Welcome to day four of the Green Knight Week here at White Rose of Avalon, my Darlings!    Today’s post is about how Faery Glamour is utilized in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.   The Faery Glamour in this tale is not really referred to as such by name, but more so stated as an Enchantment by Morgan le Fay.   However, as Morgan le Fay is a Faery Queen, this appearance-altering Enchantment is most certainly Faery Glamour.   For those who do not know what Faery Glamour is, it is the ability of the Fae to use Magick to change how something, someone, or they themselves appear.

We learn at the end of the poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight that the Green Knight was, in fact, Sir Bertilak all along.   Sir Bertilak, in his guise as the Green Knight, explains how he came to make his appearance at Arthur’s Court the previous year to Gawain after he had succeeded in his Quest.   Morgan le Fay had cast an Enchantment on Sir Bertilak to make him appear as the Green Knight to go off to the Court of Camelot to test the Court to see if the Court of Camelot was really as prideful as she believed.   She also wanted to see if the appearance of the Green Knight would scare Guinevere to death!   This is what led to Gawain being tested in this way because he was willing to set aside any pride and instead protect and defend Arthur and Camelot by taking up the Green Knight’s challenge.

Sir Bertilak does go on to explain that Morgan le Fay had also been at his castle with Gawain all along, herself in a Faery Glamour to appear as the old woman who spent so much time with Sir Bertilak’s wife.   This also serves to explain why that old woman was obviously held in such regard by Bertilak and his Lady, as they had the utmost respect for Morgan le Fay.   In fact, Sir Bertilak literally refers to Morgan le Fay as ‘Morgan the Goddess’ in this poem!   Her power is really at the heart of this tale, with the acknowledgment that she was trained and had well learned the skills of magick from Merlin, with even the hint that Morgan le Fay had become more powerful than him by that time.   The line ‘None power and pride possess too high for him to tame’ shows that she had likely surpassed Merlin in renown!   With what is a relatively short passage in the poem, it is revealed that Morgan le Fay was pulling the strings all along and setting the plot into motion.   After all, none of the events of the tale would have transpired had Morgan le Fay never cast a Faery Glamour on Sir Bertilak to turn him into the Green Knight and send him off to Camelot!    

I hope you have enjoyed this short analysis of Morgan le Fay and her Faery Glamour that was placed on Sir Bertilak.   What is your favorite aspect of the relationship between Morgan le Fay and the Green Knight?   Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

Note on Image: The image at the top of the post is an illustration of the Green Knight entering Camelot.   I found the picture on https://mweisz52.wordpress.com/2013/09/28/the-life-and-times-of-morgan-la-fay/.       

LINK TO AVALONIAN ROSE FAERY MYSTERIES PATREON: patreon.com/AvalonianRoseFaeryMysteries 

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: I am absolutely thrilled to announce that I will be doing my first-ever Herbal Tea Blending Class on December 29, 2024!   This is a live event hosted at the shop Phoenix Lane.   Here is the link to the event on Facebook if you are interested in learning from me in person: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/19hU6vdFm3/

Further Reading

• Sir Gawain and the Green Knight translated by J.R.R. Tolkien