't realize i linked the Norwegian wiki page xD
There is a link to the english one below..

[Jace Taran]

I got the connection myself, but then I've read some of the different versions of the Arthur legend (took a medieval British lit class in college). Morgan was a sorceress.

The English wiki on Morgan has more info on her: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morgan_le_Fay

Incidentally, there is also a character on Stargate named Morgan La Fay (meant to be the same character; they essentially retconned Morgan into an alien ascended being).

[Shmeh]

Originally Posted by Jace Taran

Incidentally, there is also a character on Stargate named Morgan La Fay (meant to be the same character; they essentially retconned Morgan into an alien ascended being).

I had recognised the reference from the paper in Ch.1 (in fact I originally read it as Fay) but could not remember where I had heard it before. When looking at the Wikipedia link posted in an earlier thread, I knew I had heard the name from something referencing the Arthurian legend, rather than the legend itself. I'm sure Stargate is where I had heard it.

[nikasaur]

Le Marquis de Singe can also be considered a play off the Marquis de Sade + Singe, meaning "monkey" in French. A lot of the names come 'round full circle, they're catchy in that right.

[Novotnus]

De Sade wasn't even half bad as de Singe - de Sade was just a writer and self proclaimed philosopher with sick imagination and twisted view on estetics (but his books lacks realism - no man can survive such things - I know, I've read them).

[Olaus Petrus]

Originally Posted by Jace Taran

I got the connection myself, but then I've read some of the different versions of the Arthur legend (took a medieval British lit class in college). Morgan was a sorceress.

IMO reference was quite obvious. But I just wanted to say that you don't have to study English literature to recognise the name. I would say that the legends became well known in most of the Europe during the middle ages and large number of new Arthurian stories were written also in many other European languages. Chrétien de Troyes and Wolfram von Eschenbach are probably most famous continental writers who wrote about Arthur and his knights.

French writers certainly did contribute a lot to Morgan character, although I think that good old Geoffrey of Monmouth was first to mention her.

[Weeblerjake]

haha, I saw the name on TV one day, and I was like... wait, what did that say?

[Jace Taran]

Originally Posted by Olaus Petrus

IMO reference was quite obvious. But I just wanted to say that you don't have to study English literature to recognise the name. I would say that the legends became well known in most of the Europe during the middle ages and large number of new Arthurian stories were written also in many other European languages. Chrétien de Troyes and Wolfram von Eschenbach are probably most famous continental writers who wrote about Arthur and his knights.

French writers certainly did contribute a lot to Morgan character, although I think that good old Geoffrey of Monmouth was first to mention her.

I personally had never heard the name before my class (or perhaps it was Stargate where I heard it first). The name Morgan le Fay is nowhere near as engrained into collective culture as Merlin.

[Asgath]

I suppose its more likely to be known by Europeans and in particular Brits of to whom it is more relevant historically. I say historically in the broadest terms possible of course.
In anycase, I'm fairly suprised at the number of people who didn't recognise the name.

[GBTW]

So she's Fata Morgana in italian.
Without the L, of course.

[Spadge]

In my motherland they call her Morgana. I probably wouldn't have recodnised the name, but due to my deep Farscape love, I watched season 9 and 10 of Stargate (Erun & Crichton RULE!). So yeah, I made the connection pretty easy.

[Olaus Petrus]

Originally Posted by Asgath

I suppose its more likely to be known by Europeans and in particular Brits of to whom it is more relevant historically. I say historically in the broadest terms possible of course.
In anycase, I'm fairly suprised at the number of people who didn't recognise the name.

Arthurian legends are still pretty much living culture. 19th century romanticism took a lot of influences from the medieval literature and after that fantasy authors continued the tradition, not only in Europe, but also in America.

I haven't read much Marion Zimmer Bradley, but I have heard that she wrote some books from the perspective of Morgan Le Fay. But personally I can recommend Bernard Cornwell's "The Warlord Chronicles", which tells more "historical" version of Arthurian legend.

[Marzhin]

Originally Posted by GBTW

So she's Fata Morgana in italian.
Without the L, of course.

And Fata Morgana is also the name of a mirage at sea...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fata_Morgana_%28mirage%29

[Jazzy]

Originally Posted by Jace Taran

I personally had never heard the name before my class (or perhaps it was Stargate where I heard it first). The name Morgan le Fay is nowhere near as engrained into collective culture as Merlin.

Really? Morgana (as she is also known as) and Merlin have always seemed to be synonymous with one another to me, since they seemed designed to oppose one another (Morgana was also I believe meant to have studied under Merlin, possibly even literally), and Morgan le Fay is usually the major bad guy to the Round Table. Must be a cultural thing, or maybe I know too much to be objective, though considering that many people don't even know who Churchill was these days I'm not really surprised.

Fun Fact: In the very original version of the Arthurian legends, before there was even a Lancelot created and when Arthur was actually still a capable character Morgana was not a bad guy and was actually a good character who helped him. She was turned into an incestuous half-sister bad guy later with the addition of characters like Lancelot and the weakening of the Arthur character.

[Fronzel]

Originally Posted by Jazzy

She was turned into an incestuous half-sister bad guy later with the addition of characters like Lancelot and the weakening of the Arthur character.

In other words, when the French got a hold of the story.

[Jazzy]

Originally Posted by Fronzel

In other words, when the French got a hold of the story.

I was trying to avoid being specific, but yes, it would be about that time...

[Rather Dashing]

Don't be too harsh on us Americans. We have terrible schools, after all. I had to go fairly well out of my way to learn much of Arthurian legend beyond Disney's animated film from the 1960s.

[Molokov]

When I found out the pirate hunter's name was Morgan leFlay in episode one.... I figured it was probably a woman despite the characters using a male pronoun.

After all, Morgan LeFay is pretty much the villian in Arthurian Legend (Mordred notwithstanding).

So when there was all this wonderful speculation between Eps 1 and 2 as in "who is this woman who is holding Guybrush at swordpoint????" I was thinking (but didn't post) that it was probably the pirate hunter Morgan leFlay.... but everyone else seemed convinced it had to be one of the old MI chararacters returning (Kate, Carla) so it was still interesting to see the debate rage on.

[Anne26]

does this mean that margan le flay is someones half sister? just wondering if they are hinting at something with using this name.

[mgrant]

(incoming Celtic/Medieval nerd mode)

Actually, Morgan Le Fay (literally meaning "the fae" or fairy) was based on an earlier Celtic figure by the name of Morrigan. Morrigan, also known as the Washer at The Ford, was a goddess of battle and often appeared in the form of a raven. In The Táin Bó Cúailnge she lands on the shoulder of Cú Chulainn to signify his death. The battle goddess association is quite fitting for a combat focused character such as Morgan Le FLay.

Also, as already stated, it's not until the French Vulgate cycle and Chetrien de Troyes Arthurian legends (coming much later than the original tales) that Morgan Le Fay becomes a villainous character. Initially, she's an ambiguous figure who, like the Lady of the Lake, sometimes aided Arthur's court. She was altered by the later French myths to provide a foil for Launcelot. The same thing happened to Gawain, who had previously been Arthur's favorite in the court.