Editing Morgause (section)

{{Short description|Character in later Arthurian traditions}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2019}}
{{EngvarB|date=April 2019}}
{{Copyedit|date=December 2024}}
{{Infobox character
| series = [[Matter of Britain]]
| image = 
| caption = 
| based_on = [[#Character history and counterparts|Anna and possibly Gwyar, others]]
| occupation = Princess, queen
| title = Queen of [[Orkney]]
| spouse = [[King Lot|Lot]]
| children = [[Gawain]], [[Agravain]], [[Gaheris]], [[Gareth]], [[Mordred]]
| significant_other = [[Lamorak]]
| relatives = [[King Arthur's family]]
| family = [[Igraine]] and [[Gorlois]] (parents), [[King Arthur|Arthur]], [[Morgan le Fay|Morgan]], [[Elaine (legend)|Elaine]] (siblings)
| origin = [[Tintagel Castle]]
}}

'''Morgause''' ({{IPAc-en|'|m|ɔr|ɡ|oʊ|z|,_|-|g|ɑ:|z}} {{respell|MOR|gohz|,_-|gahz}}) is a popular variant of the figure of the '''Queen of Orkney''', an [[Arthurian legend]] character also known by various other names and appearing in different forms of her archetype. She is the mother of [[Gawain]] and often also of [[Mordred]], both key players in the story of her brother [[King Arthur]] and his downfall.

In the early chronicles and romances based on or inspired by [[Geoffrey of Monmouth]], as well as in the Welsh tradition, her figure and role are commonly that of Gawain's mother, and she is either a full or half sister to Arthur. In most cases, she is the wife or widow of [[King Lot]], ruling over either [[Orkney]] or [[Lothian]]. However, her name varies widely between texts, as does the issue of her children other than Gawain, and Mordred's own parentage is often only presumed rather than stated.

In a later popular tradition, Mordred becomes the offspring of Arthur's own [[accidental incest]] with his estranged half-sister, whom [[Thomas Malory]]'s seminal ''[[Le Morte d'Arthur]]'' calls Morgause.{{#tag:ref|Dr Caitlin R. Green of www.Arthuriana.co.uk notes: "In the later Vulgate ''Mort Artu'', Morguase – Arthur's supposed half-sister – is made to be Medraut [Mordred]'s mother and this incest motif is preserved in the romances based upon the ''Mort Artu'' (for example, Malory's ''Morte Darthur''). Both this parentage and the incest motif are, however, clearly inventions of the ''Mort Artu'', despite their modern popularity, and in all unrelated accounts the portrayal of Medraut is solidly Galfridian."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.arthuriana.co.uk/n&q/figures.htm |title=Pre-Galfridian Arthurian Characters |last=Green |first=Caitlin |access-date=29 November 2012 }}</ref>|group="Notes"}} Married to Lot, she is also mother of the [[Knights of the Round Table]] Gawain, [[Agravain]], [[Gareth]], and [[Gaheris]], the last of whom murders her in some late romances including Malory's compilation. Furthermore, she has been turned into a sister of [[Morgan le Fay|Morgan]], with whom she is often conflated into a single character by modern authors.