Fairies and Enchantresses of Medieval Literature

Magic and magical beings are present in many medieval works, from powerful enchantresses and witches, to otherworldly fairies. Today, I’m talking about four characters who I believe start to illustrate the world of medieval magic: Dame Tryamour, Mélusine, Melior, and Medea. In each way, they represent fairies, human sorceresses and everything in between. (Morgan le Fay and the Lady of the Lake are each getting their own video, that’s why they weren’t included in this discussion!)
There is a lot more to talk about when it comes to medieval magic, so here are some sources if you would like to learn more:

Sources:

Primary:
Chaucer, Geoffrey, The Riverside Chaucer, ed. by Larry D. Benson, 3rd edn (Oxford:Oxford University Press 2008).
Bødtker, Adam Frefrik Trampe, Partonope de Blois (Milwood, NY: Kraus Reprint Co., 1973)
Donald, Alexander Karley. Melusine (London: Pub. for the Early English Text Society, 1895)
Sir Launfal: https://d.lib.rochester.edu/teams/tex...

Secondary:
Corinne Saunders. Magic and the Supernatural in Medieval English Romance (2010, D.S. Brewer)
Heidi Breuer. Crafting the Witch: Gendering Magic in Medieval and Early Modern England (2009, Routledge)
James Wade. Fairies in Medieval Romance (2011, Palgrave Macmillan)
Ruth Morse, The Medieval Medea (Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 1996)
Sophie Page and Catherine Rider, ed. The Routledge history of Medieval Magic (2019, Routledge)
https://www.middleenglishromance.org....
https://www.middleenglishromance.org....

Some of the images used in the video are from the wonderful British Library illuminated manuscript site, and you can find them all and explore them using the link below:

https://www.bl.uk/catalogues/illumina...

Additional 10290
Harley 4867
Harley 1766
Royal 14 E V
Harley 4418
Harley 4418
Royal 19 B XIII
Additional 62925
Additional 15229
Royal 16 G V
Additional 10293

Other manuscripts used:
Dis ouentürlich buch bewiset wie von einer frauwen genantt Melusina ... ([Strassburg, ca 1477]) C.8.i.5.
Bnf Français 24383
Harley 978

0:00 Magic in medieval literature
1:44 Dame Tryamour
4:02 Mélusine
6:21 Melior
9:35 Medea
13:00 Final Thoughts

Music:Tavern Loop One by Alexander Nakarada (www.serpentsoundstudios.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons BY Attribution 4.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/b...