Nathair

"It's a Nathair, from the mountains of Asgaard. Harmless enough most of the time, but with a little persuasion, it can cause a man pain beyond all imagining."

- Morgana to Elyan

The Nathair is a serpent-like creature from the Mountains of Asgorath. It's harmless most of the time but with a little magical persuasion it can torture victims to the limit of human endurance, as stated by Morgana and Gaius.

History
Morgana uses a Nathair on Elyan to find out where Arthur is hiding after she conquers Camelot for a second time. She enchants the snake with this spell: "Unmicel snaca, suge þa soþan... swilcnesse" and has it bite Elyan several times. When the knight is brought back to his cell he is catatonic and Gaius is able to recognise the serpent's bites on Elyan's neck. The serpent serves its purpose well, as Elyan can't handle the pain and eventually tells Morgana Arthur's whereabouts (The Sword in the Stone).

After having captured Alator of the Catha, a High Priest trained from birth to  master all physical pain and separate his mind from his body, Morgana took Alator to her fortress to torture him and force him to reveal Emrys' real identity. The High Priestess used a Nathair, since it could cause the most "exquisite" pain, not in the body of the victim, but in his very soul, and not even Alator could separate his mind from his mind. Anyway, Alator's will was too strong for Morgana to break and so, after having learned that there was one other person who knew of Emrys' secret, she killed him by breaking the Priest's neck with a stunning spell (The Kindness of Strangers).

The same Nathair was also used by the High Priestess to torture Gwaine, who had been captured by Morgana, along with his friend Percival, when the trap they had set for the Witch failed. Morgana forced him to reveal Arthur's whereabouts and then left him to die; the knight passed away due to the fatal wounds shortly after the sorceress' departure, in Percival's arms (The Diamond of the Day: Part Two).

Appearances

 * Series 4
 * The Sword in the Stone: Part One


 * Series 5
 * The Kindness of Strangers
 * The Diamond of the Day: Part Two