Uwaine Foils Morgan le Fay’s Attempt to Kill Uriens

Uwaine Foils Morgan le Fay’s Attempt to Kill Uriens is an episode in which Uwaine stops his mother, Morgan le Fay, from murdering his sleeping father, King Uriens. A maid loyal to Morgan alerts Uwaine before Morgan can act; he intervenes at the bedside, confronts her, and grants forgiveness only after she promises to desist. The scene makes kinship both the setting of the danger and the means by which it is halted.

The Plot and Its Warning

The account begins while Morgan believes King Arthur is dead. She sees King Uriens asleep in bed and tells a maid who serves her that she has never had a better opportunity to kill him. When the maid warns that Morgan could not escape the consequences, Morgan dismisses the concern and orders her to fetch the king’s sword.

Uwaine Intervenes

The maid does not simply carry out the order: she goes to another chamber, where Uwaine is asleep, wakes him, and tells him that his mother intends to kill his father. Uwaine lets her continue to Morgan with the sword, saying that he will handle the situation. The narrative thus gives him foreknowledge rather than making his intervention accidental; the warning creates an opportunity to prevent the attack before it is carried out.

Morgan takes the sword, approaches the bed, and raises it to strike. Uwaine leaps toward her and catches her by the hand. He condemns the act and says that, were she not his mother, he would strike off her head with the sword. His words register the gravity of the threat while making the family bond the one restraint he expressly acknowledges.

Kinship, Mercy, and the Outcome

Morgan responds by pleading with her son to have mercy. She says she was tempted by a devil, asks him to preserve her honor and keep the deed undisclosed, and promises not to act this way again. Uwaine agrees to forgive her on the condition that she never again undertakes such deeds; Morgan gives him that assurance. The scene therefore ends not with punishment or public exposure but with a private promise between son and mother.

The episode turns on competing loyalties inside one household: Morgan targets her husband, while their son protects his father and then grants his mother a chance to repent. Uwaine’s mercy is conditional, not a denial of the attempted murder’s seriousness. The closing assurance supplies the scene’s resolution, while Morgan’s request for secrecy leaves the threatened family order dependent on her promise and Uwaine’s discretion.