Hey everyone,
Welcome to another installment of Harry Potter Theory. In today’s video, we’re going
to be exploring a little lesson in Harry Potter History- and taking a look at the history
of the fabled Animagus. More specifically- I’m going to be revealing to you all the
first 3 RECORDED (but unregistered) animagi- that is, the first 3 ancient witches and wizards
that were able to shapeshift.
An animagus, simply put, is a witch or wizard that is able to transform themselves into
an animal and back again. Animagus is a combination of the word "animal" and the Greek word magus,
meaning "animal wizard." It is an extremely rare and difficult ability to master, so much
so that it requires you to register your knowledge of this ability with the ministry (but that
wasn’t necessary in a pre-ministry world!). An animagus will typically have an animal
form that they transform in to that is closely linked to their personality and inner traits.
Further to this- the Animagus form of a witch or wizard will almost always resemble their
patronus form as well.
Throughout the series we’re introduced to quite a few Animagi. McGonagall- a cat, Pettigrew-
a rat, Sirius Black- a dog, James Potter- a stag, Rita Skeeter- a beetle. And if you’re
thinking that this list looks short well then you’d be right, as becoming an animagus
is NO easy feat.
In fact, so few people have actually achieved this magical feat that the Ministry of Magic
requires all animagi to register their animagus status.
But the ancient witches and wizards I want to talk about today existed in a pre-ministry
era- in fact, some of these witches and wizards were from an entirely different part of the
world altogether. I’m going to work backwards, starting with the THIRD known animagus, and
working my way towards the FIRST recorded animagus to grace the wizarding world.
Let’s get in to it:
Morgana Le Fay
In case you weren’t already aware, the ‘Morgana Le Fay’ from Harry Potter, mentioned on
a Chocolate Frog Card in the series- was inspired by a pseudo-historical figure most commonly
referred to by some derivation of the same name. Morgan, Morgen, just ‘Morgana’-
you name it. Further to this, if we look at her in a pseudo-historical context, we can
see where inspiration was drawn for the witch in Harry Potter.
Morgana is a tough pseudo-historical figure to summarize because, across many pieces of
literature, she has been re-introduced with so many different names, titles, and abilities.
Perhaps the most interesting thing about Morgana’s character, however, is her moral ambivalence,
and how it evolved through folklore.
“Early appearances of Morgan do not elaborate her character beyond her role as a goddess,
a fay, a witch, or a sorceress, generally benevolent and related to King Arthur as his
magical saviour and protector. Her prominence increased over time, as did her moral ambivalence,
and in some texts there is an evolutionary transformation of her to an antagonist”
The concept of ‘Morgana’ that we’re most familiar with first appears in writer
Geoffrey of Monmouth’s work entitled ‘Vita Merlini’ or ‘The Life of Merlin’ which
was written in 1150. In this version of Vita Merlini, Morgana is referred to as ‘Morgen’
a name which means ‘Sea-Born’. The name survived in middle welsh as ‘Moryen’-
and the cognate form in Old Irish is Muirgen, the name of a shapeshifting female saint commonly
associated with the sea.
Hold on- a shapeshifter?! This ties in beautifully with Harry Potter.
We first hear of Morgana Le Fay in the Harry Potter universe when Ron mentions that he
has “about six” of her chocolate frog card.
"I've got Morgana again and I've got about six of her."
Chocolate Frog Cards generally feature iconic witches and wizards of history, so the fact
that she made the cut is a testament to her prominence as a historical figure, even in
the Harry Potter universe. Her card makes it very clear that she was a very powerful
‘dark’ witch- and this directly sums up the version of Morgana that the Harry Potter
universe adopted- we got the EVIL Morgana, not the morally righteous one.
Provided that her card describes her as a ‘very powerful’ witch, I think that it’s
reasonable to assume that Morgana was extremely versed in the Dark Arts- possessing knowledge
of all of the dark spells that we are accustomed to, and perhaps many more.
However, what’s interesting about Morgana is that, despite being evil, she possessed
immense knowledge of powerful healing abilities. We generally associate ‘healing’ and the
ability to ‘heal’ with those that are morally ‘good’ or ‘righteous’, but
Morgana contradicts this. But what’s one of the most interesting aspects about Morgana?
Well, she was an ANIMAGUS. Not the first Animagus ever to grace the wizarding world- but she
was up there. Turns out, Morgana could transform in to a bird at will. And can you guess WHAT
TYPE of bird? Well- that’s unconfirmed, but I’ve got a theory on this.
Because the pseudo-historical figure of Morgana goes by many names, I decided to look at the
associations with each, and as it turns out ‘Morgen’ means ‘sea born’. What this
tells me is that Morgana likely transformed in to some kind of sea bird. Which seabird
in particular is unclear, although I’d venture to say something like a heron.
Cliodne
The origins of wizardkind go back many many many years- in fact, they go so far back that
there is a lot that simply isn’t known about the history of the wizarding world. However,
what we do know is that one of the first known members of wizardkind to exist in Europe was
a witch by the name of Cliodna who presided there sometime in the middle ages.
Cliodna was a famous Irish druidess, and notably appears on a chocolate frog card in the Harry
Potter series. At one point, Harry picks up a chocolate frog card with a picture of her
while she was scratching her nose. Cliodna was a powerful druidess, and her abilities
were vast- including, of course, the ability to transform. Her main animagus form was that
of a sea bird, the same as Morgana, but it has also been expressed that her unparalleled
skill in transfiguration even allowed her to turn herself in to things like waves. Crazy.
Furthermore, always travelling along with Cliodne were three magical birds that could
cure the sick by singing them to sleep.
However, I’ll say this- the concept of Cliodne in Harry Potter was of course inspired by
the Cliodne of Irish Mythology- a goddess of love and beauty who travelled with 3 magical
birds that cured the sick.
Falco Aeselon
Alright, now you might be thinking- Cliodne and Morgana were both around as far back as
the MEDIEVAL era- so, when on Earth did Falco Aeselon- the FIRST ever recorded Animagus,
exist? Well- as it turns out, Falco Aeselon was a Greek wizard who existed sometime between
the years 700 and 480 B.C, meaning he was around WELL before the existence of Cliodne
and Morgana.
In fact, it turns out that Ancient Greece produced a lot of powerful witches and wizards
back in the day, as if you’ll remember from my Ekrizdis video- the man who purportedly
created the Dementors was ALSO from Ancient Greece.
Anyway, not much is actually known about Falco, other than the fact that he was the FIRST
ever recorded Animagus. It’s unknown if he was the first wizard to discover the process
entirely, or if he was just the first one to be recognized in history as being able
to transform. His animagus form is just as his name would suggest- a falcon. Pretty cool
if you ask me.
Interestingly, ‘Falco’ is actually the former scientific name of the European ‘Merlin’
bird. Merlin, in Harry Potter, was the most powerful wizard to have ever lived, so perhaps
there was some inspiration drawn for Falco’s name there behind the scenes.
Like the others on this list, Falco was of course also immortalized on a Chocolate Frog
Card for being the first ever Animagus.
And that concludes the list for the first three recorded Animagi. Closing thoughts of
mine? Well, I thought it was interesting that all three of them ended up being birds. With
the vast possibilities for potential animagus forms, you’d think there’d be some more
variety there. I wonder why?
Did you guys know about these three? Comment down below. Also, if you enjoy the content
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Until next time
Remember
Imperfect understanding is often more dangerous than ignorance.