Morrigan And Korrigan

The Breton language knows a very large number of words to designate the Little Ones, and in this “infested with goblins area”, it is common to distinguish them by their habitat.

Pierre Dubois attributes to the kornikaneds the woods, the korils, courilles, corrics, kriores, kereores and kannerez noz the moors, the poulpiquets the valleys, the teuz the meadows, the boléguans the tumuli, the hoseguéannets the circles of stones and the boudics, boudiguets and jester nosz the farms. But Brittany also knows “leprechauns”, “duz”, “korrigs”, “kerrighed”, “komaudons”, “korandons”, “kormandons”, “kérions”, “ozégans”, “fomiquets” or “chorriquets” . Over time, all these once-different little creatures came to be referred to as “korrigan“. (source)

Fomiquets !! One can also spell Faux Mickeysie False Mickey Mouse … Please keep calm, there is nothing to laugh about, the korrigans are a serious thing, we do not joke with them in the land of Armor. Take my word. Let us forget these bad little devils, these Britannylike goofy pranks. I would like to tell about their daughters. All are beautiful, and some are cruel. They are called Korriganes. (source) More than one Breton –young or old– has succumbed to their poisonous charms. When we talk about the fairies of Upper Brittany, we often think about korriganes, even if we do not give them that magical name, which is a bit taboo as we still do not pronounce it wrongly and through.

Legend has it that their world does not follow the same temporal register as that of humans: at home, it flows much more slowly. A paradox that is certainly not one for quantum physics! So I remember a very unusual nocturnal expedition that I started thirty years ago. I wanted to experience the energy of a certain long barrow at the full moon. The sky was cloudless, and the moon rose red, huge like a summer full moon. We were early May. Approaching the lonesome long barrow in a fallow field, I saw gleams around the monument, and cursed those untimely visitors who were going to ruin my experience. I was wrong heavily.

The lights could pass for electric lamps, apart from their changing colors. I thought of one of those gadgets that were trendy in the 80s. Suddenly a silhouette appeared in front of me. She was covered with a clear cape which she let slip gently in the grass. A very beautiful woman, as far as the full moon allowed me to judge. She took my hand, her skin was soft and warm, I did not doubt for a second that it was a date. I was another, her frankness pleased me. Under the stone path, there were a few steps that sank into the ground. I had never seen this in any of my many visits. But nothing could surprise me or incite me to distrust. When I came down behind her, I admit I did not look at the steps …

At the edge of a green lake, we made love on a large square bed covered with white canvas, as in the song. The next moment, I found myself lying in tall grass, blueberries and poppies. The long silhouette of the covered walkway cast his shadow over me. The crescent moon lit up the unreal scene. With one bound, I was on my feet. What croissant ?! We are at the full moon !! I ran to my house in one go, without catching my breath. Mail was coming out of my mailbox. Examining the dates on the envelopes, my heart jumped, I feared the worst … Just entered, I turned on my Mac. Five days ! My short and tasty visit lasted five days of the real world. I will miss these five days when I should tell the story of my life to the Eagle, that he let me pass away from the realm of the dead.

As for the Morrigans … At first glance, they are very close. They often behave in a similar way to those young men who fall madly in the face of their unbearable beauty. Their origin is not Breton, but Irish. Morrígan (Mórrígan, Morrigane or Morrígu) is a character from Irish Celtic mythology, who seems to have been considered a goddess, even though it is not explicitly mentioned in the texts.In some medieval narratives, Morrigan is part of group of three goddesses of war, alongside goddesses Bodb and Macha, or sometimes Nemain. In other stories, the names Morrigan and Bodb are used alternately to designate the Irish goddess of war, or are both described as Witches from Tuatha De Danann.”  (source) 

Tuatha De Danann belong to mythology. They lived on the soil of Ireland before the arrival of the Celts who took their place gradually, and without the violence that opposed the Tuatha to the formidable Fir Bolg who occupied these wild lands long ago. It is thought that the Tuatha are the true builders of megaliths, dolmens, menhirs and other cromlechs. They are likened to gods, like the Olympians for the ancient Greeks, the Elohim for the Hebrews or the Anunnas for the Sumerians.

“In the Táin Bó Cúailnge (Cooley Cattle Raid), under the guise of a beautiful and young girl with red eyebrows, she tries to seduce Cúchulainn, who refuses her advances. While fighting, it wraps itself around its thigh in the shape of an eel, and the hero gets rid of it and injures it, so he is absent from the fight for a long time, but when he comes back to fight, he sees a woman washing her bloody clothes in the river, he knows that her hour has come, and later she is in a crow, watching Cúchulainn’s agony perched on her shoulder.” (source)

As we can see, the Celtic mythology of Ireland does not present the morrigans, but the first of them, who was one of the goddesses of the war. Should we conclude that all their descendants are aggressive and totally unchallengeable? Not, quite the contrary. Whether they come from Ireland, Wales, Scotland, Cornwall or Brittany, the Morrigans are the fairies of the shore, rus and waves. Foam is their element, twilight their cherished moment.

Like the sinister Prince of the Korrigans, Yann An Aod, John of the Coast, the Morrigans have the same habits and are often confused with him. Yet they are never accompanied by dogs as he did. Their favorite animal is the bear, which no longer accompanies them – good riddance! Often they do not appear in their seductive human form, but in the guise of a raven, like sorcerers and enchanters do. In this case, they like to announce themselves by a flight of three female crows, that is why the old ones call them the Three Black Sisters. We can recognize the three parks of Greek mythology, who are the mistresses of destiny. Black destiny? No way!

As black, they are hardly. In their human version, they dress in bright colors, unlike Yann of the Coast who dresses wall or night color. Yann loves to surprise walkers who venture on the dunes by suddenly emerging close to them. I was able to live this irruption in the falling night. With background noise of the waves on the nearby beach and very close cries of improbable night owls, the scene is enough to terrify simple souls.

The Morrigans today do not play to scare humans. They are often their allies, allowing them to fulfill their secret wishes. If their origin is Irish, their presence is attested throughout the Celtic historical zone, even among the Celto-Ligurians of southern France. In my opinion, Marignane near Marseille was one of their most famous fiefs, whatever the historical record of the city: “The first Marignan residents were … dinosaurs: Iguanodons, amazing creatures 10 meters in length and 5 meters high. Prehistoric people had lived in Marignane: the ancient remains of an oppidum on the Hill of Our Lady of Mercy dating back to a few centuries BCE, show that between Celto-Ligurians and Phoenicians presence, Marignane did not really see day before the Roman occupation, probably during the first centuries of our era, where the site could have been that of an estate belonging to a Roman general or patrician named Marinius, or Marinien.”

Well, well, well. This ethimology is quite uncetain. Let me try another one. You certainly noticed this text contains some naivety, like calling the Celts prehistoric people. If a people built an oppidum some centuries before our era, it was certainly not prehistoric men, but Celts. At that time, an opulent Greek colony already existed, very close, which would become the Massilia of the Romans then the current Marseilles. We know that the port of Aigues Mortes, now far inland, has become stagnant at a historical period. The Hill of Our Lady of Mercy, as the name suggests, was a place where women sailors came to pray for their men subjected to the fortunes of the sea. This hill and its oppidum was to be close to the shore in the first millennium BCE. That is why I incline to think that the name of Marignane does not come from a Roman noble, but from a Morrigan who had accustomed to frequent these places. Hence the subsequent consecration of the Morrigane hill to Notre Dame –a title attributed to the Virgin Mary, worthy heiress of the pagan goddesses. Thus Morrigane became Marignane.

See you next, my good friends. Do not forget to dream.