Category Archives: The Faerie Queene

The Faerie Queene ~ Book I (Part II)

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The Faerie Queene

Book 1
Contayning
The Legende of the Knight of the Red Crosse
Or
Of Holinesse

 

So far this is proving a much more difficult read than anticipated.  It does get easier as you get used to the style and delivery, but there is so much information and I do want to cover as much as I can in my reviews in case I never read it again.  I mean I want to read it again, but right now it’s rather exhausting.  Cantos I to VI introduced us to the Redcrosse Knight and Una, documenting Redcrosse’s descent into sin and Una’s unwavering faith in him.  The following cantos conclude Book I.

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The Faerie Queene ~ Book I (Part I)

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The Faerie Queene

Book 1
Contayning
The Legende of the Knight of the Red Crosse
Or
Of Holinesse

 

Canto I
The Patron of true Holinesse,
Foule Errour doth defeate:
Hypocrisie him to entrape,
Doth to his home entreate.

 

 

At the behest of the Faerie Queene, the Gentle Knight, or Redcrosse Knight, sets out with his companion, Una, a daughter of a king, who is riding an ass and leading a small lamb.  His quest is to slay a terrible Dragon, that is holding Una’s parents captive. Accompanied by a Dwarf as a servant, the travellers come upon a fierce storm and are forced to take shelter in a forest bower for the night.  When morning dawns, they fear that they have lost their way until they come upon a cave.  Una cautions the Knight, fraught with fearful doubts and premonitions of this den, but the Knight will not heed and enters, “full of fire and greedy hardiment”.  Inside he discovers a terrible monster, Error, surrounded by her young.  He commences a battle:

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