Welcome to Day Five of Poetry Week, and this week’s Femme Fatale Friday, my Darlings!   For a subject, I have decided to discuss one of my all-time favorite poems yet again.   But this time I will be focusing on the personality of the Faery Woman of La Belle Dame Sans Merci in depth!   She is a truly fatal female figure, making her a good character to feature here on Femme Fatale Friday.

In the story of the poem La Belle Dame Sans Merci, the reader learns the tale of a Knight who was found by the narrator ailing near a lake.    The Knight goes on to tell his tale about being beguiled by a lovely woman, whom he called “a faery’s child” making it obvious that she was not of human origin.    The Faery Woman took the Knight to a place that he called her “elfin grot” which was likely her magickal homeland of a Sacred Faery Forest dwelling.    It was here that the Knight became the lover of this beguiling Faery Woman.   As the pale Kings in his dream would tell the Knight, he was already in the Otherworld and her thrall.   It was encouraged that the Knight should leave “La Belle Dame Sans Merci” in order to save himself.   However, it was losing the love of the Faery Woman that would lead the Knight to whither away and die!

As to the personality of the Faery Woman, she is likely a member of a race of Faery beings known as the Leanan Sidhe.   They are found in Irish Faerylore and are known in English as the Faery Lover.   The Leanan Sidhe are known to take human lovers, often those of artistic natures and inspire them through sexual congress.   This leads to a huge rush of success and inspiration, but at a cost, when the Leanan Sidhe leaves the human lover he will wither away and die for longing for his Faery Lover!   Now, this is a very dark vision of a Faery Woman taking the human lover and draining them of vitality when they ultimately lose interest.   However, I have another viewpoint on the Leanan Sidhe, while I believe that some Leanan Sidhe do leave based on boredom and not caring that the human will perish, I think that others leave because they simply miss their homes in the Otherworld!   In that case, they are simply reacting to homesickness and acting in a way that protects themselves, even at mortal cost to the human lover, unless they may choose to take the mortal lover with them to the Otherworld.    I even wrote a short story with this premise about John Keats, the writer of this poem, actually being taken to the Otherworld to live an immortal life with his Leanan Sidhe bride!    

Another view that I have written and talked about as to the identity of the Faery Woman in La Belle Dame Sans Merci is that she is actually Morgan le Fay!   Now, I really love this theory because Morgan le Fay is known in her tales within the Arthurian legends to be a Faery Woman who took delight in testing Knights.    Morgan le Fay had the energy of the Leanan Sidhe when she took Knightly lovers, who sometimes came to tragic ends, like in the story of her love for Sir Accolon, who died in single combat with King Arthur.   Another thing that links Morgana to the Faery Woman within this poem is that she had a valley in the woods that was known as the Val Sans Retour, or Valley of No Return, where Knights who were unfaithful in love would be trapped due to their inconstant hearts!   This magickal Faery Woodland Vale is very much like the “elfin grot” of the Faery Woman of the poem.    Finally, I think it makes so much sense that a powerful figure and Goddess like Morgan le Fay, who is famously portrayed as the Baddie and Villainess of the Arthuriad, would inspire the Faery Woman of this poem!

I hope that you have enjoyed this look at the personality and identity of the Faery Woman of John Keats’ La Belle Dame Sans Merci.    What do you think about the Faery Woman in the poem?   Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

Note on Image: The image at the top of the post is a Walter Crane painting of the poem.   I found the image on https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Walter_T._Crane_-_La_belle_Dame_Sans_Merci_(1865).jpg.

Tarot Note: I have launched a page offering tarot and oracle readings for those interested in these services!    I am very happy to be offering these readings to my treasured readers at White Rose of Avalon!  Link to page: https://whiteroseofavalon.life/tarot-and-oracle-readings/

Further Reading

• La Belle Dame Sans Merci by John Keats   
• https://whiteroseofavalon.life/2023/03/01/john-keats-and-the-leanan-sidhe/ (This is my story about John Keats and the Leanan Sidhe.)