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THE FAERY QUEEN
AND HER KNIGHTS
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
NEW YORK · BOSTON · CHICAGO
ATLANTA · SAN FRANCISCO
MACMILLAN & CO., Limited
LONDON · BOMBAY · CALCUTTA
MELBOURNE
THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, Ltd.
TORONTO
[Illustration: The Slaying of the Dragon.]
THE FAERY QUEEN AND HER KNIGHTS
Stories Retold from Edmund Spenser
by the
Rev. ALFRED J. CHURCH, M.A.
Author of “Stories from Homer”
With Illustrations in Colour
New York
The Macmillan Company
1909
All rights reserved
Copyright, 1909,
By the Macmillan Company.
Set up and electrotyped. Published October, 1909.
Norwood Press
J. S. Cushing Co.—Berwick & Smith Co.
Norwood, Mass., U.S.A.
CONTENTS
CHAP. PAGE
I. The Red-Cross Knight 1
II. Archimage and Duessa 7
III. The Fortunes of Una 16
IV. Of what befell at the House of Pride 24
V. How the Red-Cross Knight leaves the Castle of Pride 29
VI. The Lady Una and the Satyrs 35
VII. Of the Giant Orgoglio 42
VIII. Of the Deeds of Prince Arthur 49
IX. Of the House of Holiness 55
X. Of the Slaying of the Dragon 64
XI. Of Sir Guyon and the Lady Medina 71
XII. How Sir Guyon came into Great Peril 77
XIII. Of Two Pagan Knights 89
XIV. Of Queen Acrasia 96
XV. Britomart 102
XVI. Of Merlin’s Magic Mirror 109
XVII. How Britomart took to Arms 117
XVIII. Sir Scudamore and Amoret 127
XIX. Of Sir Paridell and Others 135
XX. The Story of Canacé and the Three Brothers 142
XXI. The Story of Florimell 153
XXII. Of the False Florimell 160
XXIII. Sir Satyrane’s Tournament 168
XXIV. Of Florimell’s Girdle 176
XXV. Of Britomart and Artegall 180
XXVI. Of the Fortunes of Amoret 190
XXVII. Of Sir Artegall and the Knight Sanglier 197
XXVIII. Of Other Adventures of Sir Artegall 202
XXIX. Sir Artegall does Justice 214
XXX. Radigund 221
XXXI. How Sir Artegall was Delivered 233
XXXII. Of the Knave Malengin 247
XXXIII. Of the Lady Belgé 252
XXXIV. Of Sir Artegall and Grantorto 263
XXXV. Of Sir Calidore and the Lady Briana 270
XXXVI. Of the Valour of Tristram 278
XXXVII. Sir Calepine and the Lady Serena 286
XXXVIII. Of Sir Calidore and Pastorella 294
XXXIX. The End of Sir Calidore’s Quest 301
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
The Slaying of the Dragon _Frontispiece_
FACING PAGE
The Red-Cross Knight and Sansfoy 10
The Lady Una and the Lion 20
Sir Guyon and the Men in Bestial Shapes 100
Agapé approaching the Dwelling of the Fates 142
Sir Scudamore overthrown by Britomart 184
Sir Artegall and the Saracen 204
Prince Arthur slaying the Seneschal 256
THE FAERY QUEEN
AND HER KNIGHTS
CHAPTER I
THE RED-CROSS KNIGHT
Once upon a time there might have been seen a gentle Knight, riding
across the plain. He was clad in armour of proof, and on his arm he
carried a silver shield. A shield it was that brave men had carried
before him, for there were great dints upon it, which were as a witness
of great fights that had been fought. Now the Knight himself had never
yet been in battle; but he seemed as one who could bear himself bravely,
so well did he sit upon his horse, and so stout of limb he was. On his
breast he wore a cross, red as blood, in token that he was vowed to
serve the Lord Christ, who had died for him; and on his shield was yet
another cross, to be as it were a sign that this service should be a
defence to him in all dangers. Somewhat sad of look he was, not as
though he had fear in his heart, but rather as one upon whom had been
laid the burden of a great task. And such, in truth, there was, for
Queen Gloriana had sent him upon a great enterprise, and all his heart
was full of the thought of how he should best accomplish it. And the
task was this—to slay the Great Dragon.
Beside the Knight a lady was riding on an ass as white as snow. Very
fair she was; but she hid her fairness under a veil, which was brought
low over her face. She was clad also in a garment of black; and she,
too, was somewhat sad of look, nor, indeed, without cause. She came of a
royal stock, being descended from ancient kings and queens, who had held
wide sway in their land until this same Dragon had driven out their
ancient house and had cruelly wasted all their realm. The third of this
company was a Dwarf, who lagged behind, wearied, it may be, with the
weight of the bag in which he bore this fair lady’s gear.
While the three, to wit the Knight, and the Lady, and the Dwarf, passed
on, the sky was suddenly covered with clouds, and there began to fall a
great storm of rain, so that they were fain to seek some shelter.
Gladly, then, did they espy a wood hard by that promised, so thickly
grown it was, a shelter from the rain. Tall were the trees and spreading
wide with shady branches, so that neither sun by day nor star by night
could pierce through. And all about were paths and ways, worn as by the
treading of many feet, which seemed to lead to the abodes of men—a
fairer place of shelter, as it seemed, there scarce could be. So they
passed along, the birds singing sweetly the while; overhead were trees
of many kinds, trees of the forest and of the orchard, the cedar and the
oak, and the elm with the vine clinging to its stem, the yew for bows,
and the birch for arrows, and the fruitful olive. So fair was the place,
and so full of delights, that the travellers took no heed of the way by
which they went. So it came to pass that they strayed from the path by
which they first entered the wood, nor could they win to it again when
once they had left it, so many were the ways and so like the one to the
other. After a time, when they had taken counsel together, it seemed
best to choose the way which seemed most trodden by the feet of
travellers, as being the likeliest to lead to a certain end. When they
had followed this awhile, they came to a great cave, deep in the very
thicket of the wood. Here the Knight sprang from his horse, and gave to
the Dwarf his spear, thinking that he should not need it. But his sword
he kept.
Then said the Lady Una, for that was her name: “Be not overbold, Sir
Knight; there may be mischief here of which you know nothing, peril
which gives no sign of itself, even as a fire which burns without smoke;
hold back, I pray you, till you have made some trial of the place.”
The Knight made reply: “Fair lady, it were a shame to fall back for fear
of a shadow. The cave, doubtless, is dark, but where there is courage
there is not wanting a light for the feet.”
Then said the Lady again: “Nay, nay, Sir Knight; I know this place by
repute, though I thought not of it before. This wood in which we are
lost is the Wood of Wandering; this cave which you see before you is the
Den of Error, a monster, hateful both to God and man. Beware, therefore,
beware!” And the Dwarf cried out aloud in his fear: “Fly, Sir Knight,
fly, this is no place for mortal man.”
But the Knight would not be persuaded. He stepped into the cave, and the
light of day, shining from without on his armour, showed him dimly the
monster that was within. Hideous it was to behold, half a serpent and
half a woman, and all as foul as ever creature was, upon the earth or
under it. All the length of the cave she lay, her tail wound in many
coils; and in every coil there was a deadly sting. And all round her was
a brood of young ones. Many different shapes they had, but hideous all.
And as soon as the light from the Knight’s armour glimmered through the
darkness, they fled for shelter to the mouth of their dam.
The monster, wakened from her sleep, curled her tail about her head, and
rushed to the cavern’s mouth, but, seeing one armed from top to toe in
shining mail, would have turned again. But the Knight leaped at her,
fierce as a lion leaps upon his prey, and barred her backward way with
his sword. First she darted at him her great tail, and threatened him
with the deadly sting that lay in it; but he, not one whit dismayed,
aimed at her head a mighty blow. Her head it wounded not, but glanced on
to the neck with force so great that for a while the great beast was
stunned. Then, coming to herself, she raised her body high from the
ground, and leaped upon the Knight’s shield, and wrapped his body round
with huge folds.
Then Una, seeing in how sore plight he was, cried out: “Now show, Sir
Knight, what you are. Put out all your force, and, above all things,
back your force with faith, and be not faint. Strangle this monster, or
surely she will strangle you!”
Greatly was his heart stirred within him with grief and anger, and,
knitting all his strength together, he gripped the creature by the
throat so mightily that she was constrained to loosen the bonds which
she had cast about him. And yet, it had well-nigh cost him dear to come
so close to the monster, so foul she was. And of this foulness the worst
was this, that she caused to come forth out of her mouth, as in a flood,
the brood which had taken shelter therein at the first. Serpents they
were, like to their dam, small indeed, but full of venom, and they
swarmed over him, twining themselves about his arms and legs, so that he
could not strike a blow nor even move. So, in some still eventide, a
shepherd, sitting to watch his flock, is suddenly assailed by a cloud of
gnats; feeble creatures they are, and slight their sting, but they
suffer him not to rest. The Red-Cross Knight was in a strait more dire,
for these evil creatures had power to do him a more grievous harm. But
he thought to himself, “Shall I be vanquished in this fashion?” He was
somewhat moved by the danger wherein he stood, but more ashamed that he
should be overcome in so foul a fashion. So, resolved in his heart that
he would put all his strength into a stroke, either to win or to lose,
he gathered himself together, and struck the monster with a blow so
fierce that he shore the head from the body, and she fell dead upon the
ground.
Then said the Lady Una: “Well, indeed, have you carried yourself, Sir
Knight. Surely you were born under a lucky star, seeing that you have
overcome so terrible a foe. You are worthy of these arms wherewith you
are clad. So is your first adventure brought to a good result. God grant
that you have many such in the time to come, and that they may be
brought to as happy an ending.”
Then the Knight sprang upon his horse, and the Lady Una mounted again
her ass, and the Dwarf followed as before. And now they kept with
steadfast purpose to the one way which they saw to be most trodden,
turning neither to the right nor to the left, how fair soever the path
might seem. So at last they came to the outskirts of the Wandering Wood,
and journeyed once more across the plain.