To Change Her Shape
Morgan le Fay, the infamous enchantress of Arthurian legend, has worn many faces across the centuries: healer and villain, seductress and savior, sister and sorceress. Her story is often a mirror, reflecting the anxieties and desires of the cultures that tell it. This episode brings you the shapeshifting faces of Morgan le Fay.
Researched, written, and produced by Corinne Wieben with original music by Purple Planet.
Music
Purple Planet - Midnight Bell
Purple Planet - Ethereal Eternity
Purple Planet - Dark Shadows
Purple Planet - Atmospheric Piano Backing
Purple Planet - Sense of Loss
Purple Planet - Shadowlands
Sources
Primary
Bradley, Marion Zimmer. The Mists of Avalon. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1983.
Capps, Johnny, et al. Merlin. BBC One, 2008–2012. Television series.
Deonn, Tracy. Legendborn. New York: Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2020.
Geoffrey of Monmouth. Vita Merlini, translated and edited by Basil Clarke. Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1973.
Malory, Sir Thomas. Le Morte D’Arthur in Two Volumes, Volume I, edited by Janet Cowen. New York: Penguin Books, 1969; reprinted 1986.
Miller, Frank and Tom Wheeler. Cursed. Netflix, 2020. Television series.
Sebastian, Laura. Half Sick of Shadows. New York: Ace, 2021.
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, translated by Brian Stone. Second edition. New York: Penguin Books, 1974; reprinted 1981.
Secondary
Fisher, Sheila. “Leaving Morgan Aside: Women, History, and Revisionism in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.” In Arthurian Women: A Casebook, edited by Thelma S. Fenster, 77–95. New York: Garland Publishing, 1996.
Fries, Maureen. “Female Heroes, Heroines, and Counter-Heroes: Images of Women in Arthurian Tradition.” In Arthurian Women: A Casebook, edited by Thelma S. Fenster, 59–73. New York: Garland Publishing, 1996.
Hebert, Jill M. Morgan le Fay, Shapeshifter. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013.
Heng, Geraldine. “Enchanted Ground: The Feminine Subtext in Malory.” In Arthurian Women: A Casebook, edited by Thelma S. Fenster, 97–113. New York: Garland Publishing, 1996.
Larrington, Carolyne. King Arthur’s Enchantresses: Morgan and Her Sisters in Arthurian Tradition. New York: I. B. Tauris, 2006.
Loomis, Roger Sherman. Celtic Myth and Arthurian Romance. New York: Columbia University Press, 1926.
Paton, Lucy Allen. Studies in the Fairy Mythology of Arthurian Romance. Boston: Ginn & Co., 1903.
Pérez, Kristina. The Myth of Morgan la Fey. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2014.
Stock, Lorraine Kochanske. “The Hag of Castle Haudesert: The Celtic Sheela-na-gig and the Auncian in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.” In On Arthurian Women: Essays in Memory of Maureen Fries, edited by Bonnie Wheeler and Fiona Tolhurst, 121–148. Dallas: Scriptorium Press, 2001.
Twomey, Michael. “Morgan le Fay at Haudesert.” In On Arthurian Women: Essays in Memory of Maureen Fries, edited by Bonnie Wheeler and Fiona Tolhurst, 103–119. Dallas: Scriptorium Press, 2001.
Twomey, Michael. “‘Morgan le Fay, Empress of the Wilderness’: A Newly Recovered Arthurian Text in London, Bl Royal 12.C.IX.” In Arthurian Literature XXV (2008): 67-92.
