By: Kai Krajeck
Stories of witches have captivated audiences through the centuries. They weren’t often the lovable magic-bearing characters that we are familiar with today, though, like Glinda the Good or Hermione Granger. Instead, magical women traditionally have been portrayed as the antagonistic temptress or homicidal monstress. The purpose of this page is to look at this traditional role of the magical woman in the Medieval Arthurian cannon, specifically in the two epic romance poems, Lanval, and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.
The Arthurian Romance
Epic poems like Lanval and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight are stories about knights in the court of the legendary King Arthur. These poems came out of the epic tradition and became a new genre called romance. This genre centers around a hero whose adventures throughout the epic lead him to become a better person in his courtly life. The genre also features other elements of court life such as knights, kings, lords and ladies, and often fae creatures or other elements of the supernatural. This genre is interchangeably called Arthurian Romances, Chivalric Romances, or simply epic romances as well.
Romantic Epics and Magic
Romantic epics are often characterized by the supernatural elements: “In romance, engagement with the magical or marvelous, whether fearful or wish-fulfilling, is expected in order to provide escape from the humdrum” (Saunders). Magic in this genre allows for greater suspension of disbelief and exoticism; both the supernatural beings within the literature and the nature of literature itself often promise outcomes beyond the capabilities of normal reality.
Magic as a Product of its Time
The magic in this period and genre are a product of the history of the nation it was written in; in many instances, the supernatural world is represented by the otherworld of faery, which combines many of the historical traditions that influenced the formation of Britain as whole. For example, the magics combine traditions of the classical underworld of Greek and Roman mythology, and Celtic and Germanic folklore characters. Further, the rise of Christianity also offered magical elements to the romantic lore, especially with the bible’s depictions of a spirit world beyond the reach of humans—a familiar element when considering the faery world of Arthurian romance (Saunders).
It is also important to highlight the types of magic depicted in this genre are usually limited to natural magics and illusion (Saunders). Usually represented by medicine, shapeshifting, or temporal projections, these forms of magic highlight the limits of human will on the body and the brain.
Magic and Gender
The hero of epic romances is most often a knight, and almost always male. As characters of action, men make up the practical “chivalry” aspect of the chivalric romance. Women in this genre conversely represent the emotional side, and are often written and used to test the hero in their chivalric virtues (such as honor, loyalty etc.) (OEB).
Looking back into the history of Britain and how it affected this genre, as the power of the Catholic Church increased in the Medieval age, opportunities for women became even more limiting. Often operating within the home, women most commonly were responsible for tending to health issues such as common sicknesses, injuries, and women in labor. This all began to change after the publication of Heinrich Kramer’s 1487 book Malleus Maleficarum (Hammer of Witches). This marked the change to the more commonly recognized female “witch” who used demonic magic. Kramer suggests that women’s inferior intelligence and “uncontrolled sexuality” makes them more susceptible to be controlled by the devil (Oxenham).
Many of the Arthurian romance epics, however, were written long before this. In this early medieval era, women were not yet demonized for their magic. The kinder “faery” mistress motif as depicted in the likes of “Lanval” seems to stem simply from Celtic mythology. In the Celtic tradition, a magical woman from an otherworldly realm chooses a noble man as her lover and requires a promise or prohibition of him (Oxenham). Nonetheless, the intentions of the “witch” of later Medieval tradition, or the “faery” of Celtic tradition are both driven by their sexuality in combination with their use and power of illusion.
Works Cited
Looney, Dennis. “Epic and Romance – Renaissance and Reformation” Oxford Bibliographies, Oxford University Press, 23 Oct. 2019, https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780195399301/obo-9780195399301-0155.xml.
Oxenham, Helen. “The Sinful Feminine.” Perceptions of Femininity in Early Irish Society. New edition ed., Boydell and Brewer, Woodbridge, Suffolk, UK; Rochester, NY, USA, 2016, pp. 155–184. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/10.7722/j.ctt19x3hdn.10.
Saunders, Corinne. “Epilogue: Towards the Renaissance.” Magic and the Supernatural in Medieval English Romance. NED – New edition ed., Boydell and Brewer, 2010, pp. 261–265. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/10.7722/j.ctt14brqtb.12.
For more reading see: Magic and Gender in Lanval