It's not a bad site. I'm pretty sure I have it in my bookmarks, though there were a few things that I'd wondered at.
The main thing was that in the below passage, the author states that many NeoPagans view the Morrighan as maiden, mother, crone, but that this in incorrect:
But later on the page, under the section where he's talking about how he looks to her, he says:
So which is it? Or is he saying that he knows that the ideas are incorrect, but he's going to go along with them anyway?
For my part, I agree with the first paragraph - it is a mistake. That said, she was a shape-shifter and, in some stories, does appear as an old, ugly hag and a young maiden. She also appears as a cow, an eel and a wolf, but I don't see people saying she's a goddess of wolves...
She may or may not have been a mother, depending on whether or not she really is conflated with Anannd and whether or not the pregnant Macha of "cursing the men of Ulster with labor pains" Macha is the same as Macha the daugher of Ernmas. Some believe they are the same, others don't.
There is, apparently, one child who is specifically named as the child of the Morrighan, and not one of her possible "others".
Other than that, it's a generally good site
Except I am, personally, umcomfortable with the notion of the Morrighan as consort to the Dagda (and I've never heard of her with Lugh at all). There is a story that prior the the Second Battle of Magh Tuired, the Dagda came across the Morrighan as she was straddling a river, bathing. The Dagda (sort of known to get around himself), had sex with the Morrighan, and she gave him information about the upcoming battle as well as her pledge that she would help in it. In that battle she is seen bringing sorcerers and getting people whipped up for the battle.
It has been stated that, in this story, the Morrighan is seen with her sovereignty and fertility roles - that this story places her as Sovereign goddess, who grants her authority to the King who rules, and whose Union provides for the fertility of the land. Personally, I don't buy it.
I have always seen it more as a sort of promise of aid in battle for return of sexual favors:
Another reason why she is sometimes seen as primarily a goddess of sovereignty and fertility, in my opinion, is because of the name game. Eriu, Banba and Fodhla, who are goddesses of sovereignty, are sisters, via Ernmas, to Babh, Macha and Morrighan. Oftentimes this is interpreted to mean that they are interchangable aspects. Also, in one story the Morrighan may be called Anann, who may be a goddess of death, but who is also conflated with Aine, a goddess of the sun, perhaps, and plenty, who is then connected with Anu, a possible progenitor goddess, who is further conflated with Danu - of Tuatha de Danaan - making the Morrighan, as Danu, to be the progenitor of the Celts - as well as being her own grandmother.
Part of the problem is that different tribes had different names/variations of different gods and/or stories. These stories were passed via oral tradition, and only written down by Christian monks years after the fact. How much is error in writing, error in translation, conjecture, so on and so forth, remains unknown.
Furthermore, I have never liked the whole "well, the Morrighan is an aspect of Danu so the Morrighan is a mother goddess". No. Even *if* it is true, the individual aspects are still
just that.
Another source of disagreement comes from whether her name means "Phantom Queen" or "Great Queen". This mostly comes for an ('). If there is a fada over the o in Mo'rrigan, then it means Great Queen (pretend that it's over the o there). No fada, then we are left with Phantom Queen.
Current scholarship leans toward Phantom Queen, because the fada does not appear to have been present in the earliest Irish manuscripts - but there are many who prefer the Great Queen epithet, and so will use that one instead.
Then there is the other issue of whether she is a triune goddess, since sometimes there are up to 7 names which are associated with her. There is much thought to the notion that "the morrigna" was a title for a group or type of being. My personal take is that the Morrighan is a singular entity which is also a group of three - Babd (crow or vulture), Nemain (frenzy) and Macha - the first Macha. (Oh, you damned Machas... how you make an already confused issue even more confusing!) Regardless, I have never connected with the others on an indidual level, and tend to relate to her as an individual of three parts.
Anyway, the last source, that I've come across anyway, for the emphasis on the role of sovereignty and fertility is the Morrighan's association with cattle. Cattle was very important to the Celts, being sources of food and goods, but also being a type of currency. As evidenced by the various Cattle Raids, the Celts often stole each others cattle.
In one story she is seen stealing a cattle. In one story she presents herself to CuChualain with cattle (another story, by the way, which references her willingness to trade for sexual favors). In another she is seen to warn one of the magical bulls that there are plans to steal him.
Because of these stories some interpret her as a 'goddess of cattle' - which leads to fertility and/or sovereignty, since cattle were so integral to the Celtic system of wealth. However, I once again side with Epstein's interpretation:
Which is not to say the Morrighan is just a mean war goddess. She's a goddess of prophecy, and magic (generally shape-shifting and battle magic). Yes, she can be petty and vindicitive, and she relishes in battle, often times for it's own sake and unconcerned with who wins. But she also inspires warriors to valor, and honor. She calls you to know your own strength, and to stand up for yourself. She'll Kick our asses when they need to be kicked, if we're not living up to our potential.
In some stories, we see that battle might not always be phsyical, either. In one of her encounters with the Hound, she states that she is a satirist - a tradition of the bards. A satire could end someones reign as easily as a battle on the field. She spars verbally, and she rallies people with poetic cries to battle - so there is room for those, like me, who are not particarly physically violent but whose battles are more verbal... and also those whose battles are internal...
And, lastly, she may also act as psychopomp. Sometimes she/they are equated with the Valkyries, taking warriors to their final rest...
She is the terrible and beautiful Phantom Queen, and she has a special place in my violent little heart (though what that place is, like the Lady Herself, is complicated *smiles mischievously*)