1. “Indeed,” said the doughty knight, and doffed his high helm, And held it in his hands as he offered his thanks, “I have lingered long enough—may good luck be yours, And He reward you well that all worship bestows! And commend me to that comely one, your courteous wife, Both herself and that other, my honoured ladies, That have trapped their true knight in their trammels so quaint. But if a dullard should dote, deem it no wonder, And through the wiles of a woman be wooed into sorrow, For so was Adam by one, when the world began, And Solomon by many more, and Samson the mighty— Delilah was his doom, and David thereafter Now these were vexed by their devices—‘twere a very joy Was beguiled by Bathsheba, and bore much distress; Could one but learn to love, and believe them not. For these were proud princes, most prosperous of old, Past all lovers lucky, that languished under heaven, bemused. And one al all fell prey To women that they had used. If I be led astray, Methinks I may be excused. (SGGK 2407-28)

3. Guenevere

4. Virgin Mary

5. GuenevereVirgin Mary Two queens

6. GuenevereVirgin Mary They refer to their men: Guenevere to Arthur (73-84), Mary to Christ (644-50) Two queens

7. GuenevereVirgin Mary “Lady Bercilak” They refer to their men: Guenevere to Arthur (73-84), Mary to Christ (644-50) Two queens

8. GuenevereVirgin Mary “Lady Bercilak” 943-54 “wener than Wenore” They refer to their men: Guenevere to Arthur (73-84), Mary to Christ (644-50) Two queens

9. GuenevereVirgin Mary “Lady Bercilak” 943-54 “wener than Wenore” Lady replaces Guenevere at the second Christmas feast They refer to their men: Guenevere to Arthur (73-84), Mary to Christ (644-50) Two queens

10. GuenevereVirgin Mary Morgan le Fay “Lady Bercilak” 943-54 “wener than Wenore” Lady replaces Guenevere at the second Christmas feast They refer to their men: Guenevere to Arthur (73-84), Mary to Christ (644-50) Two queens

11. GuenevereVirgin Mary Morgan le Fay “Lady Bercilak” 943-54 “wener than Wenore” Lady replaces Guenevere at the second Christmas feast They refer to their men: Guenevere to Arthur (73-84), Mary to Christ (644-50) Two queens Twinned descriptions in second fitt

12. GuenevereVirgin Mary Morgan le Fay “Lady Bercilak” 943-54 “wener than Wenore” Lady replaces Guenevere at the second Christmas feast They refer to their men: Guenevere to Arthur (73-84), Mary to Christ (644-50) Two queens Twinned descriptions in second fitt If it’s Morgan’s plan, the lady is in her service

13. GuenevereVirgin Mary Morgan le Fay “Lady Bercilak” 943-54 “wener than Wenore” Lady replaces Guenevere at the second Christmas feast They refer to their men: Guenevere to Arthur (73-84), Mary to Christ (644-50) Two queens Twinned descriptions in second fitt If it’s Morgan’s plan, the lady is in her service

14. GuenevereVirgin Mary Morgan le Fay “Lady Bercilak” 943-54 “wener than Wenore” Lady replaces Guenevere at the second Christmas feast They refer to their men: Guenevere to Arthur (73-84), Mary to Christ (644-50) Two queens Twinned descriptions in second fitt If it’s Morgan’s plan, the lady is in her service Gawain’s aunt and patroness

15. GuenevereVirgin Mary Morgan le Fay “Lady Bercilak” 943-54 “wener than Wenore” Lady replaces Guenevere at the second Christmas feast They refer to their men: Guenevere to Arthur (73-84), Mary to Christ (644-50) Two queens Powerful, supernatural figures Twinned descriptions in second fitt If it’s Morgan’s plan, the lady is in her service Gawain’s aunt and patroness

16. GuenevereVirgin Mary Morgan le Fay “Lady Bercilak” 943-54 “wener than Wenore” Lady replaces Guenevere at the second Christmas feast They refer to their men: Guenevere to Arthur (73-84), Mary to Christ (644-50) Two queens Powerful, supernatural figures Twinned descriptions in second fitt If it’s Morgan’s plan, the lady is in her service Gawain’s aunt and patroness

17. GuenevereVirgin Mary Morgan le Fay “Lady Bercilak” 943-54 “wener than Wenore” Lady replaces Guenevere at the second Christmas feast They refer to their men: Guenevere to Arthur (73-84), Mary to Christ (644-50) Two queens Powerful, supernatural figures Twinned descriptions in second fitt If it’s Morgan’s plan, the lady is in her service They surround Gawain at the mid- point (1263) Gawain’s aunt and patroness

18. GuenevereVirgin Mary Morgan le Fay “Lady Bercilak” 943-54 “wener than Wenore” Lady replaces Guenevere at the second Christmas feast They refer to their men: Guenevere to Arthur (73-84), Mary to Christ (644-50) Two queens Powerful, supernatural figures Twinned descriptions in second fitt If it’s Morgan’s plan, the lady is in her service 1768-72 Mary and Lady “compete” for Gawain They surround Gawain at the mid- point (1263) Gawain’s aunt and patroness

19. GuenevereVirgin Mary Morgan le Fay “Lady Bercilak” 943-54 “wener than Wenore” Lady replaces Guenevere at the second Christmas feast They refer to their men: Guenevere to Arthur (73-84), Mary to Christ (644-50) Two queens Powerful, supernatural figures Twinned descriptions in second fitt If it’s Morgan’s plan, the lady is in her service Silent presences at court 1768-72 Mary and Lady “compete” for Gawain They surround Gawain at the mid- point (1263) Gawain’s aunt and patroness

20. GuenevereVirgin Mary Morgan le Fay “Lady Bercilak” 943-54 “wener than Wenore” Lady replaces Guenevere at the second Christmas feast They refer to their men: Guenevere to Arthur (73-84), Mary to Christ (644-50) Two queens Powerful, supernatural figures Twinned descriptions in second fitt If it’s Morgan’s plan, the lady is in her service Placed in the margins, at beginning and end Silent presences at court 1768-72 Mary and Lady “compete” for Gawain They surround Gawain at the mid- point (1263) Gawain’s aunt and patroness

21. GuenevereVirgin Mary Morgan le Fay “Lady Bercilak” 943-54 “wener than Wenore” Lady replaces Guenevere at the second Christmas feast They refer to their men: Guenevere to Arthur (73-84), Mary to Christ (644-50) Two queens Powerful, supernatural figures Twinned descriptions in second fitt If it’s Morgan’s plan, the lady is in her service Placed in the margins, at beginning and end Silent presences at court 1768-72 Mary and Lady “compete” for Gawain They surround Gawain at the mid- point (1263) Gawain’s aunt and patroness

22. GuenevereVirgin Mary Morgan le Fay “Lady Bercilak” 943-54 “wener than Wenore” Lady replaces Guenevere at the second Christmas feast They refer to their men: Guenevere to Arthur (73-84), Mary to Christ (644-50) Two queens Powerful, supernatural figures Twinned descriptions in second fitt If it’s Morgan’s plan, the lady is in her service Placed in the margins, at beginning and end Silent presences at court 1768-72 Mary and Lady “compete” for Gawain They surround Gawain at the mid- point (1263) Gawain’s aunt and patroness

23. GuenevereVirgin Mary Morgan le Fay “Lady Bercilak” 943-54 “wener than Wenore” Lady replaces Guenevere at the second Christmas feast They refer to their men: Guenevere to Arthur (73-84), Mary to Christ (644-50) Two queens Powerful, supernatural figures Twinned descriptions in second fitt If it’s Morgan’s plan, the lady is in her service Placed in the margins, at beginning and end Silent presences at court 1768-72 Mary and Lady “compete” for Gawain They surround Gawain at the mid- point (1263) Gawain’s aunt and patroness

25. Morgan, named "the goddess," directs an emissary to the Arthurian court to trigger a drama whose intended destination is Guenevere, the secular queen who is the desired audience or reader of its effects. A player, Gawain, is drawn into Morgan's game, under the apparent patronage of the "heaven-queen," the Blessed Virgin. In the course of his journey, Gawain's supplication to this Christian goddess for a safe residence in which to perform Christian religious rites, a plaint invoking the sacred name of his mistress, Mary (736-39, 754), seems to occasion the appearance of the castle where an aggressively secular courtly mistress (the nameless lady) resides--the scene for the performance of amatory rites. There a feminine game of seduction is enacted, a seduction of language and identity that forms the principle aventure of this romance, but its precise outcome and consequences are veiled from the knightly participant's understanding, being hidden within the screen game of a masculine economy of exchanges. The Lady marks Gawain with her personal sign--a "love-lace," or sexualized signifier, which is later disseminated throughout the Arthurian court--as well as with a small neck-wound, a token cut that leaves a scar. The end limit of her play is signaled by the Virgin's rescue of "her knight" from "great peril." Finally, when the feminine sub-script is read to him, Gawain in self-defensive fury attributes all responsibility and power to women, in what is commonly cited as his "antifeminist diatribe," a tirade witnessing the belief that women dominate and shape the destines of men. Morgan's signature in the drama is deciphered by the Green Knight, who unravels it backward to the beginning of the poem's action. from Geraldine Heng, "Feminine Knots and the Other Sir Gawain and the Green Knight," PMLA 106 (1991): 500-14.