Edmund Spenser, who went from an impoverished upbringing to a celebrated English poet, is the author of The Faerie Queene. The epic, as the word implies, is long. The first three books came out in 1590, and the next three books arrived in 1596. The work is an allegory; each book symbolizes one of the moral virtues advocated by the Greek philosopher Aristotle. At the same time, the poem qualifies as a quest narrative and a romance. The characters go on tangled adventures and battle witches, monsters, giants, dragons, and downright bad people. The characters also seek true love.

Past epics, like those by Homer and Virgil, inform the poem, as does the poetry of Geoffrey Chaucer. Departing from the modern language of his era, Spenser uses an approximation of Middle English to link his poem to the past. Spenser sends the message that an upstanding person requires holiness, temperance, chastity, friendliness, a sense of justice, and courtesy. They also need Christianity, courage, perseverance, and an affinity for Queen Elizabeth. Spenser dedicated the book to Queen Elizabeth, the alluring ruler of England at the time, and he wanted to write at least 12 books but died before he could complete his grand vision.

The Faerie Queene is Spenser’s most famous poem, and it made him one of the pillars of English literature, along with John Milton, William Shakespeare, and Geoffrey Chaucer. The archaic diction and intricate narratives saddle the poem with an unsavory reputation. The canonized British author Virginia Woolf avoided it for decades, and the renowned Scottish philosopher David Hume found it exhausting. Yet The Faerie Queene has a fair amount in common with contemporary culture. Its ever-evolving storylines reflect the density and openness of superhero franchises. The graphic images of abuse and violence echo the explicit content readily available on social media and streaming platforms.

The citations include the book number, the canto number, the stanza number, and the line in that specific stanza. When Redcrosse encounters Errours and her “beastly body” (1.1.18.3), the quote is in Book 1, Canto 1, Stanza 18, and Line 3. If the quote comes from the proem—the introductory section that begins each book—there’s a “p.”

Content Warning: This study guide has references to graphic violence and sexual assault.

Poet Biography

Edmund Spenser was born around 1552 in London. The exact date is unknown as the Great Fire of 1666 damaged London and the official records stored there. His family was far from wealthy, and his dad was likely a clothmaker. At around 1561, he attended Merchant Taylors’ School. Spenser was a “poor scholar,” so he paid little to no tuition. In 1569, Spenser moved on to Pembroke Hall, Cambridge, where, in exchange for tuition, he performed various tasks like waiting tables in the cafeteria and assisting wealthier students. At Cambridge, Spenser met Gabriel Harvey, another student who didn’t have an illustrious background.

In 1580, Harvey and Spenser publicized their close, intellectual friendship by publishing a series of letters between them. A year before, Spenser published The Shepheardes Calender, where he wrote a pastoral poem for each month of the year. The work featured Spenser’s literary personae, Colin Clout, and gave him visibility. Spenser dedicated the work to the influential poet Sir Philip Sidney, who praised Spenser’s talents.

Spenser, who married in 1579 and again in 1594, turned his social cache into prominent secretary positions. Near 1578, he became the secretary to Dr. John Young, the Bishop of Rochester. A couple of years later, he became secretary to Arthur Grey—the Lord Deputy of Ireland. England viewed Ireland as a colony, and Spenser took advantage of its oppressive policies and acquired substantial land. One of the dedicatory sonnets that preface The Faerie Queene was for Grey.

Inspired by, among other things, classical texts, the legend of King Arthur, and the medieval English poet Geoffrey Chaucer, Spenser published the first three books of The Faerie Queene in 1590. He dedicated them to Queen Elizabeth, and she invited him to her court to read excerpts and gave him a pension. In a separate poem, Colin Clouts Come Home Again (1595), Spenser details his return to England and the publication of his epic. In 1596, Spenser published the next three books. In a 1589 letter to the English writer Sir Walter Raleigh, Spenser said he planned to write 12 books to represent the “twelue morall vertues, as Aristotle hath deuised.” If these were “well accepted,” he’d go on to tackle the public virtues involved in governance and politics. Spenser died in 1599 before he could finish any additional books. Fragments from a future book, perhaps Book 7, appear as “the Mutabilitie Cantos.”

Poem Text

Spenser, Edmund. The Faerie Queene. 1590-96. Luminarium.org.

Summary

Book 1

The speaker asks his “Muse” (1.p.1.1) for the inspiration to “sing of Knights and Ladies gentle deeds” (1.p.1.5), and the muse delivers. The speaker introduces a knight, Redcrosse, who wears a “bloudie Crosse” (1.1.2.1) to honor Jesus Christ. The Queene of Faerie Land, Gloriana, has given the knight a mission: Kill a dragon. Redcrosse has company: A “pure an innocent” (1.1.5.1) woman, Una, and a dwarf. A rainstorm compels the group to take cover under some trees and discover a mysterious cave.

The knight wants to explore the cave, but Una doesn’t. The cave is “Errours den” (1.1.13.6)—it’s home to the monster Errours. The bold knight enters the cave and fights Errours and her “beastly body” (1.1.18.3). Una tells Redcrosse to strangle her, so he does, and the monster vomits a “floud of pyson horrible and blacke” (1.1.20.2) at Redcrosse, who manages to behead her.

The pair meet an “aged Sire” (1.1.29.2) who tells them about another man—a “foul disgrace” (1.1.31.8) to knights like Redcrosse. The older man lets the knight and Una spend the night in his meek home. The older man isn’t good. He’s Archimago, and he gets in touch with Morpheus, the god of sleep, to give Redcrosse disturbing dreams. He also turns a spirit into a copy of Una, and Redcrosse becomes upset when he wakes up and discovers the fake Una acting seductive or like “a loose Leman” (1.1.48.6). The fake Una cries and maintains her purity. Redcrosse offers a guarded apology.

In the morning, Archimago continues to torment Redcrosse. He turns another spirit into a knight and shows Redcrosse the fake knight and the fake Una in “wanton lust and lewd embracement” (1.2.5.5). Upset, Redcrosse and the dwarf depart. Una—the real Una—tries to follow, but her donkey can’t keep up. To further mess with Una, Archimago turns himself into Redcrosse.

The true Redcrosse confronts a “faithlesse Sarazin” (1.2.12.6), or an unbeliever who’s with a “goodly Lady clad in scarlot red” (1.2.13.2). The woman, Fidessa, asks the sarazin to fight Redcrosse, and the sarazin loses, so Fidessa tells Redcrosse the sarazin kidnapped her. The sarazin is one of three brothers. The sarazin was known as Sansfoy, his second brother is Sansjoy, and their third brother is Sansloy.

Satisfied with her story and mesmerized by her beauty, Redcrosse and Fidessa team up and talk to a cursed man, Fradubio. A witch, Duessa, competing with another woman, Fralissa, for Fradubio’s attention, made Fralissa “ugly,” so Fradubio picked the prettier Duessa, but when he saw she was really a “filthy foule old woman” (1.2.40.8), he tried to run. To punish him, Duessa turned him into a tree. Now Duessa bewitches Redcrosse, as Duessa and Fidessa are the same.

Meanwhile, Una mesmerizes a “ramping Lyon” (1.3.5.2). The lion protects her. He breaks into the house belonging to a mom and her daughter and kills the daughter’s boyfriend—a robber of people and churches. The mother and daughter benefited from the thefts, so Una has to escape their wrath. Una thinks she’s back with Redcrosse, but it’s Archimago. Sansloy thinks Archimago is the real Redcrosse and almost kills him to avenge his brother’s murder. The lion tries to kill Sansloy, but Sansloy vanquishes the lion and kidnaps Una.

Redcrosse and Fidessa/Duessa happen upon a “house of mightie Prince it seemd to bee” (1.4.2.7). The porter lets everyone in, so the lavish residence is full. High above everyone is a “bright blazing beautie” (1.4.8.7) named Lucifera. She’s the daughter of Pluto and Proserpina—the king and queen of the underworld. Lucifera calls herself a queen, but she lacks a kingdom. Lucifera does have a gold coach and “six sage Counsellours” (1.4.18.2) or trusty advisors: Idleness, Gluttony, Lechery, Avarice, Ennui, and Wrath.

Fidessa/Duessa gets close to Lucifera, but Redcrosse hangs back. Sansjoy arrives, and a fight breaks out between him and Redcrosse. Lucifera stops the ruckus and delays it until tomorrow. At night, Fidessa/Duessa declares her devotion for Sansjoy and warns him about Redcrosse’s “enchaunted armes, that none can perce” (1.4.50.6).

The people in Lucifera’s world treat the battle between Redcrosse and Sansjoy like a marquee sporting event. Sansjoy’s attacks feel like “yron hammers great” (1.5.7.2), but Redcrosse wins when Sansjoy suspiciously disappears into a dark cloud. The crowd cheers Redcrosse. He pays reverence to Lucifera, eats a feast, and receives some much-needed healthcare. Duessa confabs with Night about how to help Sansjoy. Sansjoy, Sansfoy, and Sansloy are her nephews, and Night helps Duessa bring Sansjoy to Aesculapius—the god of medicine.

Archimago tries to rape Una, whose “shrill outcryes and shrieks” (1.6.7.5) capture the attention of nearby fawns and satyrs. The creatures scare off Archimago. They “worship her, as Queene” (1.6.13.9), and the idolization makes Una uncomfortable. A “noble warlike knight” (1.6.20.1) enters the scene. He’s Satyrane, and he’s in awe of Una, but Una remains dedicated to Redcrosse, so Satyrane settles for the role of temporary protector. The pair meet a pilgrim, and the pilgrim says Redcrosse is dead—Sansloy killed him. Sansloy and Satyrane fight, and Una flees their noisy, bloody battle, and the pilgrim isn’t a pilgrim but Archimago, who goes after Una.

Redcrosse drinks from a cursed fountain, so he’s sleepy and can’t defend himself against Orgoglio—a giant resembling a “monstrous masse of earthly slime” (1.7.9.8). Duessa strikes a deal. She becomes Orgoglio’s “deare” (1.7.16.1), and he gives her gold and a monstrous snake. Redcrosse ends up in a dungeon, and the dwarf runs into Una while trying to help him.

The dwarf recaps Redcrosse’s tribulations for an emotional Una, and the pair encounter an extraordinary knight, Prince Arthur. Una tells her story to Arthur: She’s the only daughter of a king and queen, and a dragon is imperiling their kingdom. She went to the Queene of Faerie Land, Gloriana, who ordered Redcrosse to help her. That’s how Una and Redcrosse met, and Arthur promises to reunite them.

Arthur uses his magical bugle to open all the nearby gates, including the gate to Orgoglio’s castle, and Arthur neutralizes the giant. Dismayed, Duessa sicks her monstrous snake on Arthur’s squire and puts a spell on him to zap his strength. Arthur kills the snake but then has to fight a refreshed Orgoglio. Arthur drops the veil to his shield to unleash a “blazing brightnesse” (1.8.19.4) that knocks out the giant.

Arthur talks to an “old old man, with beard as white as snow” (1.8.30.2), but he’s not helpful, so Arthur explores Orgoglio’s gaudy castle until he discovers an emaciated Redcrosse. Una thinks it’s wrong to kill Duessa. Instead, they “strip her naked” (1.8.46.4) and expose her hideous nature: The true and terrible “face of falshood” (1.8.49.4).

With Duessa and the giant defeated, Arthur tells his story. A wise man, Timon, and a magician, Merlin, mentored him. He’s not sure why he’s in Faerie Land, but it might have to do with a dream starring the Queene. Arthur promised not to rest until he found her.

A frightened knight, Trevisan, crosses paths with Redcrosse and Una. Trevisan and his friend, a heartbroken Sir Terwin, met a “man of hell” (1.9.28.5) called Despair, and Despair’s “wounding words” (1.9.29.4) compelled Sir Terwin to kill himself. Redcrosse doesn’t believe rhetoric can make a person die by suicide, but after Trevisan brings him to Despair, Redcrosse starts to think “death was due to him” (1.9.50.9), and Una has to prevent Redcrosse from stabbing himself.

Una notices Redcrosse’s tribulations have left him “feeble, and too faint” (1.10.2.1), so she takes him to Caelia’s Christian home. Fidelia, one of Caelia’s daughters, teaches Redcrosse about God and sin. The lessons anguish Redcrosse, so he meets Patience and confronts his “[i]nward corruption and infected sin” (1.10.25.2) before checking into a “holy Hospitall” (1.10.36.1) run by seven helpful men.

An “aged holy man” (1.10.46.5) shows Redcrosse Jerusalem, where God’s chosen people live. Redcrosse compares it to Cleopolis—the Faerie Queene’s city—and the holy man says Cleopolis is great “for earthly frame” (1.10.59.2). The holy man tells Redcrosse that if he sticks with his “painefull pilgrimage” (1.10.61.3), he’ll become Saint George—the patron saint of England. Redcrosse wishes he could stay with the holy man, but he has to fulfill his knightly obligations.

Redcrosse next fights the dragon besieging Una’s mom and dad. The dragon is “monstrous, horrible, and vaste” (1.11.8.7), and makes Redcrosse “quake for feare” (1.11.15.9). Yet the dragon can’t defeat Redcrosse. Frustrated, the dragon unleashes a “scorching flame” (1.11.26.6) that burns his face and melts his armor. The restorative Well of Life keeps Redcrosse in the fight, and the bothered dragon turns the area into an inferno. The massive fire imperils Redcrosse, but a godly tree saves him. He stabs the dragon in the mouth and wins the multi-day battle.

Grateful to the knight for slaying their adversary, the king and queen bow to him, and a celebration breaks out. There’s dancing, music, and “meates and drinkes of euery kinde” (1.12.15.1). The king wants Redcrosse to rest, but Redcrosse has to serve the Faerie Queene for six more years; then, he can return and marry Una.

A messenger informs everyone that Redcrosse can’t marry Una because he promised to marry Fidessa. Redcrosse explains the Fidessa-Duessa connection, and the messenger, who’s really Archimago, winds up in a dungeon. Redcrosse and Una get engaged, and the narrator, comparing himself to a boat, gives himself a rest before the next book and the new adventure.

Book 2

After the speaker encourages Queen Elizabeth to look for connections between Faerie Land and her kingdom, he turns the spotlight on Archimago. He escapes the dungeon, and his “malicious mind” (2.1.2.1) is back at work. He finds Duessa and dresses her up so she can trick the good knight Guyon and his guide—the palmer. She tells Guyon a man who “bore a bloudie Crosse” (2.1.18.9) sexually assaulted her, because Archimago and Duessa want Guyon to think Redcrosse is the culprit. Archimago takes Guyon to Redcrosse, and Guyon realizes Redcrosse is good and apologizes for almost attacking him.

Leaving Redcrosse, Guyon and the palmer come across a bleeding woman with a knife in her chest, her baby, and, beside them, a dead knight. The woman is Amavia, and the dead knight is her husband, Sir Mordant. He succumbed to Acrasia—“a false enchaunteresse” (2.1.51.3) who runs the hedonistic Bower of Bliss. Disguised in “Palmers weed” (2.1.52.8) or pilgrim clothes, Amavia finds her husband and helps free him from “the chaines of lust and lewd desires” (2.1.54.3), but Acrasia casts a spell to kill Mordant.

Finished with her sorrowful tale, Amavia dies. Guyon and the palmer bury the husband and wife and take the baby. Guyon tries to wash away the blood on the baby. The palmer says the blood will stay as a symbol of “his motheres innocence” (2.2.10.5). Guyon vows to find Acrasia and bring her to justice.

Someone stole Guyon’s horse, so he and the palmer walk to a castle. Medina, “a comely curteous Dame” (2.2.14.5), greets them. She has two sisters with questionable boyfriends: The rash Huddibras and, from Book 1, the predatory Sansloy. To show off, the men fight each other, and when Guyon arrives, they fight him. Medina intervenes, and her temperate words “suncke so deepe into their boyling brests” (2.2.32.2) that they stop and eat. Elissa, the oldest sister, scorns the food; Perissa, the youngest, pigs out; and Medina stays “moderate” (2.2.38.3). Guyon leaves the baby with Medina and then continues his quest to find Acrasia.

The person who stole Guyon’s horse is a vain knight named Braggadochio. He rides the horse violently to frighten a man resting in the sun. This man, Trompart, isn’t a total victim. He becomes Braggadochio’s servant and manipulates his master “with fine flattery” (2.3.9.8). Archimago shows up and tells Braggadochio that Guyon and Redcrosse killed Amavia and Mordant. Braggadochio promises to kill them, and Archimago promises to get Prince Arthur’s special sword for Braggadochio even though Braggadochio claims it’s unnecessary.

Archimago vanishes, and a woman “clad in hunters weed” (2.3.21.7) arrives. Her heavenly looks captivate Braggadochio and Trompart. She tells them she prefers the woods to the royal court because the latter is indulgent and pompous while the former is honorable and godly. Filled with “filthy lust” (2.3.42.5), Braggadochio attacks the woman. She strikes him with a spear and flees.

Guyon and the palmer see a “mad man” (2.4.3.5) dragging a “handsome stripling” (2.4.3.7) and, trailing them, “a wicked Hag” (2.4.4.1). Guyon knocks aside the foul-mouth woman and then fights the “mad” man. The palmer stops Guyon from killing him. The palmer says the “mad” man is Furor and his mom, the “hag,” is Occasion, and she’s “the root of all wrath and despight” in Furor (2.4.10.9). Guyon locks Occasion’s tongue, chains Furor, and comforts the beset stripling.

The stripling is a young man named Phaon. He was in love with Claribell, but his best friend, Philemon, said she was cheating on him. Philemon shows Phaon Claribell’s unfaithfulness, but it’s a trick: The girl isn’t Claribell but Claribell’s handmaid Pryene. Phaon kills Claribell and then, realizing the scheme, kills Philemon. While trying to kill Pryene, he gets caught up with Occasion and Furor.

Atin interrupts Phaon’s sorrowful tale. Atin is Pyrochles’s squire, and Pyrochles is a bold and bellicose knight who wants to fight Occasion. Guyon and the palmer tell Atin to tell Pyrochles that it’s bad to fight just to fight. Annoyed by the diplomacy, Atin compares Guyon to a “silly weak old woman” (2.4.45.5) and hurls a dart at him.

Pyrochles storms onto the scene and fights with Guyon and loses. Guyon advises him to address his “[o]utrageous anger” (2.5.16.3) and violent tendencies. Pyrochles frees Occasion, and she gets Furor to attack Pyrochles. Atin runs to Cymochles, Pyrochles’s brother, for help. His girlfriend is Acrasia, so he hangs out in her Bower of Bliss. Atin goes there. He calls Cymochles a “womanish weake knight” (2.5.36.2) to push him to help his brother.

Cymochles doesn’t get very far. On Idle Lake, he meets Phaedria. She also serves Acrasia. She caresses him and soothes him to sleep. She tries to do the same to Guyon, but Guyon is “wise, and warie of her will” (2.6.26.1). Cymochles wakes up, sees Guyon with Phaedria, and attacks Guyon. Phaedria pleads with them not to fight over her, so they stop. Pyrochles’s troubles don’t stop. Furor sets him on fire, so he jumps into a lake. Atin follows, and Archimago has to rescue them.

Guyon runs into Mammon. He’s the “greatest god below the skye” (2.7.8.2) and lectures Guyon about the manifold advantages of money and riches. Guyon replies that wealth is the “roote of all disquietnesse” (2.7.12.2): it causes bloodshed and bitterness. Yet he’s curious about Mammon’s treasures, so Mammon takes him to his house near the gate of hell. In one room, Guyon sees more riches than “euer could within one place be found” (2.7.31.6). Mammon shows Guyon the monster Disdayne and a temple filled with people and governed by the beautiful Ambition. She has a gold chain that people climb up and fall down. Mammon thinks Guyon should marry Ambition, but Guyon doesn’t think they’re a good match.

Guyon checks out the Garden of Proserpina and its golden apples. He sees tortured people like Pontius Pilate, the judge who sentenced Jesus to die. Guyon is tired and needs to eat something. He doesn’t want to be in the underworld anymore, so Mammon takes him back.

The speaker wonders how much angels care about the human world. Back in the human world, or Faerie Land, the palmer sees Guyon “lay in traunce” (2.8.3.6), and a handsome young man tells palmer that God told him to tell the palmer to look after Guyon. Before the young man vanishes, he spouts wings. Archimago, Atin, Pyrochles, and Cymochles arrive. Pyrochles thinks Guyon is dead and, violating the knighthood code, takes his armor.

Prince Arthur enters the scene and doesn’t like what’s happening, so a battle is inevitable. Pyrochles lacks a sword, and Archimago says he would give him his sword, but Merlin made it, and Merlin is on Arthur’s side, so the sword can’t hurt Arthur, as Arthur is its owner. The brothers manage to make the fight competitive. Once the palmer gives Guyon’s sword to Arthur, the brothers don’t stand a chance. He kills Pyrochles, who has Guyon’s shield, and he beheads Cymochles. Guyon wakes up and thanks Arthur for defeating his foes.

Guyon gets his armor back and tells Arthur why there’s an image of the Queene of Faerie Land on his shield. He calls her, “My liefe, my liege, my Soueraigne, my deare” (2.9.4.5). The pair arrive at a castle. Arthur’s squire, Timias, plays the bugle to open the gates, and “[a] thousand villeins” (2.9.13.2) with manifold weapons assault the men. The knights subdue the nefarious creatures, and Alma, in a white robe, guides them around the castle. There are employees named Diet, Appetite, Concoction, and Digestion, and a parlor full of “faire Ladies” (2.9.34.2). Arthur talks to a sad woman, Prays-desire, and Guyon speaks with a modest woman, Shamefastnesse.

Alma takes the knights up a turret and shows them a room filled with dreams, tales, lies, and opinions. She then shows them a room where the walls have pictures of laws, verdicts, art, and philosophy. Another room is like a library, and it has a book about the history of Faerie Land, so the speaker prepares a long history lesson on England and its rulers. The speaker’s history includes giants and King Leyr, whose daughters betrayed him.

Early in the morning, before the sun comes out, Guyon leaves to find the Bower of Bliss, and the motley villains return and attack the castle’s five bulwarks: Sight, Hearing, Smell, Taste, and Touch. Their leader is Maleger. He’s “as cold and drery as a Snake” (2.11.22.4) and wears a helmet “[m]ade of dead mans skull” (2.11.22.9). A couple of “wicked Hags” (2.11.23.2) assist him. They gather the arrows he fires at Arthur so that he doesn’t run out. Arthur tries to neutralize the women, but they gain the upper hand, so Arthur’s squire rescues him.

Arthur stabs Maleger, but no blood appears. He tries to kill him with his hands, but Maleger rebounds. The Earth is Maleger’s mother, and she constantly brings him back to life as he falls often. Arthurs squeezes the “lothful life” (2.11.46.3) out of him and drowns him in a lake. Now, he’s dead.

A boatman takes Guyon and the palmer to the Bower of Bliss. The path is perilous, as they have to resist the Gulf of Greediness, the Rock of Vile Reproach, and the Wandering Islands. Phaedria tries to tempt them again but fails. They also have to endure mermaids “making false melodies” (2.12.17.9), “deformed Monsters” (2.12.25.2), and an array of vicious flying creatures.

At the gate to the Bower of Bliss is Genius. There’s a good Genius and a bad Genius, and this Genius is bad. He doesn’t care about the health of a person’s spirit. His focus is on pleasure. Guyon breaks his staff and his sensuous bowl of wine. The Bower of Bliss is luscious, fragrant, and exhibitionistic. Two naked women bathe together and wrestle playfully, and the palmer censures Guyon for staring at them.

Acrasia has a new lover, and she has him under a spell and is sucking his living spirit on a bed of roses. The palmer traps Acrasia and her victim with a net, and Guyon smashes the paradisiacal bower. As they leave, they’re attacked by men that Acrasia transformed into beasts. Guyon blames the men for their predicament. He says that they “chooseth, with vile difference, / To be a beast, and lacke intelligence” (2.12.87.4-5).

Book 3

The speaker tells the reader the next virtue is chastity. The speaker admits he doesn’t need the Faerie Queene to express this principle: It’s present in his “Soueraines brest” (3.p.1.5) or in Queen Elizabeth’s heart. While on the topic of women and chastity, Arthur and Guyon meet a woman knight, Britomart, who makes Guyon fall off his horse. Guyon is upset, but the palmer calms him. The three knights see a woman in gold rush by on a horse. A bad man is after her, so Arthur and Guyon follow her while Britomart goes to a castle and defends Redcrosse. Six knights attack him because he won’t listen to them and “loue another Dame” (3.1.24.3), or love anyone but Una.

Everyone heads into the sumptuous castle ruled by the beautiful and bold Lady of Delight: Malecasta. She doesn’t know Britomart is a woman, so her heart is on fire for the knight. At dinner, she flirts with Britomart. Unable to sleep, Malecasta sneaks into Britomart’s bed. Britomart gets her sword, scares Malecasta, escapes Malecasta’s knights, and leaves the castle.

The speaker reminds the reader of a time when women knights like Britomart were more common. Then, “enuious Men fearing their rules decay” decided “to curb their liberty” (3.2.2.5-6). Britomart became a knight because she didn’t like to “finger the fine needle and nyce thread” (3.2.6.8) or perform stereotypical women’s labor. She’s in love with Arthegall, but she makes it seem like she’s opposed to Arthegall, so Redcrosse says nice things about him.

Britomart discovered Arthegall through Merlin. He made a supernatural mirror and gave it to Britomart’s dad, a king. Britomart saw Arthegall in the mirror and grew obsessed with him. Her nurse, Glauce, tried to cure her lovesickness with a potion. That didn’t work, so they visited Merlin’s disquieting cave, and Merlin said it was Britomart’s fate to be with Arthegall and defend England from invaders. Merlin relayed the destiny of England, and it ended with “a royall virgin” (3.3.49.6)—Queen Elizabeth—as sovereign.

In the present, Redcrosse and Britomart go their separate ways, and Britomart grows introspective and melancholy. A bellicose knight, Marinell, interrupts her reverie, so Britomart fights him and wins. Marinell isn’t a pushover. A “hundred hundred knights of honorable name / He had subdew’d” (3.4.21.1-2). His weakness is women. Proteus told his mom that a “virgin strange and stout him should dismay, or kill” her son (3.4.23.9). His mom and sisters find him on the ground and, realizing he’s alive, bring him home.

The mom puts curses on Britomart, but they don’t work. Archimago sees Britomart and follows her. Guyon and Arthur are still trying to catch the woman in gold. They part to cover more ground. At night, Arthur can’t sleep. He pines for the Faerie Queene. He wanders and meets a dwarf. He works for the woman in gold, Florimell, and she’s in love with Marinell, who’s avoiding her due to Proteus’s prediction.

Arthur realizes he left behind his squire, Timias. He has been busy punishing the villain chasing after Florimell in Book 3, Canto 1. The villain’s brothers attack Timias, but Timias kills them in a harmful battle that leaves Timias “wallowd all in his owne gore” (3.5.26.5). Belphoebe—the noble huntress from Book 2, Canto 3–was confronting Braggadochio; now, she cares for Timias. His wound gets better, but he becomes lovesick: He’s smitten with Belphoebe, but she practices “stedfast chastity” (3.5.55.1).

Belphoebe’s mom is a fairy, and she has a twin sister, Amoret. Due to some cheeky gods, Belphoebe and Amoret grew up separately. Amoret was raised in the Eden-like Garden of Adonis before moving on to the Faerie Queene’s court. She falls in love with a knight, Sir Scudamore, and suffers mightily for him.

Florimell’s horse can’t suffer anymore, so Florimell walks to a tiny cottage that belongs to a witch. The “wicked woman [has] a wicked sonne” (3.7.12.1), and he falls in love with Florimell. He brings her flowers and squirrels, and he teaches birds to sing songs about her. Florimell isn’t interested, so she leaves. To punish her, the witch crafts a Hyena-like monster that “feeds on womens flesh, as others feede on gras”(3.7.22.8). The monster kills Florimell’s horse but not her. She escapes on a fisherman’s boat.

Satyrane, Una’s temporary protector from Book 1, Canto 6, comes back. He has Florimell’s golden girdle, and he arrests the Hyena monster with it. He sees a knight, Britomart, chasing a giantess who has kidnapped a squire. Satyrane tries to fight the giantess but fails. The freed squire tells Satyrane that the giantess is Argante. She’s a product of incest, and she had sex with her brother, Ollyphant, in the womb. Her lascivious background has made her “seeke young men, to quench her flaming thurst” (3.7.50.2).

The squire asks Satyrane to call him Squire of the Dames. He promised his love, Cloumbell, that he’d return to her after he does “seruice vnto gentle Dames” (3.7.54.6). His goal is 300 women, but he’s not doing so well, as chaste women want little to do with him.

The hyena monster breaks out of the girdle and brings it back to the witch. She thinks Florimell is dead and is happy. Her son is in a rage—he loved her. To make him feel better, the witch creates another Florimell. While walking in the woods with the false Florimell, the son runs into Braggadochio, and he takes the fake Florimell away from the “silly clowne” (3.8.12.6) of a son. A thunderous knight then takes the false Florimell away from Braggadochio.

The real Florimell is stuck in a boat in the middle of the sea. The man on the boat is bad and tries to rape her. Proteus beats the man, gains Florimell’s trust, and brings her to his cave-like home in the ocean. He and a sea nymph entertain her, and Proteus falls in love with her and gets upset when she won’t love him back.

The speaker cuts in and brings the spotlight back to Satyrane. He tells a knight, Paridell, that Florimell is probably dead. Paridell says they shouldn’t give up hope. The Squire of the Dames suggests checking out a castle. A grumpy man, Malbecco, lives there, and he keeps his wife, Hellenore, locked away. He thinks she’ll cheat on him.

The knights can’t access the castle. There’s a storm, and the knights take shelter, and a strange knight joins the shelter. Paridell fights this knight, but Satyrane breaks it up. He says they should focus their ire on Malbecco. He lets them in after he figures out that they plan to “flame the gates” (3.9.18.2). After the knights take off their armor, they find out the strange knight is the beautiful Britomart. Hellenore is also beautiful, and she joins them for dinner, and Paridell tells about the fall of Troy as he exchanges amorous looks with Malbecco’s wife.

The next morning, Britomart and Satyrane leave, but Paridell stays at the castle. He says he’s still sore from his fight with Britomart, but he wants Hellenore. Malbecco keeps his eye on Paridell, but Paridell manages to woo Hellenore away from Malbecco. She takes some of his money and burns the rest. Malbecco is upset about the money, and the loss of his wife brings him “inward griefe” (3.10.18.1), so he looks for her and runs into Braggadochio and his servant Trompart, and they bump into Paridell. He and Hellenore broke up, and she married a bunch of satyrs. She milks their goats and fixes them bread and cheese.

Alone, Malbecco spots Hellenore kissing and dancing with the satyrs. While everyone’s sleeping, he whispers in her ear and tries to get her to return home. It gets light out, and the satyrs see Malbecco and scare him off. Distraught, he falls off a rocky hill. Instead of dying, he turns into a distorted creature known as Jealousy.

Another inimical creature, Ollyphant, isn’t scared of Satyrane, but he is afraid of Britomart. Meanwhile, the giant, a brother of Argante, is powerless against chastity. As Britomart trails Ollyphant, she meets Scudamore. He’s distressed; Busirane abducted Amoret, and he’s torturing her because she won’t yield to him. Britomart persuades the pitiful Scudamore to help her find Amoret. Britomart runs through fire and enters a castle. Scudamore tries to do the same but experiences “burning torment” (3.11.27.3). He has to wait outside.

Alone in the castle, Britomart sees tapestries depicting sexual assault, like when Jove becomes a swan and rapes Leda. She enters a room of gold and encounters the phrases “Be bold” (3.11.54.3) and “Be not too bold” (3.11.54.8). A bold storm and wind rock the house. A door to a theater opens. There’s a performance or pageant, with Fancy, Desire, Fear, Hope, Fury, and then Despair and Cruelty bring out a woman, Amoretta, with a knife in her chest.

Britomart decides to disrupt the pageant the next day, but there is no pageant. There’s Amoret bound to a pillar and Busirane making drawings with her blood to get her to love him. Busirane and Britomart battle; Britomart lets him live so that he can restore Amoret’s health. The castle violently shakes. The steel falls from Amoret’s chest—it’s as if “she were neuer hurt” (3.12.38.7). In the 1590 edition, Book 3 ends with Amoret and Scudamore happily reunited. In the 1596 version, Scudamore gives up hope and doesn’t wait for her. Amoretta has hope that she’ll find him.

Book 4

Book 4 begins with the speaker addressing critics that claim he’s “mangnifying louers” (4.p.1.5) or lovers when he should focus on virtues. Returning to the story, Amoret thinks Britomart is a male knight and might try to take advantage of her. Britomart acts honorably. At a castle, she defeats a knight that wants to win Amoret. She reveals her gender, and, feeling safer, Amoret and Britomart share a bed and exchange “franke affection” (4.1.15.6).

The next day, the two women meet Ate. She’s the mother of debate, so she produces discord. Ate is “fowle and filthy” (4.1.27.1) and lives near the gates of hell. Joining Ate is Duessa from Book 1, Paridell from Book 3, and a new knight named Blandamour. Amoret captivates the knights, so when she and Britomart leave and her husband, Scudamore, arrives, there’s a fight. Duessa intervenes and informs Scudamore, “[S]he your loue list loue another knight” (4.1.46.6). The others ridicule him, and Scudamore takes his anger out on Glauce, Britomart’s nurse.

Blandamour sees the fake Florimell with a knight and fights the knight for her. The fake Florimell excels at flirting and puts Blandamour “in a foolish trance” (4.2.9.7), which makes Paridell envious. Paridell and Blandamour fight over Florimell until the Squire of Dames reappears. He tells the knights Florimell is in danger. The knights tell him she’s safe and show him the false Florimell, who everyone thinks is the real Florimell.

As the knights go to get Florimell’s girdle from Satyrane, they meet two knights, Cambell and Triamond. The speaker points out that the characters first appeared in Geoffrey Chaucer’s “The Squire’s Tale“ from The Canterbury Tales (ca 1400). Cambell has a sister, Canacee, and plenty of knights wanted to marry her, but, to do so, they had to fight and defeat Cambell. Three brothers—Priamond, Diamond, and Triamond—were in love with her. Their mom was a fairy, Agape. A knight raped her in the woods, and she “got these three louely babes” (4.2.45.9).

The brothers had a public and prolonged battle with Cambell. As Cambell killed one brother, the spirit of that brother entered the body of the next living brother until only Triamond remained. His fairy sister, Cambina, hit them “with her powrefull wand” (4.3.48.2), so the violence stopped, and a happy ending occurred: Triamond married Canacee, and Cambell married Cambina.

Back in the present, Braggadochio wants the fake Florimell. He lost her in Book 3, Canto 8. Blandamour says they can fight for her, and the loser has to take Ate. Braggadochio doesn’t want to fight and makes a “vaine excuse” (4.4.11.1). Cambell says no one should be fighting now. To get Florimell’s girdle, they’ll have to compete in Satyrane’s tournament, so they need to save their energy.

The tournament is taxing and lasts for multiple days. On the last day, a mysterious knight shows up and beats Satyrane and his crew. Another mysterious knight arrives, defeats the first mysterious knight, and wins the tournament. The first knight is Arthegall, and the second knight is Britomart.

After the tournament, there’s a beauty pageant. The sight of the fake Florimell knocks out the competition, yet the magic girdle, the prize, doesn’t fit her. The girdle fits Amoret. Enraged, Florimell snatches the girdle and tries to fasten it on again. Girdle or no girdle, Florimell wins the contest, so Britomart, as the victor of the tournament, gets Florimell. Britomart, preferring Amoret, turns down this prize, Florimell winds up with Satyrane, and Paridell and Blandamour are upset—partly because Ate is stirring discord. To settle things, the knights let Florimell pick her man. She angrily chooses Braggadochio.

Scudamore’s troubles continue. He and Glauce wind up in a cottage belonging to Care, and he runs an operation that delivers disquieting thoughts. Care’s house troubles Scudamore with hammering noises and bad dreams. Care burns Scudamore’s nightmares and wounds him.

The next day, Scudamore meets Arthegall, and the two team up against Britomart. She easily takes out Scudamore and his horse, but Arthegall is no lightweight. He knocks off her helmet and discovers that Britomart is a beautiful woman knight. Arthegall then reveals his identity—the man in Merlin’s mirror. Arthegall and Britomart agree to marry, but Arthegall can’t stick around: He has to attend to his quest.

Amoret isn’t with Britomart. After the tournament, the pair rested in the forest. Amoret went for a walk, and “a wilde and saluage man” (4.7.5.1) kidnapped her. Aemylia, another captive, told her the man rapes and eats his victims. Aemylia’s dad was a lord, but she wanted to marry a common squire. They were supposed to run away together, but the man abducted her. Aemylia avoids rape because an “old woman” (4.7.19.6) sacrifices herself and has sex with him.

The “horrour of his shamefull villany” (4.7.21.5) compels Amoret to flee. Timias fights the man, and Belphoebe kills him with an arrow. Belphoebe sees Timias comforting Amoret and assumes he’s cheating on her. Upset over the loss of Belphoebe, Timias turns into a miserable hermit. He engraves the trees around him with Belphoebe. A turtledove provides Timias with some sorrowful company. He ties a ruby from Belphoebe around the turtledove’s neck, and the turtledove flies to Belphoebe and brings her to Timias, and they lead a “happie life with grace and good accord” (4.8.18.2).

Arthur looks for Timias, and stumbles upon Amoret and Aemylia. They’re in a “full sad and sorrowfull estate” (4.8.19.4). Arthur gives them special medicine to restore their wellbeing. The trio find trouble when they spend the night at the house of a witch, Sclaunder, who ruins good people with twisted words. The speaker informs the reader that it’s fine for Arthur to spend the night with these two women—everyone is honorable.

The next day, the witch curses the three guests until they’re gone. Arthur beheads a hypnotic man on a camel. The man was Corflambo, and he imprisoned Aemylia’s squire, Amyas, who pretends to love Corflambo’s daughter, Poeana—who leads “too loose of life” (4.8.49.9)—in exchange for freedom. Amyas has a friend, Placidas, and he helps his buddy by pretending to be him so he doesn’t have to keep cheating on Aemylia. Aemylia spots Placidas and hugs him. Placidas tells her that Amyas is alive.

To rescue Amyas, Arthur puts Corflambo’s head back on his body and makes it look like he’s a captive so Arthur can enter the castle. Poeana trips him up with her enchanting singing, but Arthur persists and compels the dwarf to free Amyas. Since Placidas and Amyas look alike, Poeana winds up with Placidas. Arthur leaves the two couples in peace and heads off with Amoret, who needlessly wonders what will happen if Arthur’s “burning lust should breake into excesse” (8.9.18.9).

Arthur and Amoret see four knights fight over Florimell. They attack Britomart, as she won Florimell. Britomart reminds them she didn’t want Florimell: She misses Amoret. Scudamore intervenes and says he misses Amoret more and is the most heartbroken over her loss.

Scudamore endured a lot to gain Amoret’s love. With his shield of love, he went to Venus’s temple, fought 20 knights, and overcame Doubt, Delay, and a giant named Danger. Inside Venus’s fragrant temple, there was a cupid and all sorts of lovers. Scudamore saw a group of women led by Womanhood. Amoret was in Womanhood’s lap, and, with his heart throbbing, Scudamore went to get her. Womanhood condemned Scudamore’s boldness, but he showed her his shield of love, so she dropped her protests.

Upset that the real Florimell won’t love him, Proteus throws her into a dungeon. Her love, Marinell, is still suffering from the wound Britomart gave him in Book 3, Canto 4. His mom, Cymodoce, asks Tryphon for help, and he restores his health, and his mom attends a feast at Protesus’s house for the wedding of Medway and Thames.

Marinell accompanies his mom, but he has to wait outside. The wedding involves gods, and Marinell is part human. He hears Florimell’s cries and becomes unwell because he can’t think of any way to save her. To identify “the roote of his disease” (4.12.22.1), his mom goes to Apollo, who tells her his son suffers from love. Cymodoce visits the great Neptune, who forces Proteus to free Florimell. Slowly but surely, Marinell’s strength and cheer return.

Book 5

The speaker remembers “the golden age” (5.p.2.1) and ridicules the present where “[r]ight now is wrong” (5.p.4.4). The world needs justice, and that’s what Arthegall brings. His mother figure, a fairy named Astrea, taught him about the rigorous qualities a person requires to dispense justice. She gave him a strong sword and a partner, Talus, made of iron.

Arthegall and Talus have to help the beautiful Irena fight a tyrant and get her crown back. Before they do, Arthegall settles a dispute between a squire and a knight. They’re fighting over ownership of a dead woman, so Arthegall says they should cut her in half. His plan horrifies the squire, so the squire is the true love, and the knight has to shamefully carry around the woman’s head wherever he goes.

Florimell’s dwarf appears and tells Arthegall about her impending wedding. To get there, he has to cross a bridge guarded by the horrendous looter Pollente. They fight on the bridge and in the turbulent water below. Arthegall cuts off Pollente’s head with his sword, then goes to his castle, where Pollente’s beautiful daughter, Munera, lives. She has gold hands and silver feet, and she throws stones and casts spells at Talus. He captures her, cuts off her gold hands and silver feet, burns the stolen goods, and demolishes the corrupt castle.

A giant attracts a crowd of people by telling them he can balance everything—wind, fire, heaven, hell, etc.—and deliver equality. Arthegall debates the giant and tells him he shouldn’t interfere with “their Makers might” (5.2.35.2) or God’s plan. Talus figures Arthegall isn’t going to change the giant’s mind, so he hurls him off a rock, and the giant drowns in the sea. His followers try to hurt Talus, but he extinguishes them “like a swarme of flyes” (5.2.53.6).

Marinell fights a series of knights to prove his love for Florimell. He finally loses, and as his enemies are about to haul him away, Arthegall, Braggadochio, and the false Florimell show up. Arthegall thinks the fake Florimell is the real one, so he believes she’s been cheating on her future husband. Arthegall saves Marinell from the knights, but Braggadochio takes Arthegall’s shield, so the crowd celebrates him instead. Arthegall calls out Braggadochio and puts the Florimells side by side, and the false Florimell “vanisht into nought” (5.3.24.6), and the real Florimell puts on the girdle without a hitch.

In the audience is Guyon from Book 2. He confronts Braggadochio over his stolen horse. Arthegall mediates the dispute, and Guyon proves the horse is his by getting the animal to open his mouth and reveal his unique black spot. Talus punishes Braggadochio by breaking his armor and sword and injuring his face.

Two brothers fight over a chest full of riches. The brothers have a thorny backstory. They got land from their dad, and one brother’s land depreciated while the other brother’s land increased in value. The gulf caused the poor brother’s future wife to leave him for the richer brother, so the rich brother’s wife-to-be desperately jumped into the sea but saved herself by grabbing onto the chest. With the chest as her dowry, she can marry the poorer brother. Arthegall resolves the conflict by saying that the sea gave it to her, so she and the poorer brother get the treasure.

A group of warrior women, Amazons, plan to murder a knight, Sir Turpine, so Arthegall, not wanting to fight women, has Talus fight them and save Turpine, who sought to defeat Radigund, the Queen of Amazons. Upset over her failure to win the love of a knight, Radigund traps knights and makes them wear women’s clothes and perform womanly tasks for food. Arthegall goes to where Radigund lives—the city of Radegone, named after her—and they battle for days until Arthegall knocks off her helmet and gets distracted by her “miracle of natures goodly grace” (5.5.12.3). Taking advantage of Arthegall’s vulnerability, Radigund beats him until he surrenders and becomes one of her imprisoned, enslaved people.

Turpine dies by hanging, and Radigund, much to her dismay, falls in love with Arthegall. She tells her feelings to her handmaiden, Clarin, and she has Clarin talk to Arthegall about her. Arthegall tells Clarin he would hang out with Radigund if it would better his circumstances. Clarin develops feelings for Arthegall, so she lies to Radigund and tells her Arthegall wants nothing to do with her.

The speaker steps in to tell the reader that Arthegall still possesses honor even though he’s become enslaved to a woman. Britomart laments the disappearance of Arthegall. She meets Talus, who updates her on the situation. She thinks Talus is lying and that Arthegall is cheating on her. The only way to know the truth is for Britomart to find Arthegall herself.

A wicked man, Dolon, lets Britomart and Talus stay at his house. Dolon wants to kill Arthegall because Arthegall killed his son Guizor. Dolon sets a trap for Britomart. When she goes to lie down in her bed, she falls into “a lower roome” (5.6.27.8). She escapes the subterranean dwelling and kills two men guarding the deceased Pollente’s bridge.

Isis, a goddess that represents “[t]ht part of Iustice, which is Equity” (5.7.3.4), welcomes Britomart into her temple but not Talus. There’s a statue of Isis with one foot upon a crocodile, and Britomart dreams that Isis stops the crocodile from eating her. The crocodile starts to like her, and a lion grows in her womb. She tells her dream to a resident priest, and he tells her that the crocodile is Arthegall and the lion is their son.

Buoyed by the dream analysis, Britomart makes a beeline to Radigund. After lots of gory fighting, Britomart pierces her brain and cuts off her head. Talus rapidly kills Radigund’s followers, and Britomart sees the “heapes” (5.7.36.4) of corpses and orders him to stop. When she sees Arthegall enslaved in women’s clothes, she looks away. She’s happier when Arthegall puts on a “manly” knight outfit. As ruler of Radigund’s kingdom, Britomart reverses policies and puts men in charge.

Arthegall leaves a sad but resigned Britomart and continues on his quest. He sees two knights running after a woman and a mysterious knight chasing them. Arthegall kills one of the knights, and the mysterious knight kills the other knight. The mysterious knight is Arthur. The distressed woman, Samient, tells Arthur and Arthegall that she serves the wonderful Queen Mercilla. She has many foes, including “a mighty man” (5.8.18.2) that’s “stird vp day and night / By his bad wife” (5.8.20.2-3). The man is Souldan, and his wife is Adicia. The queen wants to find a peaceful solution, but Adicia wants conflict.

To help, Arthegall dresses up as a pagan knight and acts as if he’s delivering Samient to Souldan as a prize. Arthur then demands Souldan give him Samient. Arthur fights Souldan. He has a vexing chariot, but Arthur has his shield, and its extraordinary light splinters Souldan. Adicia runs away, behaves like “a mad bytch” (5.8.49.1), and then transforms into a tiger.

Queen Mercilla has another foe: Malengin. He pillages without mercy and lives far underground, so Samient has to “weepe and wayle” (5.9.9.9) to get him to come out. Malengin throws a net around her and takes her to his cave, where Arthur and Arthegall block his passage. Malengin runs away and evades capture by turning into different creatures, like a fox, a bird, and a hedgehog. Talus captures him and breaks every single one of his bones.

The men enter Queen Mercilla’s castle. There’s a prince named Awe and a marshall named Order. To punish a poet for dishonoring the queen, authorities nail his tongue to a post. The queen is “like a cloud” (5.9.28.4), and she’s joined by little angels and a great lion.

Duessa’s trial is now, and Queen Mercilla has to decide what to do with the witch from Books 1-3. The evidence doesn’t favor Duessa. She’s committed treason and kept company with Ate, Murder, and Sedition. Authority, Nations, Religion, and Justice testify against her. The queen, however, doesn’t want “just vengeance on her light” (5.9.50.5), so Duessa’s fate remains unresolved.

Geryoneo, the son of a giant, has no problem giving Belge’s sons to a murderous monster. Belge, a widow who trusted Geryoneo to protect her, has only two sons left, so Arthur goes to Belge’s land, which Geryoneo has usurped. He’s also taken over one of the queen’s cities, where he lives in a castle and keeps an idolatrous chapel, and a dreadful monster lives beneath the blasphemous structure.

Arthur assaults the castle and fights Geryoneo, whose multiple bodies give him an advantage. Arthur cuts off one of his arms, and Geryoneo tries to strike Arthur but misses and beheads his horse. Arthur methodically severs his other bodies until Geryoneo is a “sencelesse lump” (5.10.14.5). There is no rest for Arthur: Belge asks him to battle the monster under the chapel. The monster is a woman. She has a dog body, lion claws, and a dragon tail. She attacks Arthur and wails, but he stabs “her wombe” (5.11.31.2) and kills her.

Arthegall has been busy helping Irena from Canto 1. The tyrannical Grantorto has imprisoned her, and if no knight tries to save her within 10 days, he’ll kill her. Arthegall and Talus go to Irena but stop to help a knight in peril. The knight is Burbon, and his love, Flourdelis, doesn’t love him anymore. She’s infatuated with Grantorto now, so the people attacking the knight were sent by him.

Arthegall censures Burbon for losing his shield. He calls it “the greatest shame and foulest scorne” (5.11.52.3), and Burbon says Redcrosse gave it to him, but he let it go because it was generating enemies. Arthegall and Talus help Burbon kill some enemy peasants, and Arthegall scolds Flourdelis for allowing Grantorto to get the better of her.

After some choice words about ambitious men, the speaker puts the spotlight back on Arthegall. He, Talus, and another knight confront Grantorto’s troops. Talus makes quick work of them. Arthegall and Grantorto schedule a time to fight, and Grantorto wounds Arthegall with his ax, but Arthegall pierces Grantorto with his shield and then fatally strikes him on the head.

On their way back to Faerie Land to address scurrilous rumors that they’re not properly doling out justice, Talus and Arthegall meet two witches, Envie and Detraction, and their monster, the Blatant Beast. The witches yell at Arthegall and throw things at him. The Blatant Beast barks so loud that the woods shake. Arthegall doesn’t let the noise bother him. He stays on his “right course” (5.12.43.8) to Faerie Land.

Book 6

The speaker notes the size of his work and the large variety of drama in Faerie Land. He admits the journey is “tedious” (6.p.1.7), but writing about Faerie Land makes him happy and reminds him of “plaine Antiquitie” (6.p.4.7) or simpler times.

The story then turns to Calidore. Calidore’s journey involves the Blatant Beast. After talking to Arthegall about the monster, he meets a squire who tells him about Briana. She has a castle, and she loved a knight, Crudor, but he won’t reciprocate until she gets him a cloak made from “beards of Knights and locks of Ladies” (6.1.15.5), so now she abducts knights and women and shaves their beards and hair. Helping her is a powerful man, Maleffort, who’s trying to abduct the squire and his girlfriend.

Calidore hears screams from the squire’s girlfriend and chases Maleffort back to the castle, where he cuts off his head, kills some other guards, and then lectures Briana on her “wicked customes” (6.1.26.7). Briana scolds Calidore for murdering her men and breaking into her castle. She calls him a coward, and Calidore says he’ll fight Crudor to prove otherwise.

Briana gives a dwarf a “ring of gould” (6.1.29.2). He then brings it to Crudor, so he knows Briana needs help. Crudor and Calidore fight, and Crudor cries out for mercy, so Calidore doesn’t kill him because he agrees to marry Briana and stop depriving strangers of their hair. Briana wants to give her castle to Calidore, but Calidore refuses compensation for “his good deede” (5.1.47.2) and gives the castle to the squire and his girlfriend instead.

Calidore next meets a young man who sees a horse-riding knight dragging a woman on her feet. When she lags, he threatens her with his spear. The young man confronts the knight, a battle ensues, and the young man kills him. Earlier, the knight tried to fight another knight over another woman. The young man is Tristram, son of King Meliogras and Queen Emiline. The king dies, and his paranoid brother takes over, so Tristram’s mom sends him far away to avoid danger. Impressed, Calidore makes Tristram a knight before he helps the wounded knight—the knight the dead horse-riding knight fought—by bringing him to a castle.

The wounded knight is Aladine, and the castle belongs to his dad, Aldus, who gets upset over his hurt son but not too upset. The woman whom the horse-riding knight tried to take is Priscilla. She stays by Aladine’s side. Her dad wants her to be with someone else, so they had to meet secretly. Calidore brings Priscilla to her dad and explains what happened. He uses the head of the horsing-riding knight as evidence. The dad is thankful and glad to have his daughter back.

Another knight, Calepine, is with his girlfriend Serena when Calidore inadvertently interrupts their romantic moment. As he apologizes and tells them about his adventures, the Blatant Beast appears and bites Serena. Calidore chases the monster while Calepine tends to Serena. He asks a knight and his wife to help them cross a river. The knight is “discourteous” (6.3.34.1), but his wife lends a hand. Sir Turpine—not the same Sir Turpine killed by the Amazons in Book 5, Canto 5—is also discourteous and refuses to let Calepine and Serena into his castle. The apathetic knight from the river returns and badly pierces Calepine’s shoulder.

A “saluage man” (6.4.2.2) chases away the unsympathetic knight, who turns out to be Turpine. The “wild” man is kind and helps Calepine recuperate. Feeling strong, Calepine goes for a walk. He encounters a bear with a baby in its mouth. He throws a stone at the bear and then chokes it to death. Elsewhere, Matilda is crying in the forest. She and her husband, Sir Bruin, can’t have children, so their land is in jeopardy. Calepine gives the baby to her. The baby can be a great knight “whose linage was vnknowne” (6.4.36.2).

The “wild” man tries to help Serena, but her wounds involve her body and mental state. She misses Calepine, so she and the wild man search for him and encounter Arthur and Timias. When Book 4, Canto 8 ended, Timias had a peaceful life with Belphoebe. Three ruffians led him to the Blatant Beast, and they attacked him until Arthur saved him. Arthur and Timias think the “wild” man is indeed “savage,” but Serena informs them of his “mild humanity, and perfect gentle mynd” (6.5.29.9).

Arthur and the “wild” man look for Turpine while Timias and Serena rest at a hermitage. The Blatant Beast hurt Timias too, and the hermit tells them they’ll get better only by disciplining their feelings. Timias and Serena adhere to the hermit’s directives and regain their health.

Arthur and the “savage” man get into Turpine’s castle, and Turpine fights Arthur. Turpine realizes he has no shot at winning, so he runs away and cries to his wife. Arthur finds him, hits his head, calls him a “[v]ile cowheard dogge” (6.6.33.4), and tells him he can’t be a knight anymore.

Craving vengeance, Turpine tells two knights that Arthur did a “great discourtesie” (6.7.4.3) to his wife and asks them to help him bring Arthur to justice in exchange for a reward. The two knights attack Arthur, and he wounds one and orders the other to fetch Turpine. To get the reward, the second knight tells Turpine he killed Arthur. Turpine goes to see the supposedly dead Arthur, but he’s only sleeping. Waking up, Arthur vanquishes Turpine again and hangs him from a tree.

Next, Timias and Serena meet a woman, Mirabella. She’s with a ruffian, Disdain, and a fool, Scorn. Every man admired Mirabella, but she “grew proud and insolent” (6.7.29.2), and her “hard hart” (6.7.31.1) killed 22 men, so Cupid makes her wonder the world until she saves as many loves as she lost. So far, she’s only saved two loves. To make matters worse, the base man verbally abuses her while the “fool” whips her. Timias attacks Disdain and loses, so Disdain and Scorn abduct him.

Arthur travels with one of the knights he fought earlier, and they spot the kidnapped Timias. Arthur battles Disdain until Mirabella tells him to stop. If he kills Disdain, he’ll kill her too. Arthur offers to spring Mirabella from her punishment, but she turns him down, fearing “a greater ill” (6.8.30.4).

Serena, meanwhile, is under great duress. A “savage” group of robbers and cannibals plans to sacrifice her to their god. They remove her things and clothes and salivate over her body. The priest reminds them they can’t rape her or “pollute so sacred threasure” (6.8.43.8). As the nighttime ceremony begins, Calepine arrives and rescues her.

While pursuing the Blatant Beast, Calidore meets up with a group of shepherds who all but worship a woman shepherd, Pastorella. Calidore meets her parents, who found her in “th’open fields” (6.9.14.6), and he falls in love with her. Coridon is also in love with her, but Pastorella “cared more for Colins carolings” (6.9.35.7) or the songs of Colin Clout. At a dance, Calidore allows Condon to wear Pastorella’s crown. After Calidore bests Condon at wrestling, he lets him get the crown again.

While walking among the fields, Calidore sees a hill and a “hundred naked maidens lilly white” (6.10.11.8) dancing to the music of Colin Clout. He’s in the middle with one particularly stunning woman. When the women see Calidore, they vanish, and Colin can’t bring them back again. The particularly stunning woman was Gloriana, and Colin says she deserves to be another grace.

Returning to Pastorella, Calidore saves her from a tiger when Coridon chickens out. While Coridon hunts in the woods, the lawless Brigants invade the shepherds’ land, destroy their houses, kidnap them, and throw them in caves. The captain of the lawless crew falls for Pastorella, so she has to pretend to be sick to keep him away. Merchants want to buy the shepherds, and the captain agrees, but he won’t sell Pastorella. She’s “like a Diamond of rich regard” (6.11.13.3), so the merchants insist on buying her, and a deadly fight breaks out when the captain refuses to budge on selling her. Coridon escapes, but Pastorella’s parents die. Pastorella is hurt, and corpses bury her.

Coridon thinks Pastorella is dead and tells Calidore she is, but Calidore has hope and convinces the frightened Coridon to help him infiltrate the Brigants. Calidore and Pastorella reunite and kiss. The Brigants discover the breach, and Calidore has to slay them. He takes her to the castle of Sir Bellamoure and his wife Claribell—not the Claribell from Book 2, Canto 4.

Claribell’s dad didn’t want her to marry Bellamoure, so he put them in a dungeon, where Claribell had a baby with a rosy mark. Claribell gave the baby to a handmaiden, Melissa, who put her in a field where shepherds picked her up. Back in the present, Melissa sees Pastorella getting dressed, and she has a rosy mark, so Bellamoure and Claribell are her mom and dad.

Calidore didn’t witness the tearful reunion because he has to fight the Blatant Beast for the Faerie Queene. The monster has the tongues of many animals—cats, bears, tigers, snakes, etc.—and he spreads “licentious words, and hatefull things” (6.12.28.5). Calidore pins the beast and muzzles him. He exhibits him in Faerie Land, and the denizens praise Calidore’s work. Eventually, the beast escapes and returns to his libelous ways. He has become “so great and strong of late” (6.12.40.4) that he’ll slander anyone and anything, including the “homely verse” (6.12.41.1) of the speaker.

The Mutabilitie Cantos

Mutabilitie, a Titaness, thinks she is all-powerful. She sows discord on earth. She upends notions of justice and nature and then visits the gods to make her case that she is the ultimate authority in the world. Jove, the king of the gods, thinks otherwise. A debate ensues on Arlo’s Hill. Mutabilitie makes her case that change and impermanence define the world, so she is the ruler. The God of Nature notes the fluctuations that compose life. Yet she proposes that each element of the world has immutable properties. Thus, Mutabilitie can’t change everything. She’s not all-powerful. Jove remains the dominant god.