Nine
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Nine Sisters
The collective term by which the sisters of Morgan Le Fay, joint rulers of Avalon, are referred to. It is not certain whether or not all are named, but various sources suggest that this is the correct number.
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Nine Witches
In a Welsh poem, Cei (Kay) is said to have "pierced nine witches" in the "uplands of Ystafngwn". The theme of nine enchantresses is recurring in Welsh legend.
In the story of Peredur, Peredur kills the nine Hags of Gloucester to avenge a cousin’s murder. In The Spoils of Annwn, we learn that a magic cauldron seized by Arthur from the otherworld was
gently warmed by the breath of nine maidens.
In Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Vita Merlini - influenced heavily by Welsh legend - Arthur is taken to the Island of Apples (Avalon), ruled by nine sorceresses, including Morgan le Fay. The theme seems to have origins in classical mythology. In the first century, Roman geographer Pomponius Mela described and island off the coast of Brittany inhabited by nine enchantresses with the power to heal the sick.
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Nine Worthies
Nine historical figures considered particularly worthy of reverence. First compiled in fourteenth-century French romance, they included three pagans - Alexander the Great, Hector of Troy, and Julius Caesar - three Jews - Joshua, David, and Judas Maccabeus - and three Christians - Charlemagne, Godfrey of Bouillon, and Arthur.
Their names are evoked to suggest the transience of worldly life and the power of death, which claims even the mighty and glorious. In the Alliterative Morte Arthure, Arthur has a dream in which he sees Fortune’s wheel with the other eight worthies upon it, and a place reserved for him.