The morrigan is confusing

Isis

Member
I find myself confused by the Morrigan, since sometimes she seems singular and other times a triple goddess. In addition, the members of the trinity vary by myth.
 

Libros

Member
Yes, the Morrigan is one of the most ambiguous characters in all European myth. She has very few consistencies across the Irish narrative body.

We simply don't have enough agreeing evidence to make many universal statements about her. She's one of those figures whose identity has been extremely subject to modern interpretation because of how unclear it is in the body, and people fill in the gaps. Sometimes she is a goddess, sometimes a common hero. Sometimes she is tripartite, sometimes not. It all depends on who is telling the the story, and who is encountering her in the story.

One of the few agreeable traits of the Morrigan are that she is as associated with battle. Sometimes she participates in fighting, sometimes she doesn't and alerts fighters to their doom. She also has magic powers.

A modern interpretation is to give a woman character the name Morrigan, but in myth it's always a title, the Morrigan, implying a great queen. As such more than one woman may have the title of Morrigan at once.

Regrettably we may never find much conclusive evidence of her.
 

Rhonda Tharp

Active Member
I've heard her referred to as the Ninefold goddess, as well. I had read "The Morrigan" represented three women that have (or will have) experienced the maiden/mother/crone ages of life (3 women x 3 ages = 9).
 

LegendofJoe

Active Member
I am presently reading a book on Celtic mythology by James MacKillop that is very good.
He states that The Morrigan is part of a triplism called Morrigna. The other two war goddesses being Macha and Badb.
Alternately, some scholars claim that Morrigna and Morrigan are identical and that the three goddesses in
this triplism would be Macha, Badb and Nemain.
Morrigan means great queen and Nemain means battle-fury.
Badb means hooded crow or scald crow, and she delights in battle.
Morrigan and Macha are also war goddesses, but they also have something to do with a large sexual appetite,
fertility and sovereignty.
There are three important Machas in Celtic myths.
The most important is the Macha who was forced to race against horses because her idiot husband boasted she can run faster than any horse.
She was pregnant at the time but still won the race. She then had two infants right on the spot.
The place was therefore named Emain Macha: the twins of Macha, and she cursed all those present who made her race while pregnant.
 

LegendofJoe

Active Member
Every year after Thanksgiving, a bunch of booths are set up with all kinds of international merchandise in Union Square Park in NYC.
Great place for unique holiday gifts.
One booth that is always there is one that deals with all kinds of things with a Celtic motif. The people who run it are from Ireland.
This is where I found her.
 

Isis

Member
I'm glad I brought this up as you all taught me quite a bit. :) That's a fantastic statue, by the way! I am jealous, even though I wouldn't have room for her anyway.
 

Lorey

New Member
I've never heard of the Morrigan, but I can really understand the concept of how a woman is, in essence, three different women at different times in her life.
 

LegendofJoe

Active Member
Is that Guan Yu behind her?
Good eyes Libros! Yes Guan Yu is visible behind The Morrigan. I picked him up from a street vendor in Shanghai.
Also from China is a phoenix that you can see a little of to her right.
Also, on the left you can just make out a small obsidian god of fire I got from mexico and a stone Puma from Peru.
 
Top