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"He’s a stranger here, your majesty... he couldn’t possibly know."
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The Lady of the Green Kirtle, also called the Queen of Underland, the Green-Witch, the Witch-Queen, or (to differentiate her from the White Witch) the Emerald Witch, was a beautiful but villainous sorceress who ruled the Shallow Lands, a country she had magically created underneath Narnia, Ettinsmoor and the Wild Lands of the North.
Her origins are unknown, but has a human appearance, much like Jadis. She had the extraordinary ability to transform into a great green serpent.
She was responsible for the abduction of Prince Rilian, son of Narnia's King Caspian X, and the death of Rilian's mother, the Narnian queen, in Narnian year 2345.
The Green Witch, planning to conquer Narnia with an army of Earthmen and to rule beside a puppet King Rilian, kept Prince Rilian in captivity for six years, imprisoning him through an ongoing enchantment that she regularly renewed using a magical device called the silver chair.
She owned a white horse called Snowflake, which she rode sometimes in Overland, while Rilian rode his horse Coalblack.
Biography[]
The Witch's origins and her true name are unknown. She did, however, claim that she was of a divine race that knew neither age nor death, had been born in ancient times, and had been present when the Ruined City of the Ancient Giants was still standing. She may, therefore, have been connected with the fall of the city in the Witch Country, west of the Wild Lands of the North. She was apparently an ally and visitor of the Gentle Giants who lived in Harfang. At some point she magically created the realm of Underland, and conquered the lower realm of Bism, forcing the gnomes of Bism to serve her absolutely.
A map of Underland, the Witch's Realm
The Witch set her sights on the southern realm of Narnia, deciding to take it for her own. In the furtherance of that goal, she (as the Green Serpent) attacked and killed the Queen of Narnia, the wife of King Caspian X. When the Queen's son Prince Rilian rode out to avenge his mother, the Witch appeared to him several times in human form, seducing and bewitching him. She set an enchantment upon him so that he lost all memory and became entirely submissive to her. These events took place around 2335, when the prince was around twenty years old and newly knighted.
For ten years, the Witch kept Rilian under her spell. For one hour of every day, he would remember who he really was, and at these times she would bind him to an enchanted Silver Chair to prevent him from escaping. At the end of the hour, the enchantment returned. During this time, the Witch also enchanted the Prince into asking her to marry him.
The Lady of the Green Kirtle in serpent form, trying to kill Rilian.
After ten years, their plans to burrow into the realm of Narnia and take it with an army of gnomes were nearly complete. One day the Witch discovered three travelers, two humans and a marsh-wiggle, blindly attempting to rescue Rilian. She sent them to the house of Harfang, knowing that the giants there would cook and devour them. A few days later, the Witch spent a night supervising the last of the diggings. Upon her return to her palace in Underland, she found Rilian free and aware of the true situation, and with him his rescuers, the two humans, Jill Pole and Eustace Scrubb, and Puddleglum the Marsh-wiggle, who had escaped the giants.
She pretended to be welcoming, and tried at first to use magic to enchant them all, weakening their minds with the scent of magic powder and thrumming an instrument while asking impossible questions and twisting their answers. She was almost able to convince all four that there was no world other than her Underworld. However, she was defeated by Puddleglum, who bravely stamped out her fire and soundly declared his allegiance to Narnia and Aslan. The intoxicating odor of the magical powder was thus disrupted by the smell of burnt Marsh-wiggle, and the humans' minds were freed of her spell. Outraged, the Witch morphed into a monstrous green serpent and attacked Rilian, but was hacked to pieces by the Prince, Eustace, and Puddleglum.
After her death, the gnomes were freed and returned to Bism, and the realm of Underland was turned into a local attraction for adventurous Narnians.
Appearance[]
The Witch was beautiful and charming. At all times, she wore a fluttering poison-green dress. When she turned into a serpent she had scales of the same color. Her voice and laugh were said to be lovely and trilling while she enchanted people.
Character[]
The Witch was both proud and shrewd, as many witches are. She seemed to have a taste for dramatic spell-casting and enchantments, her plans being elaborate and ostentatious. She was extremely cruel and was very dangerous when aroused. She had, however, much patience, and was able to control her emotions and reactions most of the time.
Skills/Powers[]
The Lady of the Green Kirtle and her Black Knight, mounted on their steeds Snowflake and Coalblack.
The Green Witch exhibited her own unique power, by being able to transform herself into a giant green serpent. In this shape, she possessed great strength and the ability to restrain a man in her coils, as well as deadly venom. Being a witch, she was very proficient in using magic and casting spells.
She also possessed a mandolin-like instrument, which she used to produce a monotonous thrumming that made it hard for people to think clearly, causing its listeners to feel sedated. A similar effect was achieved by a green powder that she threw on the fire, which produced a sweet, drowsy smell. These two used together, along with her words, nearly caused Eustace, Jill, Rilian and Puddleglum to forget all about Narnia and Aslan. However, her enchantment of Rilian was not lasting, and had to be renewed each night by binding him to the silver chair. Additionally, the Lady of the Green Kirtle did not age, although she could be killed by normal means.
Appearances[]
Film Portrayals[]
Barbara Kellerman as Lady Green in the BBC version of The Silver Chair, 1990
- In the BBC 1990 TV version of The Silver Chair, she was played by Barbara Kellerman, the same actress who played the White Witch.
Trivia[]
- The Lady of the Green Kirtle was believed by the Owls to have been a relative of Jadis, the White Witch. Perhaps because of this, in the BBC television series, Jadis and the Lady of the Green Kirtle are both played by Barbara Kellerman.
- Her behavior is similar to that of a huldra from Norse mythology. The huldra is an alluring seductress that lures men underground. These men sometimes forget that they are human (like Rilian forgot he was a Narnian). Her appearance, however, is not like that of a huldra. They have cow or fox tails and/or a "hollow back."
- She is like Morgana le Fay in the Arthurian Legend, as both are powerful sorceresses and transformed into a serpent before they were killed.
- In The Voyage of the Dawn Treader 2010 film version, in the DVD commentary, it is confirmed that she is the one responsible for the Green Mist. The producers/directors mention that they needed a villain, and that it was never stated in the Silver Chair book whatever happened to all the people that went missing, looking for the prince.
- Being based on mythological serpents in both appearance and characteristic behaviors, it is suggested that she is of Narnian origin.
- It is possible that she is based on the Naga or the Medusa.