"That shall I give you gladly," said the Green Knight then;
"Bercilak de Hautdesert this barony I hold,
Through the might of Morgan le Faye, that lodges at my house,
By subtleties of science and sorcerers' arts,
The mistress of Merlin, she has caught many a man,
For sweet love in secret she shared sometime With that wizard,
that knows well each one of your knights and you.
Morgan the Goddess, she, So styled by title true;
None holds so high degree That her arts cannot subdue.
"She guided me in this guise to your glorious hall,
To assay, if such it were, the surfeit of pride
That is rumored of the retinue of the Round Table.
She put this shape upon me to puzzle your wits,
To afflict the fair queen, and frighten her to death
With awe of that elvish man that eerily spoke
With his head in his hand before the high table.