child of sagittarius

Swan Lake by Macoto Takahashi. Scanned from the September 1971 issue of Shogaku Ichinensei.

"And in the whiteness, of the whiteness, flowering in the tattered water, their bodies arching with the streaked marble hollows of the waves, their manes and tails and the fragile beards of the males burning in the sunlight, their eyes as dark and jeweled as the deep sea—and the shining of the horns, the seashell shining of the horns! The horns came riding in like the rainbow masts of silver ships."

A scene from the end of Le Morte D’Arthur where the wounded King Arther is taken by ship to Avalon by Morgan Le Fay to be healed. Legend says that he will return to England when he is once again needed. I’ve always been fascinated by Morgan Le Fay and loved Marion Zimmer Bradley’s more sympathetic interpretation in The Mists of Avalon. To me, Morgan Le Fay was always the point of interest in Arthurian Legend. I never liked Arthur, Guinevere, or Lancelot— they seemed hapless and simple. Morgan was always off following her own ambitions and making things happen for herself. She was confident, regal, and intelligent in a world that treated her without mercy. Modern retellings paint Morgan as a one-dimensional villain, a temptress, and a source of never-ending contempt for Arthur and his knights, but in the earliest versions of the Legend Morgan is merely a sorceress from Avalon who takes Arthur’s wounded body back to the mystical isle to be healed. However, like so many powerful woman in literature (and real life!), she has been maligned and reduced to a lazy trope.

I do like the idea of Morgan being a reformed villainess who collects Arthur for Avalon. People grow and change over time, and nobody is ever one concrete thing. There is a scene in the Vulgate Cycle where Morgan ceases all villainy and goes to live in seclusion in the woods. Arthur who just assumes she has died, happens upon her palace one day; the two reconcile, and Morgan is invited back to Camelot. She declines this offer and opts to travel to Avalon. That scene reminds me of Galadriel from The Fellowship of the Ring where she is able to resist the temptation of the One Ring and is allowed to return to the Undying Lands. Morgan has moved on from that portion of her life and perhaps she knows that going back to Camelot could re-open old wounds. At the end of the tale, when Morgan comes to collect Arthur’s wounded body, I think she is full of sorrow to find that she was able to move on and be at peace on Avalon, while Arthur returned to deceit and intrigue.

If I ever end up wanting to curse someone… If I ever end up using my powers for evil… If I ever end up wanting to eradicate people rather than spirits… I wonder if there will be anyone to stop me.

THE GOOD PLACE (2016-2020)

"They came in the night and took him away, and we stayed here on the moon."

"I'm glad to be here," she said. "Thank you for bringing me."

Gina Litherland

Portrait of Mary Katherine Blackwood (for Shirley Jackson), 2020