For the Darkstalkers character, see Morrigan Aensland.

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The Mórrígan (Morrígan, Morrighan, Morrigu, Modern Irish Mór-Rhioghain pronounced as more ree-en) ("great queen" or "phantom queen"), is an Irish goddess of war and destruction. She is typically depicted as being armoured and armed: wherever war occurs, there is the Mórrígan. She is reputed to have hovered over the battlefield in the form either of a crow or a raven.

Contents

1 Etymology of the Name 2 Aspects of Her Trinity & Basic Nature 3 Diachronic changes in the form of the name 4 Mythic References 5 Worship 6 Arthurian myth 7 Further reading

Etymology of the Name

Though the first part of her name may be cognate with the Old English maere (see mara), which still persists within the modern English word "nightmare", it is possible that it be representive of the Old, Middle and Modern Irish word mór, meaning "great"; the second root is rígan meaning "queen".

The reconstructed lexis of the Proto-Celtic language as collated by the University of Wales (http://www.wales.ac.uk/documents/external/cawcs/pcl-moe.pdf ) suggests that the name is likely to be ultimately derived from the Proto-Celtic *Māro-rīganīs (Great Queen), *Moro-rīganīs (Nightmare Queen), or *Mori-rīganīs (Sea Queen).

If the name indeed meant 'Great Queen', the Proto-Celtic form of the name would have to be reconstructed as *Māro-rīganīs , implying more the sense of 'Large Queen' than 'Great'. Admittedly, Māro-rīganīs is less similar in form to other possible reconstruction *Moro-rīganīs meaning 'Nightmare Queen.' It is worth noting that the meaning of 'Nightmare Queen' would relate logically to the negative 'Horror,' 'Venomous,' and 'Battle Scaldcrow' aspects of her frightful trinity (below).

Aspects of Her Trinity & Basic Nature

Whatever the original form of the name, her hyponyms as evidenced in the aspects of her trinity, as well as her character in the myths, indicate that she personifed lethality. This explains why she is portrayed as a cause of death, synonymous with warfare and a bringer of victory. It would explain why she is deemed to be present wherever there be martial hostilities and why she might have been invoked to bring victory before the commencement of battle.

The Mórrígan has three aspects: Macha, Nemain (or in Modern Irish Neamhain), and the Badhbh. These names carry the semantic connotations of 'Terror', 'Venomous Animosity', and 'Scald-Crow'. They are pronounced [maxə], [nehmhən] [bau]. These three aspects of her trinity may relate respectively to the role of lethality in death, hostilities and in gaining victory She also comes in the aspect of Badhbh Catha [bau kaha], the Scald-Crow of Battle. This is possibly the less abreviated form of the name Badhbh and is likely to be the inherited form of the name of the classical Celtic goddess Catubodua.

Diachronic changes in the form of the name

Following the known laws of Celtic diachronic linguistics as elucidated by Marian B. Hughes at the University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies, the Proto-Celtic name *Moro-rīganīs would have been inherited into Brythonic in the form of *Morriganis.

Mythic References

She appears in the Mythological Cycle of Celtic tales, where she is revered as one of the Tuatha Dé Danann, a race of shape-shifting magicians whom the Celts believed inhabited Ireland before them. She also contends with Cúchulainn in the Ulster Cycle.

Worship

According to Seathrún Céitinn she was worshipped by Fodla, with whom she may be seen as equivalent.

Arthurian myth

There have been attempts to link the Arthurian witch, Morgan le Fay, with the Mórrígan. Geoffrey of Monmouth wrote the first stories that describe Morgan le Fay in "Vita Merlini" ("The Life of Merlin") written during the 12th century.

Further reading

• "The Guises of the Morrigan - Irish Goddess of Sex & Battle" - A look at the important roles played by The Morrigan and the many other Goddesses associated with her. The Guises of The Morrigan, by David Rankine & Sorita D'Este
• The Hounds of the Morrigan, a work of children's literature by Pat O'Shea.
• "The Red-Haired Girl from the Bog," by Patricia Monaghan. (New World Library, 2002.)
• "The Great Queens: Irish Goddesses from the Morrígan to Cathleen Ní Houlihan", by Rosalind Clark (Irish Literary Studies, Book 34)
• Irish Witchcraft from an Irish Witch, by Lora O'Brien (New Page Books, 2004)
• "The Táin" - translation of the Cattle Raid of Cooley, by Thomas Kinsellade:Morrigan

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