Lady of the Green Kirtle

Overview

The Green Lady kidnapped Prince Rilian, son of King Caspian X, and fatally poisoned his mother, Ramandu's daughter. She planned to conquer Narnia from underground, using the enslaved prince as her general. Aware that Eustace, Jill, and Puddleglum were sent to rescue Rilian, she met them as they headed north and directed them to the giants' castle Harfang for the Autumn Feast, knowing that man-pies were a traditional dish there. When the three arrived in her domain, she used hypnotic magic to dull their senses, nearly convincing them that Narnia and Earth did not exist. Puddleglum countered the illusion. She then transformed into a giant green serpent; Rilian recognized it as the creature that killed his mother and struck off her head.

The Green Lady and the White Witch

The story never clarifies the Green Lady's origin or identity. The Silver Chair includes her among several Northern Witches, a group that evidently also includes Jadis, the White Witch. Some readers believe Jadis and the Lady of the Green Kirtle are the same person, but Jadis was slain by Aslan centuries earlier in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, and Lewis never describes her resurrection. This speculation is reinforced by character sketches in later editions of the books; one sketch describes Jadis as completely evil, even in The Silver Chair.

Since the Lady of the Green Kirtle appears in that book, some conclude the sketch refers to her. This theory influenced adaptations; for example, actress Barbara Kellerman portrayed both the White Witch and the Green Lady in the BBC series. However, the sketches are recent additions not written by Lewis and are not supported by his text. Lewis scholar Peter Schakel writes that the sketch states incorrectly that the Queen of Underland is an embodiment of Jadis.

The mechanics of how Jadis could return are never made clear. In Prince Caspian, Nikabrik suggests the White Witch could be resurrected, but this plan is never tested. The Magician's Nephew relates that Jadis gained immortality by eating a magic apple, but most of that prequel was written after Prince Caspian, and the text never follows up on it.

Literary inspirations

Some scholars connect the Lady of the Green Kirtle to the snake-woman in John Keats's poem Lamia. She appears as both a beautiful woman in a green dress and a serpent. Her transformation, with arms pinned and legs twisting together into a tail, mirrors the way Satan becomes a snake in Milton's Paradise Lost.

Adaptations

Barbara Kellerman, who also played the White Witch, took on the role of the Lady of the Green Kirtle in the 1990 BBC adaptation of The Chronicles of Narnia. Though she never appears on screen, the DVD commentary for the 2010 film The Voyage of the Dawn Treader reveals that the Green Mist was controlled by this same character. A fan contest on the official Narnia website in July 2014 offered the chance to give her a name, with Mark Gordon and David Magee set to choose the winner for the ultimately cancelled film version of The Silver Chair.