Editing The Morrígan (section)

==Sources==

===Glosses and glossaries===
The earliest sources for the Morrígan are [[gloss (annotation)|glosses]] in Latin manuscripts and glossaries (collections of glosses). The 8th century ''O'Mulconry's Glossary'' says that [[Macha]] is one of the three ''morrígna''.{{sfn|Gulermovich Epstein|1998|pp=45–51}} In a 9th-century manuscript containing the [[Vulgate]] version of the [[Book of Isaiah]], the word ''[[Lamia]]'' is used to translate the Hebrew ''[[Lilith]]''.<ref>Isaiah 34:14 "And wild beasts shall meet with hyenas, the satyr shall cry to his fellow; yea, there shall the ''night hag'' alight, and find for herself a resting place." (Revised Standard Version, emphasis added)</ref> A gloss explains this ''night hag'' as "a monster in female form, that is, a ''morrígan''."{{sfn|Gulermovich Epstein|1998|pp=45–51}} ''[[Sanas Cormaic|Cormac's Glossary]]'' (also 9th century), and a gloss in the later manuscript H.3.18, both explain the plural word ''gudemain'' ("spectres"){{sfn|DIL|1990|p=372}} with the plural form ''morrígna''.{{sfn|Gulermovich Epstein|1998|pp=45–51}}

===Ulster Cycle===
The Morrígan's earliest narrative appearances, in which she is depicted as an individual,<ref name="CELT-Regamna">{{cite book |url=http://www.ucc.ie/celt/online/G301005/text002.html |title=Táin Bó Regamna |work=Corpus of Electronic Texts Edition |page=33 |author=Unknown}}</ref> are in stories of the [[Ulster Cycle]], where she has an ambiguous relationship with the hero [[Cú Chulainn]]. In the ''[[Táin Bó#Tains|Táin Bó Regamna]]'' ("''The Cattle Raid of Regamain''"), Cú Chulainn encounters the Morrígan, but does not recognise her, as she drives a [[cow|heifer]] from his territory. In response to this perceived challenge, and his ignorance of her role as a sovereignty figure, he insults her. But before he can attack her she becomes a black bird on a nearby branch. Cú Chulainn now knows who she is, and tells her that had he known before, they would not have parted in enmity. She notes that whatever he had done would have brought him ill luck.  To his response that she cannot harm him, she delivers a series of warnings, foretelling a coming battle in which he will be killed. She tells him, "It is at the guarding of thy death that I am; and I shall be."<ref>"[http://www.maryjones.us/ctexts/regamna.html The Cattle Raid of Regamna]", translated by A. H. Leahy, from ''Heroic Romances of Ireland'' Vol II, 1906</ref>

In the ''[[Táin Bó Cúailnge]]'' ("''The Cattle Raid of Cooley''"), Queen [[Medb]] of [[Connacht]] launches an invasion of [[Ulaid|Ulster]] to steal the bull [[Donn Cuailnge]]; the Morrígan, like [[Alecto]] of the Greek [[Erinyes|Furies]], appears to the bull in the form of a crow and warns him to flee.{{sfn|O'Rahilly|1976|p=152}} Cú Chulainn defends Ulster by fighting a series of single combats at fords against Medb's champions. In between combats, the Morrígan appears to him as a young woman and offers him her love and her aid in the battle, but he rejects her offer. In response, she intervenes in his next combat, first in the form of an eel who trips him, then as a wolf who stampedes cattle across the ford, and finally as a white, red-eared heifer leading the stampede, just as she had warned in their previous encounter. However, Cú Chulainn wounds her in each form and defeats his opponent despite her interference. Later, she appears to him as an old woman bearing the same three wounds that her animal forms had sustained, milking a cow. She gives Cú Chulainn three drinks of milk. He blesses her with each drink, and her wounds are healed.{{sfn|O'Rahilly|1976|pp=176–177, 180–182}}<ref>{{cite book |first=Cecile (ed & trans) |last=O'Rahilly |url=http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/T301035/index.html |title=Táin Bó Cualnge'' from the Book of Leinster'' |year=1967|pages=193–197}}</ref> He regrets blessing her for the three drinks of milk, which is apparent in the exchange between the Morrígan and Cú Chulainn: "She gave him milk from the third teat, and her leg was healed. 'You told me once,' she said,'that you would never heal me.' 'Had I known it was you,' said Cú Chulainn, 'I never would have.'"<ref>{{cite book |first=Ciaran |last=Carson |title=The Táin: A New Translation of the Táin Bó Cúlailnge |year=2007 |page=96}}</ref> As the armies gather for the final battle, she prophesies the bloodshed to come.{{sfn|O'Rahilly|1976|pp=229–230}}

In one version of Cú Chulainn's death-tale, as Cú Chulainn rides to meet his enemies, he encounters the Morrígan as a [[hag]] washing his bloody armour in a ford, an omen of his death. Later in the story, mortally wounded, Cú Chulainn ties himself to a [[standing stone]] with his own entrails so he can die upright, and it is only when a crow lands on his shoulder that his enemies believe he is dead.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.maryjones.us/ctexts/cuchulain3.html |title=The Death of Cú Chulainn |work=Celtic Literature Collective}}</ref>

===Mythological Cycle===
The Morrígan also appears in texts of the [[Mythological Cycle]]. In 12th-century pseudohistorical compilation the ''[[Lebor Gabála Érenn]]'' ("''The Book of the Taking of Ireland''"), she is listed among the [[Tuatha Dé Danann]] as one of the daughters of [[Ernmas]], granddaughter of [[Nuada]].<ref name="LGE-62,64"/>

The first three daughters of Ernmas are given as [[Ériu]], [[Banba]], and [[Fódla]]. Their names are synonyms for "Ireland", and they were respectively married to [[Mac Gréine]], [[Mac Cuill]], and [[Mac Cecht|Mac Cécht]], the last three Tuatha Dé Danann kings of Ireland. Associated with the land and kingship, they probably represent a [[triple deity|triple goddess]] of sovereignty. Next come Ernmas' other three daughters: [[Badb]], [[Macha]], and the Morrígan. A quatrain describes the three as wealthy, "springs of craftiness", and "sources of bitter fighting". The Morrígu's name is also said to be Anand.<ref name="LGE-62,64"/> According to [[Geoffrey Keating]]'s 17th-century ''History of Ireland'', Ériu, Banba, and Fódla worshipped Badb, Macha, and the Morrígan respectively.<ref>{{cite book |first=Geoffrey |last=Keating |title=The History of Ireland |url=http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/T100054/text021.html |chapter=Book 2 Section 11}}</ref>

The Morrígan also appears in the ''[[Cath Maige Tuired]]'' ("''The Battle of Magh Tuireadh''").<ref>{{cite web |title=The Second Battle of Moytura |url=https://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/G300011/index.html |website=Corpus of Electronic Texts Edition}}</ref> On [[Samhain]], she keeps a tryst with the [[Dagda]] before the battle against the [[Fomorians]]. When he meets her, she is washing herself, standing with one foot on either side of the river Unius, near [[Riverstown|Riverstown, Co. Sligo]]. In some sources, she is believed to have created the river.  After they have sex, the Morrígan promises to summon the magicians of Ireland to cast spells on behalf of the Tuatha Dé, and to destroy Indech, the Fomorian king, taking from him "the blood of his heart and the kidneys of his valour." Later, we are told, she would bring two handfuls of his blood and deposit them in the same river (however, we are also told later in the text that Indech was killed by [[Ogma]]).

As battle is about to be joined, the Tuatha Dé leader, [[Lugh|Lug]], asks each what power they bring to the battle. The Morrígan's reply is difficult to interpret, but involves pursuing, destroying and subduing. When she comes to the battlefield, she chants a poem, and immediately the battle breaks and the Fomorians are driven into the sea. After the battle, she chants another poem celebrating the victory and prophesying the end of the world.<ref name="CMT166-CELT">{{cite book |url=http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/G300010/text167.html |title=Cath Maige Tuired |chapter=The Second Battle of Mag Tuired |author=Unknown}}</ref><ref name="CMT167">{{cite book |first=Elizabeth A. (ed. & trans.) |last=Gray |url=http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/T300010/index.html |title=Cath Maige Tuired: The Second Battle of Mag Tuired |section=167 |year=1982}}</ref>

In another story, she lures away the bull of a woman named Odras. Odras then follows the Morrígan to the [[Otherworld]], via the cave of [[Rathcroghan|Cruachan]], which is said to be her "fit abode." When Odras falls asleep, the Morrígan turns her into a pool of water that feeds into the [[River Shannon]].<ref>[http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/T106500D/text049.html "Odras"], from ''[[Dindsenchas|The Metrical Dindshenchas]]'' [http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/T106500D/index.html Vol 4], translated by E. Gwynn</ref> In this story, the Morrigan is called the Dagda's envious queen, fierce of mood. She is also called a "shape-shifter" and a cunning raven caller whose pleasure was in mustered hosts.