Morgause

Morgause /mɔːrˈɡeɪz/ is a character in later Arthurian traditions, appearing in Thomas Malory's 15th-century text Le Morte d'Arthur as the mother of Gawain and Mordred, both key players in the story of King Arthur and his downfall. Mordred is the offspring of Arthur's inadvertent incest with Morgause, the king's estranged half-sister. She is also a sister of Morgan le Fay and the wife of King Lot of Orkney, as well as the mother of Gareth, Agravain, and Gaheris.

Earlier counterparts

The corresponding character in Geoffrey of Monmouth's 12th-century Latin chronicle Historia Regum Britanniae is named Anna; in Wolfram von Eschenbach’s Parzival, Anna is replaced by Sangive (whom Der Pleier calls Seife), while her parallel in Arthour and Merlin (late 14th century) is Belisent. And the mother of Gawain's Welsh forerunner, Gwalchmei ap Gwyar, is thought to be Gwyar (a name meaning "gore").

The earliest known form of Morgause's name is Orcades, given in the First Continuation of Chrétien de Troyes' Perceval (the former of which was once attributed to Wauchier de Denain and dated c. 1200), in which she is the mother of Gawain, Agravain, Gaheris, Gareth and Mordred and daughters Clarissant and Soredamor. As Morcades she also appears in Les Enfances Gauvain (early 13th century) and again in Heinrich von dem Türlin’s Diu Crône (c. 1230). It appears her name was originally a place name, as "Orcades" coincides with the Latin name for the Orkney Islands, the land traditionally ruled by Gawain's parents. Medievalist Roger Sherman Loomis suggests that the toponym was corrupted into "Morcades" (or Morchades, Morcads) and finally "Morgause" due to the influence of the name "Morgan" (le Fay).