The Faerie Queene - List of Major Characters

List of Major Characters

• Acrasia, seductress of knights. Guyon destroys her Bower of Bliss at the end of Book 2. Similar characters in other epics: Circe (Homer's Odyssey), Alcina (Ariosto), Armida (Tasso). Also the fairy woman from Keats' poem "La Belle Dame sans Merci".
• Alma; her name means "soul." She is the head of the House of Temperance in Book 2.
• Amoretta, the betrothed of Scudamour, kidnapped by Busirane on her wedding night, saved by Britomart. She represents the virtue of married love, and her marriage to Scudamour serves as the example that Britomart and Artegal seek to copy. Amoret and Scudamor are separated for a time by circumstances, but remain loyal to one another until they (presumably) are reunited.
• Archimago, an evil sorcerer who is sent to stop the knights in the service of the Faerie Queene. Of the knights, Archimago hates Redcross most of all, hence he is symbolically the nemesis of England.
• Artegal (or Arthegall), a knight who is the personification and champion of Justice. He meets Britomart after defeating her in a swordfight (she had been dressed as a knight) and removing her helmet, revealing her beauty. Artegal quickly falls in love with Britomart. Artegal has a companion in Talus, a metal man who wields a flail and never sleeps or grows tired but will mercilessly pursue and kill any number of villains. Talus obeys Artegal's command, and serves to represent justice without mercy (hence, Artegal is the more human face of justice). Later, Talus does not rescue Artegal from enslavement by the wicked Radigund, because Artegal is bound by a legal contract to serve her. Only her death, at Britomart's hands, liberates him.
• Arthur of the Round Table, but playing a different role here. He is madly in love with the Faerie Queene and spends his time in pursuit of her when not helping the other knights out of their sundry predicaments. Prince Arthur is the Knight of Magnificence, the perfection of all virtues.
• Ate, a fiend from Hell disguised as a beautiful maiden, Ate opposes Book IV's virtue of friendship through spreading discord. She is aided in her task by Duessa, the female deceiver of Book I, whom Ate summoned from Hell. Ate and Duessa have fooled the false knights Blandamour and Paridell into taking them as lovers. Her name is possibly inspired by the Classical Goddess of Misfortune Atë, said to have been thrown from Heaven by Zeus, similar to the fallen angels.
• Belphoebe, the beautiful sister of Amoret who spends her time in the woods hunting and avoiding the numerous amorous men who chase her. Timias, the squire of Arthur, eventually wins her love after she tends to the injuries he sustained in battle; however, Timias must endure much suffering to prove his love when Belphoebe sees him tending to a wounded woman and, misinterpreting his actions, flies off hastily. She is only drawn back to him after seeing how he has wasted away without her.
• Blatant Beast comes from hell, signifies the spite and wickedness that causes a loss of honor (Heale 161).
• Braggadocchio, a comic knight with no sense of honour. He steals Guyon's horse. He is not evil, just a dishonourable braggart.
• Britomart, a female knight, the personification and champion of Chastity. She is young and beautiful, and falls in love with Artegal upon first seeing his face in her father's magic mirror. Although there is no interaction between them, she falls in love with him, and travels, dressed as a knight and accompanied by her nurse, Glauce, in order to find Artegal again. Britomart carries an enchanted spear that allows her to defeat every knight she encounters, until she loses to a knight who turns out to be her beloved Artegal. Parallel figure in Ariosto: Bradamante. Britomart is one of the most important knights in the story. She searches the world, including a pilgrimage to the shrine of Isis, and a visit with Merlin the magician. She rescues Artegal, and several other knights, from the evil slave-mistress Radigund. Furthermore, Britomart accepts Amoret at a tournament, refusing the false Florimell.
• Busirane, the evil sorcerer who captures Amoret on her wedding night. When Britomart enters his castle to defeat him, she finds him holding Amoret captive. She is bound to a pillar and Busirane is torturing her. The clever Britomart handily defeats him and returns Amoret to her husband.
• Calepine, a knight who acts as Calidore's surrogate throughout much of Book VI.
• Calidore, the Knight of Courtesy, hero of Book Six. He is on a quest from the Fairy Queen to slay the Blatant Beast.
• Cambell, one of the Knights of Friendship, hero of Book Four. Brother of Canacee and friend of Triamond.
• Cambina, daughter of Agape and sister to Priamond, Diamond, and Triamond. Cambina is depicted holding a caduceus and a cup of nepenthe, signifying her role as a figure of concord. She marries Cambell after bringing an end to his fight with Triamond.
• Canacee, Cambell's sister, whose magic ring renders the wearer invulnerable. After Cambell and Triamond's combat, Canacee marries Triamond and befriends his sister Cambina.
• Colin Clout, a shepherd, noted for his songs and bagpipe playing, briefly appearing in Book VI, being the same Colin Clout from Spenser's pastoral poetry, which is fitting because Calidore is taking a sojourn into a world of pastoral delight, ignoring his duty to hunt the Blatant Beast, which is why he set out to Ireland to begin with. Colin Clout may also be said to be Spenser himself.
• Cymochles, a knight in Book II who is defined by indecisiveness and fluctuations of the will. He and his fiery brother Pyrochles represent emotional maladies that threaten temperance. The two brothers are both slain by Prince Arthur in Canto VIII.
• Chrysogonee, mother of Belphoebe and her twin Amoretta, she was impregnated by sun-beams when she slept on a bank. Chrysogonee hid in the forest and becoming tired she fell asleep and gave birth to twins. Found by Venus and Diana, the newly-born twins were taken: Venus takes Amoretta and raises her in the Garden of Adonis; and Diana takes Belphoebe.
• Duessa, a lady who personfies Falsehood in Book One, known to Redcrosse as "Fidessa". As the opposite of Una, she represents the "false" religion of the Roman Catholic Church. She is also initially an assistant, or at least a servant, to Archimago.

• Florimell, a lady in love with the knight Marinell, who initially rejects her. Hearing he was wounded, she set out in search and faced various perils, culminating in her being captured by Proteus. She is reunited with Marinell at the end of Book IV, and is married to him in Book V.
• Glauce, an elderly woman who serves as Britomart's squire.
• Gloriana, the "Faerie Queene" herself, she is also sometimes called Tanaquill, which was her name before she became queen.
• Guyon, the Knight of Temperance, the hero of Book Two. He is the leader of the Knights of Maidenhead and carries the image of Gloriana on his shield. According to the Golden Legend, St. George's name shares etymology with Guyon, which specificially means "the holy wrestler."
• Malbecco, protective husband of the lascivious Hellenore. When she is seduced by Paridell, he metamorphoses into a hideous creature, representing jealousy itself.
• Malecasta, a decadent, jaded sophisticate who invites the weary knights to dinner. She studies Britomart at the feast, and tries to seduce her, unaware Britomart is a lady until Malecasta feels the sting of Britomart's magic sword.
• Marinell, "the knight of the sea"; son of a water nymph, he avoided all love because his mother had learned that a woman would do him harm; he was struck down in battle by Britomart, though not mortally wounded.
• Merlin, who is much the same as in Arthurian legend. A young Britomart goes to see Merlin after falling in love with Artegal, and he instructs her on how to proceed.
• Mirabella, in book 6 ; a woman who allows herself to be punished for her sins against the two men she couldn't choose between.
• Orgoglio, a giant who attacks the Redcrosse Knight.
• Paridell, a false knight and a seducer of women. His name derives from that of the Trojan prince Paris. In Book Three, he runs off with Malbecco's wife, Hellenore.
• Pastorella, a woman raised by shepherds but revealed in the last Canto of Book 6 to be actually the daughter of Sir Bellamoure and Lady Claribell.
• Phaon, a squire who is deceived by Philemon and, under the influence of Furor (frenzied rage), kills Claribel with his sword and Philemon with poison.
• Pyrochles, a hot-tempered knight in Book Two, he and his impressionable brother Cymochles serve as examples of two emotional maladies that threaten temperance. Pyrochles is eventually beheaded by Prince Arthur in Canto VIII.
• The Redcrosse Knight, hero of Book One. Introduced in the first canto of the poem, he bears the emblem of Saint George, patron saint of England; a red cross on a white background is still the flag of England. The Redcross Knight is declared to be the real Saint George in Canto X. He also learns that he is of English ancestry, having been stolen by a Fay and raised in Faerieland. In the climactic battle of Book I, Redcrosse slays the dragon that has laid waste to Eden. He marries Una at the end of Book I, but brief appearances in Books II and III show Redcrosse still questing through the world.
• Sansfoy, Sansjoy and Sansloy (names from the old French meaning "Faithless", "Joyless" and "Lawless"), three saracen knights who fight Redcrosse in Book One.
• Satyrane, a wild half-satyr man raised in the wild and the epitome of natural human potential. Tamed by Una, he protects her, but ends up locked in a battle against the chaotic Sansloy, which remains unconcluded. Satyrane finds Florimell's girdle, which she drops while flying from a beast. He holds a three day tournament for the right to possess the girdle. His Knights of Maidenhead win the day with Britomart's help.
• Scudamour, the lover of Amoret. His name means "shield of love". This character is actually based upon a real person, Sir James Scudamore, a jousting champion and courtier to Queen Elizabeth I. Scudamour loses his love Amoret to the sorcerer Busirane. Although the 1590 edition of the Faerie Queene has Scudamour united with Amoret through Britomart's assistance, the continuation in Book IV has them separated, never to be reunited.
• Talus, an "iron man" who helps Arthegall dispense justice in Book Five.
• Timias, prince Arthur's squire and lover of Belphoebe. His relationship with Belphoebe is generally thought to represent that of Sir Walter Raleigh and Queen Elizabeth I.
• Triamond, one of the Knights of Friendship, a hero of Book Four. Friend of Cambell. One of three brothers; when Priamond and Diamond died, their souls joined with his body. After battling Cambell, Triamond marries Cambell's sister, Canacee.
• Trompart, Braggadocchio's cunning squire. His name derives from the French tromper, "to deceive".
• Una, the personification of the "True Church". She travels with the Redcrosse Knight (who represents England), whom she has recruited to save her parents' castle from a dragon. She also defeats Duessa, who represents the "false" (Catholic) church and the person of Mary, Queen of Scots, in a trial reminiscent of that which ended in Mary's beheading. Una is also representative of Truth.