SOURCE: Friedman, Albert B. “Morgan le Fay in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.” 1960. In “Sir Gawain” and “Pearl”: Critical Essays, edited by Robert J. Blanch, pp. 135-58. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1966.

In the following essay, originally published in 1960, Friedman examines Morgan le Fay's role in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, presenting a comparative analysis of various critical interpretations of her importance in the story.

“Le joyau de la littérature anglaise du moyen âge,” as Gaston Paris called Sir Gawain and the Green Knight,¹ is obviously flawed in one crucial passage. When the giant has brought his ax down for the third time and cut a token gash in Gawain's neck, the hero bounds away from the block, and, after his temper has cooled, hears in astonished relief the Green Knight's explanation of why he had come to court to challenge Arthur's knights. The ancient lady...