does anyone know any stories about her? i know some but not a lot. my friends and i would appriciate some more on her.

I find the figure of the Morrigan to be very intriguing myself...I am sure there is probably a fair bit of info about her 'on-line'..but if books seem more appealing to you..Try 'Lady Gregory's Irish Myth and Legends'(A book I often find myself mentoning and quoting from..It is just so good!..And has a wonderful preface by W.B.Yeats) There are a lot of good books that have some great insight into her character. A book which I have found to be very interesting is 'Chronichles of the Celts (the Classic Sagas)'.. by Iain Zaczek..it has some great overall basics...'The Tain Bo Cuailnge'..the 'Fionn Cycle'..as well as from Wales..'The Mabinogion'..and from Britanny...'The Barzaz Breiz'. I will post some info about the Morrigan in future days. *S*

The Morrigan is one of the most fascinating of the Ancient Goddesses. Her name means Mór Rigan or 'Great Queen'. Some authorities claim she is a triple goddess. It is difficult to get good stories on her as the nineteenth century translator's of the Ancient Irish Texts were prudes, and edited out the 'juicy bits' of the stories about her. She is said to have created the River Unshan by 'passing water' and the Dagda came upon her while she was doing this and of course he had to make love to her...

I have some more information and stories on her at my web-site: www.shee-eire.com/
If you are interested she is located in the Magic and Mythology section under Celtic Goddesses.

Slán, ps. if you get any more info on her I'd be real interested in hearing it.

Sorry, Guest
I'll try that again to make a proper link for you: www.shee-eire.com/

Please visit I would love some feedback.
Slán from Hilary.

Wonderful site Hilary *s* You described The Morrigan excellently. It has been said that the Morrigan was/is indeed a threefold goddess...(to quote a book I mentioned previously ..'Chronicles of the Celts'..) "figuring in her own guise or in one of her subsiduary aspects...as Badb, Macha or Nemain. These characters are more or less interchangeable, although they feature in different legends. Macha placed a curse upon the men of Ulster, after being forced to race against the king's horses whilst pregnant; Nemain's terrible howl caused a hundred warriors to die of fright; and Badb was often seen at a ford before battle, cleansing the weapons of soldiers who were about to die. The Morrigan allied her destructive nature with an intense, sexual potency; the combined associations of fertility and death link the goddess with the Sheela-na-gig..". She is said to be'have been extremeely powerful, and was highly cabable of shape-shifting.Said to be the daughter of Ernmas (Murder).Some say she is also the basis for Morgan Le Fay/Fee of the Arthurian Cycle, who in Breton Mythology becomes Mary-Morgan....a siren associated with the sea..her name has been tranlated as 'born of the sea'..(Mori-genus, Irish Muir-gen),And as many of you I am sure are aware of, water has long been viewed in symbology to be associated with fertility.She also has a connection with the Teutonic Freyja.."a warrior, witch, and a passionate lover",as well as the warrior goddess Nerthus,(feminine version of Njorthr)a 'terra mater' living in an oceanic island, mentioned by Tacitus.

man i knew there were a lot of stories but this is amazing. i think you should something though. i gave this name to my best friend as a nick-name. she is always fighting and wanted to know the tales behind the name. this is great please keep the stories coming.

PS. i'm the girl that posted the
question.

And now to quote Lady Gregory..for those who have not already read this;(Chapter IV/The Morrigu;Book Four/The Ever-Living Living Ones; Irish Myths and Legends :"As to the Morigu, the Great Queen, the Crow of Battle, where she lived after the coming of the Gael is not known, but before that time it was in Teamhair she lived. And she had a great cooking-spit there, that held three sorts of food on it at the one time: a piece of raw meat, and a piece of butter.And the raw was dressed, and the dressed was not burned, and the butter did not melt, and the three together on the spit.
Nine men that were outlaws went to her one time and asked for a spit to be made for themselves. And they brought it away with them, and it had nine ribs in it, and every one of the outaws would carry a rib in his hand wherever he would go, till they would all meet together at the close of day.And if they wanted the spit to be high, it could be raised to a mans height, and at anther time it would not be higher than the height of a fist over the fire, without breaking and without lessening.
And Mechi, the son the Morrigu had, was killed by Mac Cecht on Magh Mechi, that till that time ahd been called Magh Fertaige. Three hearts he had, and it is the way they were, they had shapes of three serpents through them. And if Mechi had not met with his death, those serpents in him would have grown, and what they left alive in Ireland would have wasted away.And Mac Cecht burned the three hearts on Magh Luathad, the Plain of Ashes, and he threw the ashes into the stream; and the rushing water of the stream stopped and boiled up, and every creature in it died.
And the Morrigu used often to be meddling in Ireland in Cuchulain's time, stirring up wars and quarrels. It was she came and roused up Cuchulain one time when he was but a lad, and was near giving in to some enchantment that was used against him."There is not the making of a hero in you," she said to him,"And you lying there under the feet of shadows." And with that Cuchulain rose up and struck off the head of a shadow that was standing over him, with his hurling stick. And the time Conchubar was sending out Finched to rouse up the men of Ulster at the time of war for the bull of Cuailgne,he bade him to go to that terrible fury, The Morrigu, to get help for Cuchulain. And she had a dispute wth Cuchulain one time he met her, and she bringing away a cow from the hill of Cruachan; and another time she helped Talchinem, a Druid of the household of Conaire Mor,to bring away the bull his wife had set her mind on. And indeed she was given to meddling with cattle, and one tme she brought away a bull from Odras, that was of the household of the cow-chief of Cormac Hua Cuined, and that was going after her husband with cattle. And the Morrigu brought the cow away with her to the cave of Cruachan, and the hill of the Sidhe. And Odras followed her there till sleep fell on her in the oak-wood of Falga; and the Morrigu awoke her and sang spells over her, and made of her a pool of water that went to the river that flows to the west of Slieve Buane.
And in the battle of Magh Rath, she fluttered over Congal Claen in the shape of a bird, till he did not know friend from foe. And after that again at the battle of Cluantarbh, she was flying over the head of Murchadh, son of Brian; for she had many shapes, and it was in the shape of a crow she would sometimes fight her battles.
And if it was not the Morrigu, it was Badh that showed herself in the battle of Dunbolg, where the men of Ireland were fighting under Aedh, son of Niall; and Brigit was seen in the same battle on the side of the men of Leinster."..woa!...that was a lot of typing folks!*S* A wonderful little snip-it in my opinion..gies one a general impression of what The Morrigan was capable of...

Thanks for visiting the site, Monadh and Guest.
If anyone knows where to get some source stories on the Morrigan, I'd be interested. Lady Gregory is great for little snippets of info to get a beginner started but where did she get her sources from? There was a lot more books available to her then there is today, you have to go in to University libraries and try to locate old nineteeth century tomes, to get to her sources.

To get to the roots of it all would be wonderful indeed Hilary...Geesh!,if I found myself in one of those grand libraries..don't think I'd be seen or heard from again for a really long time..(I'd be reading up a storm! *S*) I agree.. Lady Gregory is great for little snipits and an overall view of the Celtic Sagas..a great primer ...in her notes for the book previously mentioned, she includes many titles for the books which she drew from..(wish I could get my hands on some of those!)I believe that it is wonderful that these tales have been passed down through the generations...and live to this day in our hearts and minds. May we cherish their beauty *s*, and gain a greater understanding of the old ways from their verse.

Hi Monadh and anyone else who's interested.

I've found a good site with a dissertation about the Morrigan on it at: The Morrigan in Mythological Tradition

Also: Irish Folklore There are full versions of books by Lady Gregory, Yeats, Curtin and other Celtic Revivalist writers of the nineteenth century there may be notes on that site.

Slán

Amazing find! I just read a good portion of the first link you mentioned..still lots to read though and , and every bit of it is extremely fascinating..(Very in depth!)*s* And the Celtic Folklore site is also splendid..love it!..though I was a tad disappointed with the Breton Folklore page..(didn't appear to be there!)...Great to see so much Yeats online(as well as all the others), some of which I have already read..others which are new to me. *s*..It is great you found these sites Hilary..

one question. how do we know that the inquisition didn't change some of the tales so people would stop worshipping her?

Hello Monadh,

Yeah its amazing what's out there, hidden away, I even forget where I got that link from originally. It is really indepth I still haven't got through it all either.
There's another good one for links to Irish Folklore at: Irish Folklore,Literature & Drama
Always glad to help fellow Browsers.
Slán

Hi guest,

I'm sorry but I don't really know how much the inquisition affected Ireland. I do know one of the popes gave permission to King Henry the second of England to invade Ireland because he felt the form of christianity being practised by the people was 'unholy' - Priests, nuns and bishops still married, there was a form of divorce, etc. maybe someone else could help you out on your question as I'm not really good on History.
Slán.

One thing is for certain 'guest', the older the source, the better,(in most cases, but not always true..).It is inevitable that stories passed on through the generations will change, and grow, according to the atmosphere of the time in which they are told, as social influence, (i.e. The Church, ones community,etc. ) has always played a roll in the way in which stories are presented. The inquisition(the spanish, and it's predecessors)certainly affected the lives and culture of the time.The Celtic Church had some major differences from the Roman Orthodox(i.e. the celebration of Easter).In fact..it almost caused a complete schism , but was ultimately resolved, and they were brought into the 'fold', partly as a result of the Viking invasions.The other thing to consider is the fact that as the stories were, and are, passed down through out the ages, one's individual thumbprint is ultimately left in the tale. The best story tellers are those who, while relaying the original story, also add their own variations and twists to the story.The art of storytelling has, and always will play, an important role in the evolution of the human race.Long before there were books, radio's, t.v.'s etc. the common form of entertainment was the evening tale by the campfire, for it gave meaning and expression to peoples who's lives were filled with hardship and strife. To look to the original texts, such as the old manuscripts, and other ancient accounts, is probably one's best bet,in my opinion,for tracking down the origin of something. However, it is the test of time, the way in which a tale maintains it's integrity (symbolical significance, places and events, etc.) that is what makes it all so appealing to me *s*...p.s...yet another great site Hilary! Found it myself a few months back, but lost the address, so thanks!*s*

are there any stories of a girl named Morrighan that killed Vampires?? and if so did she have a friend with a name that ment "giver of life".

Dear Guest,
There could be but I haven't read anything like that. Morgan was used as the famous sorceress in the Arthurian Stories from Welsh Legend. The name is used for Sorceresses and magic users.
Sorry I couldn't be more helpful


visit my site if interested in Irish Mythology and the Ancient Irish World.
http://www.shee-eire.com/

I think he\she was talking about a manga carachter

what is that?

hey, are there any more stories or is that it?

wasn't any painter inspired by irish mythological characters, as by the Greek gods and goddesses?

Yes. Jim Fitzpatrick is an Irish artist who uses Celtic mythological themes. They are mostly in the heroic mode, with lots of knotwork borders. He does really intricate work, and I'm sure there are many examples of his work on the web. For those of you old enough to remember back to the '70s, everybody wore t-shirts with a sort of silhouette depiction of Che Guevarra. That was one of his early works. It was stolen by so many people that he decided it wasn't worth the effort chasing them all for royalties, so it became public property.

Apart from painting, a young Irish musical artist named Patrick Cassidy has written some orchestral/choral compositions, mostly in Baroque style reminiscent of Bach and Handel, based on the "Sorrows" of Ireland. He has also written a piece on the Famine. His works wouldn't be to everybody's taste, but they are evocative and worth at least one hearing.

Just discovered Jim Fitzpatrick has his own website. It includes the Che Guevara portrait.

http://www.jimfitzpatrick.ie/

There is actually a music group I ran acrossed on the Web known as the Morrigan. They have taken their name from the legends of the Morrigan.

please tell me if this is true: i once heard of a woman named Morrighan. she was the most fercious warrior in a town about 20 miles from Galway. she had few friends one of them named Anakhet. the two of them were also know as the Great Slayer and the Merciful. is this in any of the Morrighan stories?

No, Gypsywench. It's not in any of the original myths. I suspect it's a modern story.

You're making me look way ahead of where I am. The Celtic Realms. myles dillon/nora chadwick.
The triad of of the ancient Gaulish divinities, the matronae... has also survived in the three mother godesses of war in Ireland- Morrigan (great queen) and Macha and Bodb. I'm not jumping chapters to give a more detailed explaination

Ehi, let's talking about Lug! Not the Gallic Lug, compared to Mercury etc., but the very Irish Lug, Cu Culainn's father, Samildanach, Lamfada and so on...

Hi peeps
Is anyone still there?
I too am looking for info on the Morrigan, pref from as early a stage as possible. I'm particularly looking for the origin of the piece quoted earlier about the nine outlaws and the spit of meat. Can anyone help?
Cadnoess

I was always intrigued by the fact that Lugh was supposed to be dead when he sired Cuchulihainn, and that he lived in the home of Aenghus mac Og.

Hey there...just stumbled across this page whilst searching for Jim Fitzpatricks painting of "the "morrigan" (anyone have any clues where I might get a print of that? Having no luck so far...)Did you guys know that there is a famous bronze statue in the General Post office here in my home town of Dublin depicting Cu Chulainn in his death throes with a crow (the morrigan, in one of her three guises) perched on his shoulder in triumph. He had made the fatal mistake of rejecting her romantic advances and she used her legendary forces to sway his final battle against him as revenge.

Interesting stuff Morrigan3! If I come across a lead on the painting print, I'll post it here for ye. *puts Dublin on the lists of To Do, fer the next trip*