By: Maranda Wabik
Arthurian Legend, Morgan le Fay, Witches, , , , , , , , , , ,

We Need to Talk About Madam Mim!

Welcome back to White Rose of Avalon my Darlings.    Today’s post is about Mad Madam Mim from Disney’s The Sword in the Stone!   Now, Madam Mim is a character invented by T.H. White for the novel the film is based on.   The Sword in the Stone is the first part of White’s The Once and Future King book collection, however, Madam Mim does not appear in the revised version of the tale found in The Once and Future King.

Madam Mim is shown as a traditional wicked witch in the woods character, seeking to kill (and possibly eat) Arthur when he finds himself in her cottage.   This is obviously taking inspiration from not just Arthurian legend, but also fairytales like Hansel and Gretel, where an evil witch nearly eats two children in the woods!   In the film, the cottage is charmingly shaped like a traditional witch’s hat, which I find very entertaining!   

For the purpose of this post, I want to focus on the film interpretation of her, as that is the most memorable version of the character.   She is a very fascinating character, and a very intriguing primary antagonist of a film, as she only appears at the end of the film, with overall very little screen time.   That being said, she is one of the most remembered parts of the film, and I do not think I am alone in this estimation.       

This post is inspired by the fact that I recently found a Blu-ray copy of The Sword in the Stone when out thrifting with my husband.   I immediately purchased it and took it as a sign that it was time I rewatched this classic film.   I was enchanted by the film, having not watched it in years, and thinking to myself I really should rewatch it more often than I have, being it combines Disney with my beloved Arthurian legends!    Now, I spent the entire film thoroughly enjoying myself but eagerly anticipating the appearance of Madam Mim.   It had been so long, that I had forgotten how little screen time she actually had, so my wait for her to appear was longer than I originally anticipated.   

She did not disappoint when she appeared, as she has the best song in the entire film, and is so chaotic in her shapeshifting and Glamour Magick!    She is at least as powerful as Merlin, or possibly more so, but she is very overconfident, which is why she is thwarted by Merlin in the end.   It is quite clear that she is based in large part on some of the more evil and wicked interpretations of Morgan le Fay when she is the antagonist and supreme Baddie of the Arthuriad.   However, I realized while watching it this last time, that she could also be at least partially based on Nimue, with her name seeming to be a variant of Nimue’s.   With Nimue being a Lady of the Lake, she is intimately connected to Morgan le Fay already, and beyond that, Madam Mim’s Wizard Battle with Merlin seems like it can be a reference to the Beguiling of Merlin and his betrayal by Nimue (or Vivien depending on the version of the legends).    I thought that Madam Mim possibly having this additional connection to Arthurian Faery Women was really intriguing!   She clearly used magick rooted in Faery, with her primary magickal abilities showcased as shapeshifting and Glamour Magick, both very prevalent in old Faerylore.   She used Glamour Magick to shift her appearance to having a pig snout, and even when she made herself appear young and lovely (as I count that as Glamour Magick over true shapeshifting).    Of course, Madam Mim did plenty of shapeshifting during her final showdown with Merlin!   We even get to see her transform into a Dragon, not once but twice!   I think it is ideal that she chose a Dragon as one of the animals she shapeshifted into, as it tied in a reference to Merlin’s prediction about the two Dragons fighting beneath Dinas Emrys, and the fact that the Dragon is the symbol of Arthur’s line, the Pendragons! 

While Madam Mim is not directly a traditional Arthurian figure, she certainly has the energy of some of the greatest antagonists of the legends.   I acknowledge that this very interesting and colorful Arthurian antagonist.   I hope you have enjoyed reading some of my thoughts on Mad Madam Mim.   Do you enjoy Madam Mim as an antagonist as much as I do?   Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!  

Note on Image: The image at the top of the post is the many transformations of Madam Mim.   I found the image on https://www.instagram.com/disneyanimation/p/CuXFzdzSfM_/. 

Tarot Note: I have 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 Watching/Reading