Morgause

Morgause (/mɔːrˈɡeɪz/) 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 notably 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.^{[Notes 1]} 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, with whom she is often conflated into a single character by modern authors.

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