Fiction Reviews
Morgana LeFay
New and ancient Arthurian tales(2025) edited by Pamela Koehne-Drube, Flame Tree Press,
£20 / Can$40 / US$30, hrdbk, 367pp, ISBN 978-1-835-62263-6
Another good-looking anthology from Flame Tree Publishing, in their “Myths, Gods and Immortals” series, following volumes about Achilles, Anansi, Aphrodite, Circe, Loki, Medusa, and Odin, with two more titles devoted to Odysseus and The Valkyries appearing next year.
This volume is subtitled New and Ancient Arthurian Tales and proceedings start with a foreword from Dr. Marta Cobb, followed by an “introduction” to Morgana Le Fay by Pamela Koeche-Drube. Given that this is 110 pages long, it is quite the introduction and is divided into four parts – “The Many Faces of Morgana Le Fay”, “A Changing Britain”, “The Modern Morgana”, and “The Once and Future Morgana”. In a way it is a pity the fiction that follows doesn’t quite embrace all the aspects of Morgana that are discussed here. Next, comes 17 stories from a variety of writers, although I have to admit that Holly Lyn Walrath is the only writer if whose work I am familiar.
I also have to admit to not having much knowledge of classic sources of Arthurian legends, or having read The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley mentioned in Koeche-Drube’s lengthy introduction. My Arthurian knowledge comes mainly from watching films like John Boorman’s Excalibur, or the two-part series Merlin starring Sam Neill (let’s quickly gloss over the naff sequel that it spawned), or the BBC TV series Merlin which ran from 2008 until 2012 on BBC1. This form of osmosis doesn’t make me an expert, but the problem with a collection of short stories subtitled New and Ancient Arthurian tales is that even with my scant knowledge these stories plough similar furrows. In many of them Morgana loves/hates Arthur. She loves/hates Lancelot. She loves Guinivere from afar. She hates Merlin for not taking her skills seriously because she is a mere woman, and for forever being in his shadow, or driving her into exile. The actual lengthy introduction or essay by Koeche-Drube is a far more interesting read than many of the stories because Morgana is basically the same slighted character in each of them.
The very first story 'His Head in Your Lap, Dear Brother' reveals Morgayne, the trickster, who loved to play practical jokes on little Arthur, a habit she can’t shrug off even when she learns real magic tricks and could bring the king’s world crashing down.
Chris A. Bolton’s story 'Morgana and the Morrigan' sees Morgana and three of her familiars – a fox, a badger and a hedgehog – flee to the Emerald Isle where Morgana intends to absorb the power of a weakened Morrigan. Except the Morrigan isn’t as weak as she seems and never take on a deity on their home turf I always say. The animal familiars are a nice touch, and the story is very visual, and would make a great animated feature.
'No Need for a Green Knight' is a pretty awful title for a slight story featuring Morgane leaving Avalon to journey to far-off Orkney to aid her cousin Gwaine, someone she has always been in love with, but he must obey the orders of King Arthur and marry another.
In Evan Davies’ 'The Woman with the Bleeding Eye', young Morgana struggles to master her powers under the tutelage of stern Anwen who warns her of the dark powers, and the price they might want if summoned, but when a wounded armoured knight is pulled from a nearby river, Morgana’s ambition gets the better of her.
Those who have seen the film Excalibur are in familiar territory in Caroline Fleischauer’s 'To Cut the Rot' as young Morgan witnesses the silent return of her father, Gorlois, the Duke of Cornwall, to his castle, but this is not her father, but an enchanted Uther Pendragon, and so the seeds of treachery and revenge are sown.
'Gelato' by Micha Giddens is an entertaining tale which starts with the death of Arthur (who wounds himself when over-eagerly pulling the sword from the stone). In order to set things right, a mad magician-like Merlin and Morgana use Merlin’s Time Contraption to end up in a future Italy where they enlist the help of Leonardo Da Vinci, oh, and a kraken, to get home and change Arthur’s fate, if they can.
In 'The Story that I Want' by Lyndsay E. Gilbert, a creature of myriad shapes and futures lives in the Depths, and one of them is unsure of what or who she is, until visited by Gwynevere, and different possible futures become revealed to her, but which will she choose?
Liam Hogan’s 'Under Avalon' is a short, tongue-in-cheek, tale about Arthur and Morgana playing endless games of chess, while waiting for the moment when Arthur will be called upon to save his people.
Larry Ivkovich’s 'An Offense of Memory' tells a story of Morgana being visited by another Merlin, not her Merlin, the enemy in her world, but another Merlin, from another reality, who leaves a child she must raise, even if others want it dead.
Arguably, the best story is 'She Made a Doll in Winter' by Lana Voos, set when Morgana is old and losing her powers but still likes to maintain a facade, so much so that the Fey Duke of Pox and Posies wants her as his bride. It seems the only way to avoid this fate is to fashion a doll from soapstone to take her place, or if that fails to train a human girl in the etiquette of the Fey court, as well as how to become an exceptional weaver, even if this takes years. Voos’ imagination and descriptive abilities easily make this story stand out against the others in this collection, breaking the shackles of Arthurian legend. In a way it is a pity that this is the second-last story of the anthology, making way for Holly Lyn Walrath’s tale 'Every Son a Reaver', but I suppose this tale had to bring proceedings to a close, as they must, in Avalon.
Ian Hunter
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