The Morrigan: Goddess(es) of Death

Happy Monday, readers!  How was your week?  Classes have begun, so mine was pretty busy.  Four history classes = lots of reading homework.  Still, I'm having fun so far!

This week we're going to be talking about one of the best known characters in Celtic mythology.  She is a fearsome warrior with an affinity for birds, and she is feared and respected by both gods and men.  Her name is the Morrigan.

The Morrigan is a truly interesting character in Celtic mythology due to her...unique nature.  You could say she has a split personality.  You see, while the Morrigan is often referred to using singular pronouns - "she", "her" - she is, in fact, more than one person.  The Morrigan is made up of three distinct goddesses.

This isn't necessarily something new in mythology, particularly when one looks at what the Morrigan is goddess of.  She rules over death, and calls the battlefield her home.  Some of my previous posts have talked about triple goddesses who fulfilled a similar purpose in their own mythology.  The Greeks had the Moirai, the Fates; the Norse believed in the Norns.  Both the Moirai and the Norns were three women, sisters, who were each part of a greater purpose - Fate.  Each group had one sister who specifically represented death: the Greek Atropos and the Norse Skuld.

However, that's about where the similarities end.  While the Norns and the Moirai have some things in common with the Morrigan, they also have striking differences.  For one thing, the two non-Celtic trio goddesses were worshipped as separate beings; the Morrigan is worshipped as only one.

I'm sorry if this sounds confusing.  Describing the Morrigan in a way that makes sense is definitely complicated, haha!

Like I said, the Morrigan is referred to using singular pronouns.  Art of her usually shows only one woman.  I'm not entirely sure how that works, since she's made up of three women, but somehow it does.  In fact, this is one of the only pictures I was able to find that showed three goddesses instead of one.

As to who those women are - well, there's some debate on that subject.  They're generally agreed to be sisters, but can be related through blood, fostering, or marriage.  One of the possible candidates for the Morrigan, Anand, has her name used interchangeably with that of the Morrigan.  Other possible members of the goddess include the goddesses Badb, Macha, and Nemain.

I'll stop talking about the somewhat confusing split personality of the Morrigan now.  Instead, let us take a look at what the Morrigan can do.

The Morrigan is a goddess of war.  Much like the Norse Valkyries, the Morrigan's allegiance greatly effects the outcome of a battle.  Whichever group she sides with almost always wins.  Because of this, Lugh Long-Arm made sure to win the Morrigan's favor before attacking Bres.

(I love the Wonder Woman look of this picture.)

 

The various personas who make up the Morrigan are known for many things associated with death.  They can strike confusion into the hearts of warriors who do not have the Morrigan's favor - and confusion is never a good thing in the midst of a battle.  The goddesses who make up the Morrigan are also known for shapeshifting.  The Morrigan can take several forms, but she is most often seen as a crow.  Ancient cultures associated crows with death and war, since the birds circle above fields of carnage and are known for eating the dead.

(This one, on the other hand, looks more like Morticia Addams!)

All told, the Morrigan sounds like a fun and cheery person, right?  Just wait.  We haven't even gotten to my favorite part!

The Morrigan (or one of her members) frequently appears as a portent of doom.  Warriors who see her know that their death is approaching; she's a little like the Grim in Harry Potter.  Of course, the warriors don't just see a beautiful woman and know that their death is coming.  No, that wouldn't be creepy enough for the Morrigan!

Instead, the myths frequently show fighters walking past a lake or a stream.  They'll look over and see a lovely woman staring at them as she washes something.  In the more PG versions of the stories, the Morrigan is washing the warrior's blood-stained armor, signaling his death.

In the more NC-17 versions, the Morrigan is washing the warrior's entrails.

Lovely, right?

I'll end my post there.  I hope you guys enjoyed reading about the Celtic goddess of war!  She is definitely not someone you want to have on your bad side.

This will be my final post (for now) about Celtic mythology.  I'll have something special for you next week.  After that I'm going to be posting a series about...

(Dramatic pause!)

...Arthurian legend!

The stories of King Arthur and his knights are pretty numerous, so I've got a lot of material to draw on.  I'm planning on talking about several of the main characters and events from the legends.  I'm really excited for this, and I hope you guys are too!

I'll see you next week!