Written in the late 14th century, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a Middle English Chivalric Romance based on the characters from the King Arthur legend. The epic poem follows the titular Sir Gawain, a knight of King Arthurs court, through a year-long beheading game with a mysterious Green Knight. By the end of the poem, we discover that Morgan Le Fay was the mastermind behind the spectacle. Although only passively mentioned in the poem, Morgan le Fay was able to trick the court through her wit and powers of illusion.
Excerpt:
“and in my manor lives the mighty Morgan le Fay,
So adept and adroit in the dark arts,
Who learned magic from Merlin—the mastery of mystery—
For in earlier times she was intimately entwined
With that knowledgeable man, as all you knights know
Back home
Yes ‘Morgan the Goddess’—
I will announce her name
There is no nobleness
She cannot take and tame”
(lines 2446-2455)
The Green Knight explains Morgan Le Fay’s reason for beginning this year-long beheading game; she wished to scare Guinevere “to her grave” and test “what distinction and trust the Round Table deserves” (2457-2458). After explaining the background of the beheading game, the Green Knight conceded that “[Morgan le Fay] guided me in this guise,” highlighting that is was this magical woman who executed this plan. This subverts our expectations of a man as the antagonist in this story. Instead, we learn that a woman was the mastermind behind this year-long adventure of battles and heroism.
We eventually learn that Morgan had also disguised herself in the Green Knights castle. She takes the appearance of an ugly old woman who is compared to the beautiful lady with whom Sir Gawain shares a few kisses: “those ladies were not in the least bit alike:/one woman was young, one withered by years.” The physical descriptions continue to negatively judge the woman for her appearance:“her trunk was square and squat/ Her buttocks bulged and swelled” (965-966). Although Sir Gawain recognizes that this old woman must hold a position of respect because of the servants surrounding her, he gives her no real notice because of her looks. It is not until she is exposed at the powerful and magical Morgan Le Fay that he considers her at all, highlighting the effects of magic on a man’s perception.
The author still shows that Morgan le Fay, though powerful and skilled in magics, received her skills with her sexuality. This is shown when the Green Knight suggests that Morgan learned her skills at magic after being “intimately entwined” with Merlin. In this way, Morgan ultimately owes her powers to a man in her life.
Although the character of Morgan le Fay is often written as evil or malicious, in this poem her role instead is used to strengthen Sir Gawain’s chivalric values, so that he may go back to his court and teach them to the others. By calling he a “goddess,” the Green Knight is emphasizing that Morgan le Fay’s actions were not intended to harm. Therefore, even though he concedes that she gained her powers from Merlin, her title as “goddess” is far superior to Merlin, who is only called “knowledgeable.”
Work Cited
“Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.” The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Ed. M.H.Abrams. New York: W.W.Norton & Company, Inc., 2000. 204-256.
For more reading see: Magic and Gender in Lanval