The Mists of Avalon

Chapters 1 through 3 of Part 4 establish Morgaine’s urgency and give insight into the current condition of the struggle between Druidism and Christianity. So far, she and Accolon have been able to exert some influence over Uriens, preserving a small but thriving community of Druids in the hills. When Uriens suggests cutting down a sacred oak grove, she asks, “[T]he Old Ones are your subjects too […] Would you deprive the Old People of the grove that is their food and shelter, and their own chapel built by the very hands of God and not of man?” (658). Though Uriens is officially the king, in his old age he is easily manipulated. Morgaine’s willingness to resort to cruder means of governing signifies that repeated failures and rejection have prompted her to embrace her cruel and ruthless streak. This again connects to the cycle of her life. She now knows that there will be future priests and priestesses for her to train, having heard that Gwydion is in Avalon and knowing she is promised Lancelet’s daughter. She is now put in Viviane’s shoes, acting as the Mother, and is personally evolving to represent that.

Chapter 2 also demonstrates that key events in the world tend to repeat themselves. Morgaine’s summoning of the Great Sow is evocative of Arthur’s kingmaking ritual. Both events have a similar, frenzied tone. Brief, punctuated sentences to show the emotion of Arthur running with the deer. Avalloch’s death is similar, with Morgaine flashing in and out of consciousness as she channels the Goddess. The key difference is that she is now wearing a different face of the Goddess. With Arthur, she was the Virgin Huntress—the Maiden. Though she completed the ritual to protect her land, she was ultimately in a very passive role, only intervening to cast her blessing at the beginning of Arthur’s physical trial. When taking on the face of the Mother, she adopts a more active role, actually controlling and embodying the sow that kills Avalloch. Having grown, Morgaine is actually summoning the Goddess instead of letting her passively act through her.

Chapter 3 establishes similar parallels between Morgaine’s ritual sex with Accolon and her participation at Beltane with Arthur. Supernatural forces drive both events—the Horned One possesses Arthur during the kingmaking and Accolon during the eclipse ritual. However, a key difference is that Morgaine can now invoke the Horned One and the Lady of her own volition. During Arthur’s kingmaking she was ordained by the Goddess, but with Accolon’s she is doing the ordaining. When Accolon tells her that he saw the Goddess within her, she knows she has finally come to embody a new face. This is similar to how Arthur told her he saw her as the Goddess before he saw her as a woman.

While this demonstrates the cyclical nature of life, it also shows that Morgaine is, in some ways, becoming Viviane. In a brief moment of tenderness, Morgaine acknowledges that despite her feelings, she is using Accolon for the Goddess’s purpose, thinking, “I have used him […] as ruthlessly as ever Viviane did me” (674). In this moment, Morgaine sympathizes with Viviane as she adopts her mission wholeheartedly. Just as Viviane was upset thinking about putting Morgaine through suffering, Morgaine knows it is wrong to use Accolon for her own purposes. However, like Viviane, she justifies it as being decreed by the Goddess.