She becomes an apprentice of Merlin, and a capricious and vindictive adversary of some knights of the Round Table, all the while harbouring a special hatred for Arthur's wife Guinevere. Morgan unhappily marries Urien, with whom she has a son, Yvain. Arthur, son of Igraine and Uther, is thus Morgan's half-brother the Queen of Orkney is one of Morgan's sisters and Mordred's mother. In the 13th-century, Robert de Boron-derived Arthurian prose cycles – and the works based on them in turn, including among them Thomas Malory's influential Le Morte d'Arthur – Morgan is usually described as the youngest daughter of Arthur's mother, Igraine, and of her first husband, Gorlois. Authors of the late 12th century establish her as Arthur's supernatural elder sister. 1160–1191) and others, Morgan's chief role is that of a great healer. There, and in the early chivalric romances by Chrétien de Troyes ( fl. 1150) refers to Morgan in conjunction with the Isle of Apples ( Avalon) - where Arthur was carried after being fatally wounded in the Battle of Camlann. The earliest documented account, by Geoffrey of Monmouth in Vita Merlini (written c. Her character may have stemmed from Welsh mythology as well as from other ancient myths and historical figures.
A significant aspect in many of Morgan's medieval and later iterations is the unpredictable duality of her nature, with potential for both good and evil. Her prominence increased as legends developed over time, as did her moral ambivalence, and in some texts there is an evolutionary transformation of her to an antagonist, particularly as portrayed in cyclical prose such as the Lancelot-Grail and the Post-Vulgate Cycle. Early appearances of Morgan do not elaborate her character beyond her role as a goddess, a fay, a witch, or a sorceress, generally benevolent and related to King Arthur as his magical saviour and protector. In Arthurian legend, Morgan le Fay ( / ˈ m ɔːr ɡ ən l ə ˈ f eɪ/, meaning "Morgan the Fairy"), alternatively known as Morgan a, Morgain, Morg ne, Morgant, Morge n, and Morgue among other names and spellings ( Welsh: Morgên y Dylwythen Deg, Cornish: Morgen an Spyrys), is a powerful enchantress.