View source for Nine sorceresses

{{short description|Arthurian Legend element}}

The '''nine sorceresses''' or '''nine sisters''' ({{langx|cy|naw chwaer}}) are a recurring element in [[Arthurian legend]] in variants of the popular [[Nine maidens (mythology)|nine maidens]] theme from world mythologies. Their most important appearances are in [[Geoffrey of Monmouth]]'s introduction of [[Avalon]] and the character that would later become [[Morgan le Fay]], and as the central motif of [[Peredur]]'s story in the ''[[Peredur son of Efrawg]]'' part of the ''[[Mabinogion]]''.

== The maidens of Annwfn and the witches of Ystawingun ==
[[File:E. Wallcousins - The Cauldron of Inspiration.jpg|thumb|The nine maidens of Annwn in "The Cauldron of Inspiration" illustration by [[Ernest Wallcousins]] (1912)|alt=]]

In ''[[Preiddeu Annwfn]]'', the nine virgin priestesses of the otherworldy island of Annwfn ([[Annwn]], the Welsh version of the [[Celtic Otherworld]]) guard a magic cauldron, and their magic abilities seem to include fire-breathing.<ref name="gca">{{Cite book|url=http://www.arthuriana.co.uk/concepts/Green_Concepts_of_Arthur_2007.pdf|title=Concepts of Arthur|last=Green|first=Thomas|publisher=Tempus Publishing|year=2007}}</ref> A raid by [[King Arthur|Arthur]] and his warband either steals<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E0bdCQAAQBAJ&pg=PT36|title=King Arthur's Battle for Britain|first=Eric|last=Walmsley|date=2013|publisher=Troubador Publishing Ltd|via=Google Books|page=36|isbn=9781780887173}}</ref> or destroys the cauldron,<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gCvor7LpqVIC&pg=PA114|title=Origins of Arthurian Romances: Early Sources for the Legends of Tristan, the Grail and the Abduction of the Queen|first=Flint F.|last=Johnson|date=2012|publisher=McFarland|isbn=9780786468584|via=Google Books}}</ref> but what happens to the maidens of Annwfn is not mentioned. The motif of nine supernatural women appears also in some other tales of the Celtic Otherworld,<ref name="ga">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nl8oDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT40|title=Grail Alchemy: Initiation in the Celtic Mystery Tradition|first=Mara|last=Freeman|date=2014|publisher=Simon and Schuster|via=Google Books|page=40|isbn=9781620551929}}</ref> possibly derived from sisterhoods of priestesses of the old [[Druid#The Gallizenae|Celtic Religion]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GYWrAgAAQBAJ|title=The Arthurian Handbook, Second Edition: Second Edition|first1=Norris J.|last1=Lacy|first2=Geoffrey|last2=Ashe|first3=Debra N.|last3=Mancoff|date=2014|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781317777434|via=Google Books}}</ref>

The nine witches of Ystawingun (Ystavingun) are mentioned in a single line of the  poem ''[[Pa gur]]'' (around 1100), where the feat of slaying them in this highland is listed among the greatest achievements of Cai ([[Sir Kay]] in later tradition). Ystawingun is unidentified but might be associated with [[Stanton Moor]] and its stone circle known as "Nine Ladies"<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dsUqAQAAMAAJ|title=Shadows in the Mist: The Life and Death of King Arthur|last=Hunt|first=August|date=2006|publisher=Hayloft|isbn=9781904524380|language=en}}</ref> or with [[Portskewett|Porthsgiwed]].<ref name="gca" /> According to [[John and Caitlin Matthews]], the women whose killing Cai is credited with in ''Pa gur'' are in fact the same as the pagan priestesses from ''Preiddeu Annwfn''.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RGEoDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT194|title=The Complete King Arthur: Many Faces, One Hero|last1=Matthews|first1=John|last2=Matthews|first2=Caitlín|date=2017|publisher=Simon and Schuster|page=194|isbn=9781620556009|via=Google Books}}</ref>

Scholars like [[Norris J. Lacy]] and [[John T. Koch]] make an additional (besides ''Preiddeu Annwfn'') connection also to the nine witch sisters and their mother in the 7th-century Breton hagiography ''Vita Prima Samsonis''.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=34bZBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA1889|title=Medieval Arthurian Literature: A Guide to Recent Research|first=Norris J.|last=Lacy|date=2014|publisher=Routledge|via=Google Books|page=1889|isbn=9781317656944}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f899xH_quaMC&pg=PA325|title=Celtic Culture: A historical encyclopedia. Vol. 1|first=John T.|last=Koch|publisher=ABC-CLIO|date=2006|via=Google Books|page=325|isbn=9781851094400}}</ref> Her description resembles that of the Irish goddess [[Mórrígan]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mVz_AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA161|title=The Witch Figure: Folklore essays by a group of scholars in England honouring the 75th birthday of Katharine M. Briggs|last=Newall|first=Venetia|date=2004|publisher=Routledge|page=161|isbn=9781136551802|via=Google Books}}</ref> In this work, [[Saint Samson of Dol]] encounters just one of the sisters, a wild-looking wicked witch (''malefica'') calling herself '''Theomacha''' (Enemy of God), as she was flying through a forest on the island of Loire and attacking one of his young deacons. Samson calls for her to repent and convert, but she refuses and tells him she wishes to do nothing but evil as she did her whole life. After that Theomacha attempts to flee, but Samson commands her to stay in place, rendering her utterly immobile in the air, and offers her last final chance but she proves to be beyond salvation. Samson then proceeds to pray for such an utterly irredeemable woman's destruction; as soon as he finishes his prayer, she drops down dead.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SVpQ2GTKkE4C|title=Medievalia Et Humanistica: Studies in Medieval & Renaissance Culture|first=Paul Maurice|last=Clogan|date=2003|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=9780521209991|via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BbQ4DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA27|title=St Samson of Dol and the Earliest History of Brittany, Cornwall and Wales|first=Lynette|last=Olson|date=2017|publisher=Boydell & Brewer|via=Google Books|page=27|isbn=9781783272181}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V70nCDxlFgEC&pg=PA152|title=The British Sources of the Abduction and Grail Romances|first=Flint|last=Johnson|date=2002|publisher=University Press of America|via=Google Books|page=152|isbn=9780761822189}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f899xH_quaMC&pg=PA1558|title=Celtic Culture: A historical encyclopedia. Vol. 1|first=John T.|last=Koch|year=2006|publisher=ABC-CLIO|via=Google Books|page=1558|isbn=9781851094400}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=http://repository.uwtsd.ac.uk/596/1/Krajewski%2C%20E.%20Archetypal%20narratives.pdf|title=ARCHETYPAL NARRATIVES: TOWARD A THEOLOGICAL APPRECIATION OF EARLY CELTIC HAGIOGRAPHY|last=Krajewski|first=Elizabeth M. G.|publisher=University of Wales Trinity Saint David|year=2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BbQ4DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA28|title=St Samson of Dol and the Earliest History of Brittany, Cornwall and Wales|first=Lynette|last=Olson|date=2017|publisher=Boydell & Brewer|via=Google Books|page=28|isbn=9781783272181}}</ref>

==The sisters of Avalon==


[[Geoffrey of Monmouth]]'s 12-century ''[[Vita Merlini]]'' introduces the magical island of [[Avalon]], the paradisal "Isle of Apples", as ruled by the nine entirely benevolent enchantress-sisters, known as great healers and capable of shape-shifting and other magic: '''Morgen''', '''Moronoe''', '''Mazoe''', '''Gliten''', '''Glitonea''', '''Gliton''', '''Tyronoe''', and either '''Thiten''' and '''Thiton''' or two sisters both named '''Thitis''' of whom one of them distinguished as "best known for her [[cither]]".<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TUpue_j4D5AC&pg=PA32|title=King Arthur's French Odyssey: Avallon in Burgundy|first=Marilyn|last=Floyde|date=2009|publisher=Pegasus Elliot Mackenzie Pu|via=Google Books|page=32|isbn=9781843865698}}</ref> The sisters receive the dying Arthur from [[Taliesin]], delivered to them in a hope they can revive him.<ref name=ga/> Their beautiful, wise and powerful queen, Morgen, would later evolve into [[Morgan le Fay]], Arthur's own sister in later Arthurian tradition, who herself takes the dying Arthur to Avalon.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w2Ayg7hw-cgC&pg=PA39|title=Merlin: Knowledge and Power Through the Ages|first=Stephen Thomas|last=Knight|date=2009|publisher=Cornell University Press|via=Google Books|page=39|isbn=978-0801443657}}</ref> The other eight sisters appear only in this text and never return in any known works by other medieval authors. 

{{Clear}}

==The sorceresses of Caer Lloyw==
The nine make their final<ref name=dka>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_j6Py7x_ctIC&pg=PA49|title=The Druids and King Arthur: A New View of Early Britain|first=Robin|last=Melrose|date=2011|publisher=McFarland|via=Google Books|page=49|isbn=9780786460052}}</ref> written appearance in the ''[[Peredur son of Efrawg]]'' part of the ''[[Mabinogion]]'', wherein [[Peredur]] (a variant of [[Percival]]) faces many opponents throughout the course of the story. However, his real enemies are eventually revealed as the ''Gwiddonod Caerloyw'' - the malignant ''Nine Witches of Caer Lloyw'' (or Caerloyw, literally the Castle of Glow in English,<ref name=jr/> or the "Shining Fortress",<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a1h4O_7A1iYC&pg=PA21|title=The Development of Arthurian Romance|first=Roger Sherman|last=Loomis|date=2000|publisher=Courier Corporation|via=Google Books|page=21|isbn=9780486145525}}</ref> later identified as [[Gloucester]]), also known as the ''Nine Sorceresses of Gloucester''. Here they are fearsome mistresses of warfare and magic who terrorize Britain and whose evil deeds are responsible for ravaging his uncle's kingdom. It is a variant of an Arthurian [[Holy Grail|Grail]] tale in which, instead of questing for the Grail, the hero takes part in ridding the land of the plague (''gormes''<ref name=gg>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2snYAAAAMAAJ|title=Peredur: A study of Welsh tradition in the Grail legends|first=Glenys|last=Goetinck|date=1975|publisher=University of Wales Press [for] the Language and Literature Committee of the Board of Celtic Studies|isbn=9780708305805|via=Google Books}}</ref>) of evil witches that must be destroyed.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V70nCDxlFgEC&pg=PA202|title=The British Sources of the Abduction and Grail Romances|first=Flint|last=Johnson|date=2002|publisher=University Press of America|via=Google Books|page=202|isbn=9780761822189}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lEvaAAAAMAAJ|title=Mythologie française|date=8 December 1987|publisher=Société de mythologie française|via=Google Books|language=fr}}</ref> The witches, a group of black-clad "maiden-hags",<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_qbPrsL3KeoC&pg=PA155|title=Welsh Mythology: A Neostructuralist Analysis|first=Jonathan|last=Miles-Watson|date=2009|publisher=Cambria Press|via=Google Books|page=155|isbn=9781604976205}}</ref> actually enter the story as Peredur's opponents-turned-benefactors, even giving him the same powers as they have when he spends time in their home,<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_DIQ40S8TG4C&pg=PA170|title=The Grail: The Celtic Origins of the Sacred Icon|first=Jean|last=Markale|date=1999|publisher=Inner Traditions / Bear & Co|via=Google Books|language=it|page=170|isbn=9780892817146}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=82r8UFkloJYC&pg=PA81|title=L'iniziazione cavalleresca nella leggenda di Re Artù|first=Dominique|last=Viseux|date=2004|publisher=Edizioni Mediterranee|isbn=9788827217337|via=Google Books}}</ref> but the central theme is his eventual unenthusiastic revenge on them for having previously harmed his relatives.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vVquBwAAQBAJ&pg=PT17|title=The Holy Grail: History and Legend|first=Juliette|last=Wood|date=2012|publisher=University of Wales Press|via=Google Books|page=17|isbn=9780708326268}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BpuOdmHOi3AC&pg=PA22|title=A History of Arthurian Scholarship|first=Norris J.|last=Lacy|date=2006|publisher=Boydell & Brewer Ltd|via=Google Books|page=22|isbn=9781843840695}}</ref> Peredur himself vanquishes only the chief witch, and only forced to do so after giving them three chances to yield,<ref name="auto">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ITXXAAAAMAAJ|title=The Holy Grail: Its Origins, Secrets & Meaning Revealed|first=Malcolm|last=Godwin|date=1994|publisher=Viking|isbn=9780670851287|via=Google Books}}</ref> but this act breaks the magic of their spells<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U6kJAQAAIAAJ|title=La Bretagne d'hier et de demain|first=Yann|last=Brékilien|date=1978|publisher=J. P. Delarge|isbn=9782711301089|via=Google Books|language=fr}}</ref> and Arthur and his men slaughter the rest without mercy and with such swiftness that not a single one escapes alive.

Relatively early on during his adventures, Peredur comes upon a mountain castle, the lady of which tells him how the surrounding lands have been conquered and laid to waste by the terrifying nine sorceresses, with powers too great for anyone to stop them,<ref name=kc>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-qIzhamrT2kC|title=King of the Celts: Arthurian Legends and Celtic Tradition|first=Jean|last=Markale|date=1993|publisher=Inner Traditions / Bear & Co|isbn=9780892814527|via=Google Books}}</ref> and that one is coming to take the castle the very next morning. But Peredur offers to help, and at dawn he fiercely attacks and subdues the arriving enchantress with a blow that shatters her helmet. He is just about to slay her but stops when she begs forgiveness; after obtaining permission from the lady of the castle, he agrees to spare her life if she promises to return to her land and that she and her sisters would never trouble the dominion of his hostess (Peredur regularly gives quarter to his defeated enemies through the course of the tale, including Kai and various other knights). He then sets off with the now befriended sorceress back to her palace at Caer Lloyw in the journey that itself is not described. Peredur stays at the Witches' Court (''Llys Gwiddonod'') for three weeks, being tutored by them until he finishes his training, and then he is sent off by their lady principal on his way with the horse and weapons of his choice.<ref name=tg>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ymIoDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT32|title=The Grail: The Celtic Origins of the Sacred Icon|first=Jean|last=Markale|date=1999|publisher=Simon and Schuster|via=Google Books|page=32|isbn=9781620554715}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4UVc6up1HJUC|title=Women of the Celts|first=Jean|last=Markale|date=1986|publisher=Inner Traditions / Bear & Co|isbn=9780892811502|via=Google Books}}</ref><ref name=tgl>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/graillegend00jung|url-access=registration|title=The Grail Legend|first1=Emma|last1=Jung|first2=Marie-Luise von|last2=Franz|date=1998|publisher=Princeton University Press|via=Internet Archive|page=[https://archive.org/details/graillegend00jung/page/201 201]|isbn=9780691002378}}</ref> 

During the grand finale at the original{{#tag:ref|The entire tale of Peredur ends either with the massacre of the witches or with Peredur's marriage to the Empress of [[Constantinople]] (a later addition), depending on the manuscript.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V70nCDxlFgEC&pg=PA142|title=The British Sources of the Abduction and Grail Romances|first=Flint|last=Johnson|date=2002|publisher=University Press of America|via=Google Books|page=142|isbn=9780761822189}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DdjcvMbKuO0C&pg=PA181|title=She Is Everywhere!: An Anthology of Writings in Womanist/Feminist Spirituality|first1=Mary|last1=Saracino|first2=Mary Beth|last2=Moser|date=2012|publisher=iUniverse|via=Google Books|page=181|isbn=9781462064335}}</ref>|group="note"}} end of the tale, however, Peredur learns that a mysterious severed head (replacing the Grail in this story<ref name=tm>{{cite web|url=http://www.timelessmyths.com/arthurian/grail.html|title=Grail Legends|first=Jimmy|last=Joe|website=www.timelessmyths.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Rab3AgAAQBAJ|title=Eternal Chalice: The Enduring Legend of the Holy Grail|first=Juliette|last=Wood|date=2008|publisher=I.B.Tauris|isbn=9780857730909|via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pOWVGoO4kv8C&pg=PA221|title=Ring und Gral: Texte, Kommentare und Interpretationen zu Richard Wagners "Der Ring des Nibelungen", "Tristan und Isolde", "Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg" und "Parsifal" ; [Beiträge für die Bayreuther Festspiele 1988-2001]|first1=Ulrich|last1=Müller|first2=Oswald|last2=Panagl|date=2002|publisher=Königshausen & Neumann|via=Google Books|language=de|page=221|isbn=9783826023828}}</ref>), which he had witnessed before meeting the sorceresses, belonged to one his cousins. His foster-sister accuses the witches for the murder of his cousin and for having cursed and lamed his uncle (an unnamed king of the realm, here a [[Fisher King]] figure), and tells Peredur that he is predestined to be their avenger. Peredur and his elder companion Gwalchmei ([[Gawain]]) decide to summon Arthur's warband to join them in this labour, and he leads them to Caer Lloyw to deal with the sorceresses.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3xEsCWEYFfkC&pg=PA48|title=Sources of the Grail: An Anthology|first=John|last=Matthews|date=1996|publisher=SteinerBooks|via=Google Books|page=48|isbn=9780940262867}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IW8LAQAAMAAJ|title=Quondam Et Futurus|date=1991|publisher=English Department, Memphis State University|via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tfNK-53rNaUC&pg=PA80|title=Parzival: An Introduction|first=Eileen|last=Hutchins|date=2012|publisher=Temple Lodge Publishing|via=Google Books|page=80|isbn=9781906999353}}</ref> During the ensuing showdown, the witches attack and Peredur watches the seemingly invincible leader of the enchantresses defeat Arthur's warriors one by one, as Peredur keeps pleading for her to desist and stop the fighting and give up but she does not listen; only after she kills the third one, Peredur finally enters the strife himself and swiftly strikes her down with a single powerful blow. With her dying breath, she cries out to the other witches they are doomed as Peredur was prophesied as the slayer of them all, and orders the other witches to get away; however Arthur and the others rush and chase after the fleeing women until every last one is overtaken and put to the sword.<ref name="auto"/><ref name=tm/><ref name=yc>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QiczdZHaX6QC|title=Y Cymmrodor: The Magazine of the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion|first1=Thomas|last1=Powel|first2=Sir Isambard|last2=Owen|first3=Egerton Grenville Bagot|last3=Phillimore|date=1904|publisher=The Society.|via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.timelessmyths.com/arthurian/quest1.html|title=Grail Legends (Perceval's Tradition)|first=Jimmy|last=Joe|website=www.timelessmyths.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3XgqDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA409|title=Handbook of Arthurian Romance: King Arthur's Court in Medieval European Literature|first1=Leah|last1=Tether|first2=Johnny|last2=McFadyen|date=2017|publisher=Walter de Gruyter|via=Google Books|page=409|isbn=9783110432466}}</ref>

The narrative does not actually say how many witches are gathered for the final battle at Caer Loyw when they are wiped out, and there might be more than the nine from the first encounter between them and Peredur; according to [[John Rhys]] it is suggested "they must have mustered in a great force," possibly along with (unmentioned) "numerous allies of the other sex."<ref name=jr/> In any case, Peredur's duty of vengeance was fulfilled and he is celebrated as hero for his role in freeing the kingdom of the great scourge of witchcraft — and, with the sorceresses now annihilated, Peredur himself becomes the last keeper of their magic secrets.<ref name=tg/> However, what happened to his uncle after the victory is left untold.<ref name=tgl/><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://issuu.com/themjlc/docs/mjlc_spring2013_final_web__2_/32|title=The Madison Journal of Literary Criticism - Volume 3|work=Issuu|access-date=2018-05-15|language=en}}</ref> [[Urban T. Holmes Jr.]] assumed that with the witches' death the king was freed from their enchantments,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t5xcAAAAMAAJ|title=Chrétien de Troyes|first=Urban Tigner|last=Holmes|date=1970|publisher=Twayne Publishers|via=Google Books}}</ref> conversely [[Arthur Edward Waite]] assumed that the king was not healed and it was all in vain.<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://www.hourofthetime.com/1-LF/October2012/Hour_Of_The_Time_10312012-The_Hidden_Church_Of_The_Holy_Graal-1909.pdf|title=The Hidden Church of the Holy Graal|last=Waite|first=Arthur Edward|year=1909}}</ref>

As in the cases of the above stories of Samson and Cai, this romance may be an echo of an otherwise unrecorded extermination of local Celtic pagan cults by Christians during the 5th and 6th centuries, as it is considered by Flint F. Johnson;<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V70nCDxlFgEC&pg=PA208|title=The British Sources of the Abduction and Grail Romances|first=Flint|last=Johnson|date=2002|publisher=University Press of America|via=Google Books|page=208|isbn=9780761822189}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K0Cmn4ps-X4C&pg=PA121|title=Origins of Arthurian Romances: Early Sources for the Legends of Tristan, the Grail and the Abduction of the Queen|first=Flint F.|last=Johnson|date=2012|publisher=McFarland|via=Google Books|page=454|isbn=9780786492343}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LDLwDQAAQBAJ&pg=PT213|title=The British Heroic Age: A History, 367–664|first=Flint F.|last=Johnson|date=2017|publisher=McFarland|via=Google Books|page=213|isbn=9781476626116}}</ref> Dhira B. Mahoney speculated the witches may "represent the supporters of an older order trying to regain control of the system."<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=avjgAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA136|title=The Grail: A Casebook|last=Mahoney|first=Dhira B.|date=2014|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781317947257|language=en}}</ref> Elsewhere in the ''Mabinogion'', the tale of ''[[Culhwch and Olwen]]'' likewise features the motif of Arthur's attack on Caer Loyw, but in this case the defenders of the castle are male.<ref name="jr">{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924087972927|title=Studies in the Arthurian legend|last=Rhys|first=John|date=1891|publisher=Oxford, Clarendon Press|others=Cornell University Library}}</ref> Arthur also hunts down Orddu (the Black Witch) and kills her by slicing her in half after she repeatedly beats his men who first struggle to defeat her, reminiscent of how Peredur dispatched of the witch queen of Caer Lloyw.<ref name=gca/><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3XgqDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA408|title=Handbook of Arthurian Romance: King Arthur's Court in Medieval European Literature|first1=Leah|last1=Tether|first2=Johnny|last2=McFadyen|date=2017|publisher=Walter de Gruyter|via=Google Books|page=408|isbn=9783110432466}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CJJ4AAAAIAAJ|title=Studies in Welsh Arthurian romance: Peredur and Trystan|first1=James E.|last1=Doan|date=1990|publisher=Irish Studies Program, Northeastern University|via=Google Books}}</ref> Furthermore, parts of the story parallel how the Irish mythological hero [[Cú Chulainn]] is taught combat by the warrior woman [[Scáthach]] after he overcomes and threatens her; Cú Chulainn also defeats Scáthach's rival [[Aífe]], sparing her life but raping her, and many years later comes to fight and kill their son of this union.<ref name="jr" /><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TYZiAAAAMAAJ|title=The Celtic West and Europe: Studies in Celtic Literature and the Early Irish Church|last=Edel|first=Doris|date=2001|publisher=Four Courts Press|isbn=9781851822690|language=en}}</ref> Norma Lorre Goodrich connects the motif with "magical warrior rites in Scotland" and links the witches' leader to the figure of Queen Morgan le Fay, a sorcerous half-sister of Arthur.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9jUDAAAAIAAJ|title=The Holy Grail|last=Goodrich|first=Norma Lorre|date=1992|publisher=HarperCollins Publishers|isbn=9780060166861|language=en}}</ref> According to [[Roger Sherman Loomis]], it is possible that the author either indeed had Morgan in mind for the ''gwiddon'' or that both he and Geoffrey were taking from the same sources in earlier tradition.<ref name="gg" />

==See also==
* [[9#Culture and mythology|The number nine in culture and mythology]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist|group="note"}} {{-}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Arthurian Legend}}
{{Witchcraft}}

[[Category:Arthurian characters]]
[[Category:Female characters in literature]]
[[Category:Fictional nonets]]
[[Category:Fictional priests and priestesses]]
[[Category:Fictional queens]]
[[Category:Fictional characters who use magic]]
[[Category:Witchcraft in folklore and mythology]]