Morgan le Fay is a sourceress, known from legends about King Arthur. She is actually his half sister and her role varies from story to story, from era to era. I'll try to add as many interesting facts about her character as this project evolves, but for now we'll start as her graphic representation through the eyes of many artists.

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Morgan le Fay by Frederick Sandys (1829-1904)
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Morgan le Fay and Sir Tristram by Aubrey Beardsley (1872-1898)
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Morgan le Fay by Edward Burne-Jones ((1833-1898)
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The Last Sleep of Arthur by Edward Burne-Jones ((1833-1898)

Morgan Le Fay is a lady of many faces. She is a fairy, magician, priestess and goddess. Although her origin is unclear we can safely presume she belongs to Celtic mythology. Her name is a name for a man. Correct would be Morgain, but we are not talking about an ordinary person.

 

Here are few intereting facts about Morgan Le Fay:

 

1. We can find her roots in Irish and Welsh mythology, but also in the background of real people from 6th century, where some real events possibly inspired the legend of King Arthur.

 

2. She is able to change her appearance (shape-shifting), she can transform in younger, older, prettier or uglier person, she can become an animal as well. Her second name Fay clearly suggest her magic powers because 'fay' means 'fairy'

 

3. While her character and role in so called Arturian cycle is constantly changing, in all works she is associated with strong healing powers. These are sometimes connected with black magic. Morgan Le Fay is a healer of King Arthur.

 

4. Her love life is pretty interesting too. Different authors connected her with King Urians, his nephew Giomar and with Sir Lancelot.

 

5. Morgan is in earlier works mentioned only as a healer and sourceress, but in later she has the same mother as Arthur. It is interesting to notice, she is only his healer in older works, but she becomes his enemy in later stories.

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Morgan Le Fay by John Roddam Spencer Stanhope
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Voyage of King Arthur and Morgan Le Fay to the Isle of Avalon by Frank William Warwick Topham