Editing Morgause (section)

==Modern fiction==
[[File:Gareth and Queen Bellicent.jpg|thumb|upright|Young [[Gareth]] appealing to his mother Morgause (Queen Bellicent) to let him go serve [[King Arthur]] in ''Tales from Tennyson'', 1902]]

In modern [[List of works based on Arthurian legends|Arthuriana]], Morgause is often turned into a [[composite character]] as merged with that of Morgan le Fay; in [[John Boorman]]'s film ''[[Excalibur (film)|Excalibur]]'' (1981), for instance, Morgause's role as the mother of Mordred is transferred to "Morgana". Other modern authors may keep them as separate characters but have Morgause inherit or share Morgan's own traits, sometimes even making Morgause a villain opposed to Morgan. According to E. R. Huber, "What becomes clear on reading ''Le Morte d'Arthur'' and its medieval predecessors is that Morgause was not a villain until the modern period."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/Mrgsmenu.htm |title=Morgause: Background |publisher=The Camelot Project at The [[University of Rochester]] |last=Huber |first=Emily Rebekah |access-date=3 December 2012}}</ref> Some modern authors such as [[Alfred Tennyson]] or [[Howard Pyle]] use the name '''Bellicent'''.

* Morgause is the title character of [[T.H. White]]'s novel ''[[The Queen of Air and Darkness]]'' (1939), the second of four books in his series ''[[The Once and Future King]]''. She is a widowed witch queen who hates Arthur due to his father killing her father and raping her mother. Morgause raises her children, known as the Orkney clan, to hate the Pendragons for the death of their father. She seduces Arthur through magic, siring Mordred. As in Malory, she is found in bed with Lamorak, but here it is Agravaine who kills her. Due to Mordred being raised by her alone, he is left damaged and hateful, blaming Arthur for his mother's death.
* In her ''[[Mary Stewart's Merlin Trilogy|Merlin]]'' novels (1970–1983), [[Mary Stewart (novelist)|Mary Stewart]] characterizes Morgause unflatteringly as an ambitious and resentful young princess who wants to learn magic from [[Merlin]], but he refuses her. She seduces Arthur in the hope that she can later use it against him.
* A sorceress with authority over dark powers, Morgawse is a central figure in ''[[Hawk of May]]'' (1980) and its sequel, ''[[Kingdom of Summer]]'' (1982), the first two novels in [[Gillian Bradshaw]]'s ''Down the Long Wind'' series. In ''Kingdom of Summer'', she and her husband ("King Lot of The Orcades") intrigue with [[Maelgwn Gwynedd|King Maelgwn]] of [[Kingdom of Gwynedd|Gwynedd]], whom she takes as a lover. She is eventually magically defeated but spared by her good son and former apprentice Gwalchmai (Gawain) and soon later slain in revenge for her murder of Lot by their other son Agravain, to the despair of her and Arthur's son Medraut.
* [[Marion Zimmer Bradley]] in her influential novel ''[[The Mists of Avalon]]'' (1983) and make Morgause a villainous sorceresses who is younger sister of Igraine and [[Viviane (Arthurian legend)|Viviane]] and aunt of the protagonist Morgaine (Morgan). After her niece gives birth to Mordred, Morgause adopts the newborn and rears him for Morgaine, his birth mother, thus assuming her traditional role of mother to Mordred. She was portrayed by [[Joan Allen]] in the novel's [[The Mists of Avalon (TV miniseries)|film adaptation]] (2001).
* She appears in ''[[The Keltiad]]'' series (1984-1998) by American [[Celtic Neopaganism|neopagan]] [[Patricia Kennealy-Morrison]] as the evil Marguessan, would-be usurper of the Throne of Scone and an [[evil twin]] sister of Morgan.
*Morgause is the main antagonist in ''The Squire's Tales'' series (1998-2010) by [[Gerald Morris]]. She is portrayed as the latest incarnation of "the enchantress", an evil sorceress who wishes to destroy the kings of men. She plots numerous times to kill King Arthur but is foiled in multiple books, however, she successfully seduces Arthur (who does not realize she is his half-sister) and births Mordred. In the final book she is killed by her son Gaheris, which undoes her evil spells.
* A main antagonist in the BBC television series ''[[Merlin (TV series)|Merlin]]'' (2008–2012), [[List of Merlin characters#Morgause|Morgause]] is portrayed by actress [[Emilia Fox]] as a powerful, [[Lady Macbeth]]-like sorceress. She is fiercely loyal to her half-sister [[Morgana (Merlin character)|Morgana]], whom she seeks to make queen of Camelot. She ends up as a willing sacrifice for Morgana.