The Cailleach

The Cailleach (pronounced as Kay-lyx) is a Celtic goddess, the gatekeeper to the spirit world who appears after Morgana has torn the mystical veil between her world and the next and released both the gatekeeper and the Dorocha. She is portrayed by Gemma Jones.

Appearance
The Cailleach wears a tattered dark cloak, with a hood on her grey haired head. Merlin remarks on 'her eyes, they were so sad." This is an identifying feature used by Gaius to figure out who Merlin had seen.

She possesses a staff with no decorations, but a simple cord, which she used performing magic, meanwhile her eyes glowed like other magic performing individuals.

The Darkest Hour
After Morgana sacrificed Morgause at the Isle of the Blessed, in order to tear the veil between her world and the spirit world, she released the Cailleach. The Cailleach then warned Morgana of Emrys, allegedly Morgana's destiny and doom, not telling her that he was in fact Merlin. She also informed her that the Dorocha will now be unleashed upon her enemies.

At the same time, Merlin was serving at the royal banquet for Samhain Eve, when the Cailleach appeared to him. She called him Emrys which caused Merlin to faint from the shock. When he came about later, he realized that he was the only one to have seen her.

Kilgharrah later informed Merlin that it was not the spirits who demanded a blood-sacrifice, but the Cailleach. When Arthur confronted her at the end of his journey, she laughed at the mention of innocent people dying and knocked Gwaine unconscious with her magic when he tried to attack her.

Before Arthur could sacrifice himself, Merlin knocked him out with his magic to confront the Cailleach. She told him, that his time among men was not over yet, even if he did want to sacrifice himself, as Lancelot decided to sacrifice himself instead. Once he stepped into the rift, it closed and the Cailleach disappeared.

Abilities
As a goddess the Cailleach was an incredibly powerful being, she was the only one who could control the Dorocha, and as it is stated it is she who damands a scarifice, it is implied only she can tear and repair the veil between worlds.

Her Magic is presumably much more powerful than most (if not all,) other creatures of magic, given her postion, however the only time she showed this is when using a stunning spell on Sir Gwain. She was also able to appear in more than one place at once, and act seperatly from her other self, as well as mask her appearance from all but one.

She implided that she new when every living beings time to die was, and she was also aware of Merlin and his powers, calling him (as many powerful socerers do) emrys.

Behind the Scenes
The wood used to make The Cailleach staff is conifer. It was made by Andrew Duncan who is a Bushcraft Instructor. www.birchwoodbushcraft.co.uk Andrew also made the staff used by The Old Merlin in Series 4 which is made from twisted hazel.