The Faerie Queene Characters

Redcrosse, a.k.a. The Red Cross Knight, a.k.a. St. George, a.k.a. "That knight in Book 1," is a mighty mysterious fellow. While he's good with a sword, gallant to the ladies (well, sometimes), and...

Una's name, which means "oneness," is deceptively simple—kind of like her. While "one" might seem like a pretty basic, uninspired name, it actually encapsulates two qualities that Una embodies: t...

While Redcrosse is mysterious, Guyon, hero of Book 2, is just downright tricky. Not even critics of The Faerie Queene have been able to agree on this guy's sitch, so don't despair if you found your...

Britomart is kind of like a medieval Xena, Warrior Princess—but, honestly, she's even better. She's literally a warrior and a princess and combines some pretty amazing fighting skills with dazzli...

If we could pick one character as The Faerie Queene's all around hero, we'd have to go with Arthur. Not only does this guy make a guest appearance in every book, but he also embodies almost all the...

Arthegall, whose name suggests the French word for "equal" and "fair"—"égal"—is all about keeping things fair, which makes sense for a guy who's the hero of the book of justice, Book 5. Throug...

Be sure to mind your pleases and thank yous around this knight, because Calidore is the knight of courtesy. And while there's a lot more to courtesy than just good manners, being able to speak well...

If you find yourself confusing Calidore and Calepine, both central knights in Book 6, don't feel too bad, these guys are pretty similar—even their names are very similar. Indeed, many readers und...

Now you see her, now you don't, because Florimell doesn't remain in one place for very long. Spending the majority of the first half of the poem fleeing from everyone she comes across, she's less o...

Belphoebe, the chaste and powerful huntress who makes various guest-appearances throughout the poem, is the closest direct representation of Queen Elizabeth I (queen of England while Spenser was wr...

The Faerie Queene has the distinction of being the only character in The Faerie Queene who we never actually meet. This might seem a little bit odd because, as you might have guessed, she's kind of...

If anyone can attest to the frustrations of love in the Faerie Queene, it's got be Scudamore, the tormented, and not-so-likeable, lover of Amoret. We first meet Scudamore failing to save Amoret fro...

Half-knight, half-satyr, Satyrane lives halfway between the wildness of nature and the civilizing influence of knighthood. Thanks to the calming presence of Una in Book 1, Satyrane develops from be...

It's really only fitting to discuss the two main characters from the book of friendship together, since their identities are so totally united. They really only fully come into their own as charact...

Marin ell is one of the strangest characters in the whole Faerie Queene. It's never clear exactly what he represent (except being associated with the sea) and his sudden turn from violent, sworn ba...

Though we first meet Timias as just the squire to Arthur, he's one of the only sidekick figures who actually gets a narrative of his own. While he spends the first few books primarily coming to Art...

Raised amongst shepherds and renowned as the most beautiful shepherdess around, Pastorella really does live the pastoral life to the fullest. But if that makes her sound pretty one-dimension, it sh...

Like Arthur, Tristram is another knightly figure pulled from a long, pre-existing tradition of British legend: Tristan & Iseult, a pair of star-crossed lovers that could give even Romeo and Jul...

Her name means "heaven" in Latin, and after Redcrosse faces Despair and almost dies, she's exactly what he needs: someone embodying virtue and the importance of a life balanced between praying and...

Okay, to be completely accurate, not everyone in Medina's house deserves the title of Spiritual Advisor. In fact, it's really only Medina who does since her sisters are pretty much opposites, but t...

Alma is basically the heart and soul of Book 2. Alma, whose name means "soul," represents the complex and abstract concept of the human soul in Christian belief. Basically, the soul is what gives h...

Merlin comes to The Faerie Queene already with a reputation as the magical dude who's pretty instrumental in the rise of the great King Arthur of England. And while Merlin's rep is important to Spe...

Since we never actually get to meet the Faerie Queene, Mercilla is the main character that depicts royalty and the workings of a court. Yet another manifestation of Queen Elizabeth I, Mercilla, who...

This hermit, a former knight, shows the power of spiritual advice and living right in curing seemingly incurable wounds. He, unlike any of the other characters in Book 6, recognizes that the wounds...

While there's a lot be confused about with Guyon, the Palmer, his advisor, is more clear-cut. The Palmer is a pilgrim, someone who has made a trip to the Holy Land to show his piety and religious d...

This guy only makes a brief appearance at the end of Book 2, but it's an important one. He literally steers the boat that takes the Palmer and Guyon to the Bower of Bliss and so he figuratively rep...

Glauce is one exceptional nurse. Her devotion to Britomart in Book 3, where she even disguises herself as a man along side her mistress, makes her a lot more relatable than the wise but distant Pal...

Kind of like Cambell and Triamond, Canacee and Cambine, their respective wives and sisters (no, not Sisterwives) cannot be thought of separately. Picking up on the friendship of their husbands, the...

Mother of Amoret and Belphoebe, Chrysogone embodies a deep and pure connection to the heavenly world. Impregnated with her twins simply by exposure to a shower of golden light connects her quite ex...

Priamond, Dyamond, and, their brother Triamond are pretty much the ultimate trio. Their (awesome!) names each locate them within this model of three (Pri - suggesting one, Dy - suggesting two, and...

Sea-nymph mother of Marinell, Cymoent (called Cymodoce in Book 4 for unknown reasons) takes neurotic parenting to a whole new level. Spending pretty much her entire time in the poem worrying about...

Agape, like Cymoent, is another member of the neurotic-parenting club. Fairy mother of Priamond, Dyamond, and Triamond, she is terrified by their desire to become knights and charges off to find ou...

We have to admit, we were a wee-bit tempted to put Talus with the villains because, well, Talus does some pretty questionable stuff in this poem. By far the most controversial "good-guy" character...

Savage is rarely a good thing to be in The Faerie Queene. The other Savage Man we meet, who also is known as Lust, for example, is a rapist cannibal—yikes. But this Savage Man, who we meet in Boo...

Bellamour and Claribell, the king and queen of Castle Belgard that turn out to be Pastorella's long lost parents, are united by the root word "belle," meaning beautiful. Beauty and happiness seem t...

Colin holds a special place in the cast of The Faerie Queene characters for being the only one to have appeared in another work of poetry by Spenser: The Shepherd's Calendar. Referring to a charact...

Coridon is pretty much your textbook Pastoral shepherd. Even his name is textbook, appearing the first pastoral poems by the poets Theocritus and Virgil. Coridon tends his flocks, plays his pipe, a...

His name comes from the Greek word for "honey," which is common image in pastoral poetry, and Meliboe really is a sweet guy. He's father of Pastorella and host to Calidore. Meliboe offers the most...

A minor figure in Book 6 who is unwittingly convinced by the cruel Turpine to kill Arthur, Enias finally realizes his mistake and stays to help Arthur in apology. While Enias is pretty much your st...

Archimago's name suggests two different things, which is fitting for a guy who is defined by his deceptiveness and duality (yep, it's no coincidence that he and Duessa are BFF). 'Archimago' suggest...

Like her pal Archimago, Duessa is primarily known for never being what she seems. In contrast to Una, her very name implies she is two things, not one ('duo' meaning two) and so it makes sense that...

Yeah, we know that dragons are cool. We wouldn't having a couple of them as pets, or even as kids. But dragons weren't always awesome. They used to be (in the Western canon, anyway) super-scary.Dra...

These troublesome brothers in Book 1 are seriously lacking. Their names literally mean "without faith" (Sansfoy), "without joy" (Sansjoy), and "without law" (Sansloy), so it's no wonder they aren't...

Pyrocles and Cymochles are a real nuisance in Book 2. Pyrocles, whose name means "troubled with fire," is constantly looking for fight and stirring up trouble for its own sake. His brother, Cymochl...

While we don't see a lot of this character, we sure hear a lot about her in Book 2. In fact, it's hearing the horrible things she did to Mordant and Amavia (see Amavia) that makes Guyon vow to find...

Busirane is probably the most unlikeable villain in all of the Faerie Queene, and trust us, he's got a lot of competition. Busirane's very physical violation and torture of Amoret, in contrast to t...

Although this monster at the end of both Books 5 and 6 may not be the most interesting or fearsome in the whole of The Faerie Queene, we've got to give him points for having the coolest name ever....

Another problematic giant in the Faerie Queene, Grantorto is terrorizing Eirene—whose name suggests both "peace" and the country of Ireland. Grantorto's odd combination of cruel tyranny and rebel...

We all make mistakes, right? Well, probably not this kind of mistake. Error is essentially a monster—half-serpent, half-woman—who embodies the problem of making mistakes. Redcrosse and Una in B...

You don't want to mess with Lucifera, one of the most elaborately nefarious characters in all of Book 1. As her name suggests, she's deeply associated with the Big Bad himself: Satan, who is also c...

Orgoglio is a real low point for Redcrosse in Book 1. He's unfaithful to Una with Duessa, then is unable to actually fight this giant, and ends up rotting in a prison in Orgoglio's castle while Due...

Abessa, Corceca, and Kirkrapine are not the most functional family. Abessa, who runs into Una and her lion after Redcrosse has abandoned her in Book 1, is blind, deaf, and unable to speak and inste...

Don't be fooled, as Redcrosse is in Book 1, by this seemingly harmless, unarmed man. Despair is a smooth operator and brings Redcrosse the closest he comes to actually dying before Una saves him. W...

Furor and Occasion are one seriously terrible twosome in Book 2. Furor, who's named means "fury," embodies the passions of anger, vengeance, and violence gone completely out of control: Furor fumes...

Of all the villains we meet in Book 2 of The Faerie Queene (and there are a lot), Phaedria may seem to be the most innocuous. All she does is row around in a boat laughing to herself and flirting w...

While this guy might have all the money in the world—and we mean literally all of it—he's not going to be sponsoring your next bake sale. Mammon, God of wealth in Book 2, is a real miser, obses...

If you want a depiction of a classic, fairy-tale witch look no further than Book 3 of Spenser's Faerie Queene. The unnamed witch in this book, who torments Florimell in a number of ways, is your ug...

Dedicated pretty much entirely to chasing after poor Florimell, the unnamed Foster represents the danger of unchecked lust and lawlessness. Associated with the wildness of the forest, he embodies t...

Twin giant siblings, these two unsavory characters embody sex and lust gone horribly wrong. Every time we see them they are capturing a knight with plans to use the knight for their insatiable sexu...

Although the savage who kidnaps and almost rapes Amoret in Book 4 is never named, his associations with unbridled lust make him such a clear embodiment of that sin that some critics just go ahead a...

Sclaunder, whose name is an early version of the English word "slander," is pretty much the most annoying and inaccurate gossip you can imagine. Miserable and unwilling to help Arthur and Amoret, S...

Father of Poeana and captor of Amyas, Corflambo embodies the recklessness and decadence of unrestrained power. Riding a camel, he is associated with what Western Europe perceived to be the dangerou...

Sanglier, a knight, has the dubious honor of being the first person punished by Artegall's justice in Book 5. Unsatisfied with his own ladylove, he steals the love of another, beheads his own lady,...

Father and daughter, these two figures embody economic injustice and greed. Pollente uses his power and might to charge and unfair tax to those trying to cross a bridge he has claimed—apparently...

While there are many giants in the Faerie Queene, you definitely remember this particular giant in Book 5 who tries to convince a massive crowd of people that earth and land are unfairly balanced....

Radigund, the Amazon queen and warrior-princess, is pretty much a foil to Britomart, another female knight. But while Britomart embodies chastity and never tries to claim power over men, Radigund u...

Handmaiden to Radigund and go-between for her and Artegall, Clarinda is just further proof that the Amazons represent improper female rule. Even though she is described as "trusty" (V.v.43), she qu...

The ultimate embodiment of guile and deceit, Malengin is in fact out-guiled by Artegall and Arthur on their way to see Mercilla. They hear about Malengin from Samient, a handmaiden to Mercilla, and...

Another one of many depictions of tyranny in Book 5, Adicia and the Souldan represent the inherent injustice and bestiality that Western Europeans associated with Muslims—"Souldan" is another wor...

Geryoneo, another tyrant in Book 5, is a big problem—literally. This half-giant figure has wormed his way into the good graces of the widow Belge in order to take control of her kingdom for himse...

The Spenserian villain most likely to remind you of a horror movie, Malegar is one creepy dude. Alive, but lacking any blood and therefore nearly impossible to injure, Malegar is kind of like your...

This dreadful duo is defined by their complete and utter lack of interest in courtesy; Turpine through being downright rude, and Blandina through being fake-polite. Turpine's rudeness takes him to...

Brigands, kind of like a mix between pirates and outlaws, represent the complete opposite of the tranquil and law-abiding pastoral community they destroy. Okay, yes. We think they sound kind of sex...

One of the many inhospitable characters in the Faerie Queene, Dolon invites Britomart to spend a lovely night at his house, only to have rigged the bed such that it throws the sleeper into a secret...

What's so bad about Morpheus in Book 1: he's just the god of sleep and dreams. Sounds pretty chill, right? Wrong. In Faerie Land, sleeping and inactivity are rarely good things since they are typic...

Since sleeping and dreaming are surprisingly risky activities in Faerie Land (check out Morpheus for more), it follows that Night is also a shady—literally!—figure. In addition to helping out t...

Aesculapius, a famously talented doctor from Classical mythology, agrees to help Night bring back Sansjoy from death (a big no-no). In fact, Aesculapius really should know better, since bringing pe...

While satyrs usually get a pretty bad rep in Classical mythology, the satyrs in the Faerie Queene come off relatively well. They're pretty much benign and even help Una out when Sansloy is chasing...

While we can't really call this duo villainous, they're definitely not a force for good in Faerie Land; they're really just a force for annoying. One of the few (intentionally) comedic characters i...

While Malecasta is definitely not much of a threat to Britomart or the other knights in Book 3, her pleasure-driven ways do represent a challenge to Britomart's chastity—she is, in every way, the...

Proteus is one shifty guy. And that's not just because he isn't trustworthy; it's also because he's literally a shape-shifter. So it kind of works that his magical ability to transform into anythin...

While Malbecco is a pretty unlikeable guy, it's hard not feel a tad sorry for him in Book 3. He loses all his money, loses his wife, and then turns into a monster. Not spectacular luck. But luck is...

The Squire of Dames of pretty much the ultimate ladies' man, and in Spenser's Faerie Queene, that's not really a good thing. While the Squire isn't malicious, he is foolish, becoming the object of...

Paridell embodies the worst elements of a court culture: seemingly refined and sophisticated, but actually fickle and fake, Paridell is superficiality and performance at it's worst. He comes in and...

An embodiment of everything that opposes friendship in Book 4, The Book of Friendship, Blandamour isn't a hideous monster or cruel tyrant… he's just kind of a jerk. He's constantly falling in lov...

A knight who Arthegall helps deals with the tyrant Grantorto, Burbon is one of the most direct representations of a particular historical character in the entire poem: King Henry IV of France, the...

Daughter of Corflambo, Poeana seems to be yet another embodiment of the problem of unrestrained passions and luxuries. Falling in love with Amyas, she keeps him as her prisoner, but fails to notice...

Talk about a couple with relationship issues. Briana is head over heels for Crudor, but Crudor won't marry her until she's sown him a blanket made from human hair that she cuts off of poor, unsuspe...

Vowing to unfairly slander Arthur's squire Timias, these three troublesome brothers are yet another embodiment of slander found in Book 6. And in case this wasn't enough to help you associate them...

When you meet a guy who's been turned into a tree, you know that something is up. And sure enough, Fraudubio, the bleeding tree, has a sad story to tell about being tricked by the evil Duessa and b...

The encounter with Amavia in Book 2 might be one of the saddest in the whole Faerie Queene. Dying in the forest with her newborn son, Ruddymane, and her dead husband, Mordant, Amavia's pitiful cond...

If you think love is the best thing ever no question, try chatting with Phaon, the victim of Occasion and Furor. He might make you feel a bit differently. His sad tale, a source for Shakespeare's M...

There are a lot of sad characters in Spenser's Faerie Queene, but none really tops the long-suffering Amoret, whose life is a series of near rapes, imprisonments, and trials against her will.Even h...

A pair of BFFs in Book 4, The Book of Friendship, Amyas and Placidas manifest their closeness through their indistinguishable appearances. Apparently, these two friends look so alike not even a lov...

Her name really gives it away: the forlorn Queen Belge is meant to be an embodiment of the country of Belgium, suffering (as the English would have it) under the conquest of Spain (embodied by Gran...

Handmaiden to the great Queen Mercilla, Samient appeals to Arthur and Artegall to help her and her queen deal with the petty tyranny and villainy of Adicia and the Souldan. But Samient's adventures...

Aladine, son of Aldus, is injured by a proud knight who is after his sweetheart, Priscilla. He and Priscilla are caught off guard while having a private moment, which is why Aladine wasn't wearing...

The story of Matilde and Bruin has all the makings of a classic fairy tale: the villain Cormoraunt is conquered by Bruin, Bruin and Matilde have a happy but childless marriage, and a child is proph...

Poor Mirabella. Sure, the girl made some mistakes in her time, but boy is she paying for them. Forced to ride all over the world trying to help the same number of knights she killed by disdaining h...

Serena, whose name means "calm" or "peaceful," is constantly the victim of a large, public world intruding on her covert, private one. We first meet her when Calidore blunderingly walks in on her a...