Margot the fairy is, in the traditions of Brittany and the Mayenne, the generic name for certain earthly fairies. They are best known in Central Brittany, particularly in the Côtes-d'Armor. Presumably descended from the fairy Morgana and before her from an aspect of Mother Earth, the Margot fairies are quite powerful. They can make themselves invisible, metamorphose and transform others. Reputed to be excellent dancers, often generous and sometimes cruel, they take pleasure in testing humans by giving them gold and objects. They are believed to have built several monuments, and to possess immense treasures hidden under the earth. They have animals, often cattle.
Tales and myths tell of the habits of these fairies, who kidnap human children to replace them with their own and become the godmothers of babies whom they name and cover with more or less convenient gifts. They reward the righteous and punish those who harm them, are greedy or indiscreet towards them. They sometimes show themselves to be thieves. A number of megaliths and rocks are said to be the homes of these fairies, or their furniture and tools: table, spindle, room, shoe, armchair, cradle... They were the object of cults and beliefs, in particular at the Margot cave. These beliefs, until the end of the 19th century, led many people to offer them animals in sacrifice and to search for their supposed treasures.
Terminology
"Margot the fairy" is not a proper noun for a particular fairy. It is rather a generic term for a group of fairies, a "class" of creatures not always differentiated from other fairies, except by their language. The name probably comes from a distortion of the name of Morgana, the famous fairy of the Arthurian myth. They were originally called "Morgana" in Lower Brittany. Roger Sherman Loomis sees a relationship between the fairies of Upper Brittany and the "Morgain" of the Arthurian romances. Towards the Mené, in the cantons of Collinée and Moncontour, they are called "Margot the fairy", or " my friend Margot", or " the good woman Margot". The name Margot the fairy is used in many parts of the Côtes-d'Armor, mainly in the districts of Saint-Brieuc and Loudéac. It exists in the singular as well as in the plural ("the Margot fairies"). In Bécherel, there is mention of "Morgant fairies", a name quite similar to Margot and Morgane. According to Paul-Yves Sébillot, Central Brittany is the only part of Brittany where fairies have a particular name.
Characteristics
According to Paul Sébillot, the Margots are very close to the swell fairies, with whom they share many characteristics, and almost as many as the latter. However, Françoise Morvan makes a point of differentiating them. He also likens them to the Lorraine land fairies, the Berrichonnes fairies, and especially the Basque Laminak. They can be found in various natural places such as mounds, caves, moors and rocks. They are essentially terrestrial fairies, often inhabiting "fairy rocks" and large blocks. The fairy of Cas Margot, near Moncontour, is said to live in a swell in which "the dogs have never wanted to enter". She is said to have an iron arm and a steel one. Paul Sébillot describes them as "beautiful people" dressed in splendid clothes, although some are ugly, wrinkled and wear old clothes. Pierre Dubois describes them as rustic, florid, round and jovial fairies. Some stories mention their giving birth (usually to girls), but there is never any mention of men or males in their entourage. Their habitat is less luxurious than that of the swell fairies, which consists of a real Otherworld. Usually, they are rather large burrows.
Abilities and lifestyle Although they are relatively powerful fairies, known as the "high priestesses of the moors" by Jean-Claude Carlo, they are vulnerable to illness. Margot are reputed to be able to make themselves invisible when they wish. They often ask those who speak to them to look away, only to disappear as soon as the person turns their head. Like many other fairies, they are dancers: Pierre Dubois insists a lot on this aspect and on their dances in the moonlight, on Mount Croquelien, the Méné ridges and its moors. The fairies of Guenroc dance at night beside their rocks.Narrated in 1880 by François Mallet, du Gouray. Quoted in Sébillot 1882, p. 107-108. They have all kinds of animals, except pigs and dogs. Most often, it is oxen and cows that they bring out of their underground dwelling in the morning and return in the evening.
A Lamballe legend describes them as builders, since they are said to have built the choir of the collegiate church of Notre-Dame de Lamballe and the underground passage on which it rests, which leads to the "Margot room", which contains the "Margot distaff" and its treasure, a heap of six-franc coins guarded by an evil creature. In the same way, the Margots are said to have brought the stones of Notre-Dame d'Espérance and the tower of Cesson to Saint-Brieuc in their apron in three round trips, which enabled them to build the church in two hours. The rocks brought with their fourth round trip would have been deposited at Trébry on the Mont Bel-air. The dolmen called "Margot the fairy's chest", still in Lamballe, would have been thrown by one of these fairies while she was carrying on her head stones intended to build a monument. Seeing a dead magpie and learning that everything dies, she abandoned her construction in progress.
In addition, some stories present Margot the fairy praying in their own church. The mention of a "superior" Margot in a fairy godmother tale shows a certain assimilation between Margot society and monastic life. It is possible that these additions to the stories were made deliberately to Christianise the fairies, and to bring them back to the status of former sinners who had returned to the right path of faith. It also removes the sexualised and pagan aspect of the fairies and makes them into virgin mothers and wives.
Interactions with humans The Margot fairies show themselves to humans quite often and like to test them, a characteristic that is also very common among all fairies. They are rather kind, not hesitating to render small services in the household. They act as fairy godmothers, telling the children they have named what they will be. They generously offer enchanted food to people who ask for it, and they sometimes guard the herds of humans. They have a habit of displaying treasures under people's noses, and of depriving them of them if they are too greedy. They do not like indiscreet people and often make them repent of their curiosity, especially by bewitching those who pass too close to their home. The stories of the Margot fairies who are busy washing their clothes, and who break the arms of those who help them wring them, prove an assimilation between these characters and the night washers. They are known to come into houses, often down the chimney. Sometimes they do the work of the household without asking for wages. If, as a reward, they are offered a meal, they take a liking to it and come back every day to steal it if it is not offered to them. Often they are thieves and, hidden on the chimney, they spy on people's sleep to take what they like. The Margots are also child-stealers, kidnapping human babies (and sometimes even adults) to replace them with their own. When they can't replace them, they put them back on the steps of the cloth looms. Sometimes they need the help of humans to deliver their babies.
Origins and analysis The exact origin of the Margot is not precisely known. In terms of esotericism, it seems that, like the fairy Morgana of which she is an avatar, she may represent an aspect of the mother goddess and therefore of nature. Morgana and Margot share the sound "MRG", which refers to the grandmother in the language of birds, nature in its healing aspect. The relationship with Morgana is more obvious, as attested by the multiplicity of spellings in medieval manuscripts (Morgain, Morgues, Mourgues...), as well as many commonalities in their role and function as fairy godmother. They have also been linked to the goddesses and bird-fairies who heralded destiny (such as Morrigane), through "Margot the Magpie", although the possible origin of a panceltic bird-goddess is controversial.
Tales and myths
Most of these stories come from the collections of Paul Sébillot. These stories put the Margot the fairies in the roles of godmothers, purveyors of gold and gifts, thieves or even child abductors, who leave a changeling in their place.
Role of godmother Several tales and fragments of myths collected by Sébillot detail the role of the Margot fairy godmother. Around Collinée, a father of a large family is looking for a godfather or godmother for his youngest child, when he comes across a fairy Margot who offers to take on this role. She comes with "a friend" and all sorts of gifts and donations for the household, but, on seeing the child, vows that he will not change in size until he has made them laugh. Time passes and the child, who reaches the age of seven, remains as small as the day he was born. He catches a rat in his house and makes it his mount. Margot the Fairy and her friend see him being thrown off to lead the rat to the river to drink. They laugh so hard that the spell is lifted, and the child immediately grows to the size of all the other seven-year-olds.Narrated by Pierre Derou in 1876 in Collinée, collected by Paul Sébillot. Quoted in
The Margots show little regard for people who forget to invite them to name a child. A woman, mother of two daughters, forgets to invite the Margot's superior, the fairy, to name her child. In revenge, the fairy turns the child's face black as coal. The fairies take this girl into their service and order her to spin yarn as fine as her hair. One day, the Blessed Virgin comes to her rescue and spins in her place. The fairies order her to draw water from pierced pots, and the Virgin helps the girl again by plugging the holes in the pots so that she can accomplish her task. She asks her to clean her face with the water she has drawn. Immediately it becomes white again. The girl finally goes to a castle where there is a garden with a snake. It is a metamorphosed prince, whom she eventually marries.Narrated in 1881 by J. M. Comault, du Gouray. Quoted in Sébillot 1882, pp. 110-111.
Childbirth and child abduction A tale collected by Sébillot in Le Gouray says that a midwife helped a Margot the fairy to give birth. She forgets to wash her hand and touches her eye. Since then, she recognizes the disguises of the fairies. One day, she sees the husband of the Margot stealing grain, and shouts at the thief. He asks her with which eye she sees it, and immediately tears it out.This tale is very common, it is found in the same form with a swell fairy, and its plot is known since the Middle Ages. In another tale, a woman confides to her neighbour that she fears her child has been exchanged by the Margots, as he is very greedy and talks like a grown-up. She advises her to take some eggs, to break off the small end, and then to put small brachiaux of wood on them and light a good fire, near the child. When the little dummy sees the eggs boiling, he says: "I am almost a hundred years old, but I have never seen so many boiling jars in my life". The woman guesses that her child has been changed and cries out, "You wicked little wizard, I'll kill you! The fairy in the attic yells at her not to do anything about it, and promises to return the real child.Reported by Mr. E. Hamonic, of Moncontour, who got this tale from Mme Ragot, a native of La Motte near Loudéac. Quoted by Sébillot 1882, p. 118-119.
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