Légendes celtiques - La marie-morgan
La marie-morgan (ou mari-morgan) ressemble en tous points à une humaine. C'est une figure des légendes du pays breton. Sa beauté est aussi grande que son caractère est mauvais.
Descendantes des nymphes, ondines et néréides, agrémentées d' une touche féerique, il est rare de les rencontrer en pleine mer; elles se tiennent de préférence dans le voisinage des côtes, à l'entrée des cavernes, à l'embouchure des rivières où elles se plaîsent à lisser leur merveilleuse chevelure d'argent d'un peigne d'or. Si un homme les surprend dans cette intimité, il ne peut leur résister et est immédiatement séduit.
La marie-morgan, noie et parfois va même jusqu'à le dévorer.
De temps en temps, elle s'offre au marin séduit, mais va rarement jusqu'à l'épargner pour en avoir un enfant qui, dès sa naissance, est abandonné sur le pas d'une demeure humaine.
On ne peut s'apercevoir de la particularité magique de l'enfant, toujours une fille, que par son affreux caractère, lequel se révèle bien vite. Dès qu'elle parvient à l'âge adulte, elle retourne à la mer, laissant quelques richesses à sa famille nourricière, suffisamment pour que cette dernière n'ait plus à redouter la misère.
La légende nous assure que les marie-morgans ont de nombreux points communs avec les sirènes. Vers la fin du 19ème siècle, on les confondait généralement avec elles, bien qu'elles n'eussent pas le corps terminé en poisson par leur voix aux accents irrésistibles dont elles se servaient pour attirer les marins. Très effrontées et versées dans la science des maléfices, elles poursuivaient ces jeunes pêcheurs de leurs sollicitations amoureuses. Ceux qu'elles parvenaient à séduire étaient entraînés sous les eaux et on ne les revoyait jamais...
Très inspiré du "dictionnaire encyclopédique de Sally" et des "Légendes de la mer"
Cette marie-morgan de paillettes, de perles et de fils d'argent est dédiée à mon marin de mari.
Nathalie du Sud
The Marie Morgan (or Mari-Morgan) looks exactly like a human face. It is one of many faces of the Brittany’s legends. Her beauty is just as nice as her character is bad.
Coming from the nymphs « Ondine » and « Nereides », with a little fairy touch, it is really rare to find them in the deep sea, they are usually near the coasts, at the caves’ entry, at the rivers’ mouth where they like brushing their marvellous silver hair with a golden comb. If a man catches them in this intimacy, he just can’t resist them and is immediately seduced.
The Marie-Morgan, drown them and even sometimes go as far as eating them. From time to time, she give herself to the seduced sailor, but vary rarely go to spare him to have a child from him, who, as soon as he is born is left on the door of a human’s house.
We can only know if this child has a particularity magic, always a girl, by her very bad temper, which shows very quickly. As soon as she become an adult, she goes back to the sea, leaving some wealth to the family, enough so this family won’t have to fear any misery.
The legend tells us that the Marie-Morgans have a lot in common with the mermaids. Near the end of the 19 century, people usually were mixing them up, even so they didn’t have their lowest part of their body finishing with a fish tail. But because of their voices with beautiful accents which they were using to attract sailors. Very impudent and into the science of evil spell, they were chasing them and their request for love. The poor guys who were unfortunate enough to be seduced were drag under the water and never to be seen again….
Inspired from the « Sally’s dictionary encyclopaedia” and the “Sea’s Legends”
I dedicate this Marie-Morgan, with all the glitter, beads and silver tread, to my husband (who is a sailor)
Coming from the nymphs « Ondine » and « Nereides », with a little fairy touch, it is really rare to find them in the deep sea, they are usually near the coasts, at the caves’ entry, at the rivers’ mouth where they like brushing their marvellous silver hair with a golden comb. If a man catches them in this intimacy, he just can’t resist them and is immediately seduced.
The Marie-Morgan, drown them and even sometimes go as far as eating them. From time to time, she give herself to the seduced sailor, but vary rarely go to spare him to have a child from him, who, as soon as he is born is left on the door of a human’s house.
We can only know if this child has a particularity magic, always a girl, by her very bad temper, which shows very quickly. As soon as she become an adult, she goes back to the sea, leaving some wealth to the family, enough so this family won’t have to fear any misery.
The legend tells us that the Marie-Morgans have a lot in common with the mermaids. Near the end of the 19 century, people usually were mixing them up, even so they didn’t have their lowest part of their body finishing with a fish tail. But because of their voices with beautiful accents which they were using to attract sailors. Very impudent and into the science of evil spell, they were chasing them and their request for love. The poor guys who were unfortunate enough to be seduced were drag under the water and never to be seen again….
Inspired from the « Sally’s dictionary encyclopaedia” and the “Sea’s Legends”
I dedicate this Marie-Morgan, with all the glitter, beads and silver tread, to my husband (who is a sailor)
Nathalie du Sud
