Lady of the Green Kirtle facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Lady of the Green Kirtle
Narnia character
The Lady of the Green Kirtle, as portrayed by Barbara Kellerman in the 1990 BBC miniseries
Information
Race	Unknown (Northern Witch)
Title	Queen of Underland
Nationality	Underland

The Lady of the Green Kirtle is a powerful and evil witch. She is the main villain in The Silver Chair, a book from The Chronicles of Narnia series by C. S. Lewis. People also call her the Queen of Underland. Sometimes, she is simply known as the Green Lady or the Emerald Witch.

This mysterious witch used her magic to control Prince Rilian of Narnia. She also enslaved many gnomes, who are small, magical creatures. Her big plan was to use them to take over Narnia. But three brave friends of Aslan stopped her. These heroes were Eustace Scrubb, Jill Pole, and Puddleglum.

About the Green Lady

The Green Lady is a very dangerous witch. She kidnapped Prince Rilian, who is the son of King Caspian X. She also poisoned Rilian's mother, Ramandu's daughter, causing her death. The Lady wanted to conquer Narnia from her secret kingdom deep underground. She planned to use the prince, who was under her spell, as her army leader.

She knew that Eustace, Jill, and Puddleglum were coming to rescue Rilian. She met them as they traveled north from Narnia. The witch cleverly tricked them. She told them to go to the giants' castle, Harfang, for a big feast. She also told them to say she sent her greetings to the giants. The Green Lady knew that "man-pies" were a traditional dish at this feast. She hoped the giants would eat the heroes, getting rid of her enemies easily.

However, the three friends did not get eaten. They unexpectedly found their way into the Green Lady's own underground kingdom. There, she tried to use her magic to confuse them. She wanted to make them forget about Narnia and even Earth. She almost succeeded in making them believe these places were not real. But Puddleglum, a brave Marsh-wiggle, fought against her magic. He helped his friends remember the truth.

Finally, the Green Lady used her shapeshifting power. She turned into a giant green serpent. Prince Rilian recognized this serpent form. It was the same snake that had killed his mother ten years earlier. After a short fight, the prince bravely cut off the serpent's head, defeating the Green Lady.

Green Lady and the White Witch

The books do not clearly explain who the Green Lady really is. We also don't know where she came from. The Silver Chair mentions her as one of several "Northern Witches." This group seems to include Jadis, who was the evil White Witch. Some readers think that Jadis and the Lady of the Green Kirtle are the same person.

However, Jadis was killed by Aslan many years earlier. This happened in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Lewis never wrote that Jadis came back to life. Some later versions of the books have character descriptions. One description says Jadis was "completely evil, even in The Silver Chair." Since the Green Lady is in The Silver Chair, some people thought this meant they were the same.

But these character descriptions were not written by C. S. Lewis. They were added later. Lewis's original stories do not support this idea. A Narnia expert named Peter Schakel says that this character sketch is incorrect. He states that the Queen of Underland is not Jadis.

In Prince Caspian, some characters like Nikabrik suggest that the White Witch could be brought back to life. They say, "who ever heard of a witch that really died?" But this plan is never actually tried in Lewis's books. A movie version of Prince Caspian does show a ritual that starts to bring Jadis back. But the spell is broken.

The Magician's Nephew is a prequel to the Narnia series. It explains that Jadis became immortal by eating a magic apple. This book was written after Prince Caspian. So, while it might offer a way for Jadis to return, the story never follows up on it.

Adaptations

The Lady of the Green Kirtle has appeared in different versions of the Narnia stories.

• In the 1990 BBC TV show The Chronicles of Narnia, Barbara Kellerman played the Lady of the Green Kirtle. This same actress also played the White Witch in the series.
• In the 2010 movie The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, the DVD commentary says the Green Mist was caused by the Lady of the Green Kirtle. However, she is not actually seen in the film.
• In 2014, the official Narnia website asked fans to suggest a name for the Lady of the Green Kirtle. The winning name was going to be used in a planned movie version of The Silver Chair. However, that movie was later cancelled.

See also

In Spanish: Dama de la Saya Verde para niños