Comparison Of Sir Gawain And The Green Knight

Home to the Arthurian legend, the mythological character Morgan le Fay holds vast depictions and alternating characteristics. Morgan le Fay is a powerful witch, seen to be a healer or villain based on the source of the literature. Summoned from Celtic mythology, her name sheds light on her magical roots as “le Fay” directly translates to “the fairy”. Within Arthurian Romance, Morgan is seen to be King Arthur's half-sister and his enemy as well (Pace University). She is first introduced in “Vita Merlini” by Geoffrey of Monmouth as a healer and ruler represented in a positive light. However, with the heavy influence of Christianity in the Middle Ages, she began to be represented as a beacon of evil and sexuality due to her close relationship

However, in the film adaptation of the well-known poem, Morgan le Fay is seen as a more complex character forced to be a necessary evil. In both the poem “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” and its movie adaptation The Green Knight, Morgan le Fay plays a prominent but differing role for each.

Throughout the poem “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”, Morgan le Fay maintains a God-like position as she is seen manipulating the situations without getting directly involved. Unlike God wanting a positive outcome, Morgan’s hatred towards her half-brother, King Arthur, triggered her harmful motives for sending the Green Knight and Lord. Ultimately, she wanted King Arthur to face ultimate grief, and she believed this would be done by frightening Guinevere to death and shaming his court. Failing to frighten Guinevere to death with Green Knight’s arrival at the court, she was determined to test Arthur’s leading knight, Sir Gawain. Although Morgan lacked any direct interaction with Sir Gawain, she was involved in one of his

In this fictional world, nature and magic seem to go hand in hand, clearly seen by the Green Knight’s wildness attachment. The story of Sir Gawain and Green Knight shows the contrast between humanity and nature and the necessity of separating from materialistic tendencies. In Lyanda Lynn Haupt’s book “Rooted: Life at the Crossroads of Science, Nature, and Spirit”, she sheds light on how to be fully immersed in nature, one must be detached from human tendencies (Haupt 74). As seen in the poem, Gawain doesn’t return the green girdle and is punished by nature “the Green Knight” but in the movie, once he lets it go he is able to live. Morgan’s care for the environment could have been another reason to send the Green Knight to steer her son to the right path. As with the involvement of the Green Knight, Gawain is finally able to let go of materialistic objects and accept the unstoppable force of nature. In both the film and poem, Morgan le Fay depends on nature to complete her mission. This is seen with her creation of the Green Knight, a being of wilderness and the natural world, changing of weather, and even her transformation to a fox to guide her son. In order to achieve their goals, both Morgan le Fays manipulate the natural