The Faerie Queene, Vol. 3: New With Notes Critical and Explanatory

The Faerie Queene Books #3

by Edmund Spenser

Excerpt from The Faerie Queene, Vol. 3: New With Notes Critical and Explanatory
The Third Booke Of
II.
But living art may not least part expresse,
Nor life-resembling pencill it can paynt:
All were it Zeuxis or Praxiteles,
His daedale hand would faile and greatly faynt,
And her perfections with his error taynt:
Ne Poet's witt, that passeth Painter farre
In picturing the parts of Beauty daynt,
So hard a workemanship adventure darre,
For fear through want of words her excellence to marre.
III.
How then shall I, Apprentice of the skill
That whilome in divinest wits did rayne,
Prefume so high to stretch mine humble quill?
Yet now my lucklesse lott doth me constrayne
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Genres: Poetry, Classics, Fantasy, Fiction, School, Renaissance, Mythology

466 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1590

About the author

Edmund Spenser (c. 1552 - 1599) was an important English poet and Poet Laureate best known for The Faerie Queene, an epic poem celebrating, through fantastical allegory, the Tudor dynasty and Elizabeth I.

Though he is recognized as one of the premier craftsmen of Modern English verse in its infancy, Spenser is also a controversial figure due to his zeal for the destruction of Irish culture and colonisation of Ireland.

Reviews

[Cindy Rollins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Part of the reason my reading has slowed down this year is that I am trying to tackle some large books which have been in my TBR pile for years. The Faerie Queene is one of them. I felt a little daunted at the end of Book 2 but here at the end of Book 3 I am excited to move on to Book 4. I can't say I get everything and I certainly am not a scholar but I am enjoying this grown-up fairy tales very much.

[Suzannah Rowntree · Rating 4 out of 5]

The only reason this instalment of THE FAERIE QUEENE doesn't get 5 stars is that its heroine, the indomitable, steadfast, sensible and kind "stout damsel" Britomart, is only featured in about half of it. The other half is spent chasing Florimell around the countryside - a tiresomely gormless young woman whose response to everything is to run away as fast as her horse will carry her. I understand that these characters operate as foils - both Britomart and Florimell are exemplars of chastity, but Florimell is a passive, fainting, fleeing chastity who will never find true love because she hasn't the spine, while Britomart is a tough-minded, active, armoured chastity who, having acknowledged what a dumb thing it is to fall hopelessly in love with a bloke she's only seen once in a magic mirror, owns that nonsense and rides out to kill giants and get the guy. She won't manage this till sometime in Book V, but she does rescue the tormented Amoret at the end of Book 3, in one of the most dreamlike, gorgeously bloody, and magical passages in Spenser.

Almost as much fun as Britomart herself is the side of Spenser we see in this book: the extent to which he loves and admires his heroine, and the enthusiasm with which he depicts her stomping around kicking arse and taking names is something truly excellent to behold. There's a passage in this book which has stuck firmly in my mind since I first read it ten years ago: Britomart, pining after Artegall, asks her old nurse for help; and her old nurse, observing what a hefty girl Britomart is, suggests disguising her as a knight. As someone who is herself above the average height, weight, and muscular development for the gentle sex, it's truly a joyous thing to read about a heroine of imposing physicality, a large woman who isn't made a figure of fun or pity, or required to be quiet and gentle and passive in order to be a heroine. It's not just that Britomart is large, it's that her size is an asset, and Spenser writes her physicality the exact same way he writes his male heroes, delighting in her prowess and boldness, her courage and skill without ever being at all weird about the fact that she's a woman. It's not a portrayal I can think of seeing anywhere else - not done with such unselfconscious exuberance. I love it. And this isn't even getting deep into the way that Britomart, suffering from unrequited love, feels quite free to ride out and track the bloke down, and how Spenser also rejoices in this. Bottom line, Britomart is a very rare sort of character, Spenser loves her dearly, and I adore them both.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

bestie was 100% on crack when he wrote this but yh pretty good ig

[Hannah Sames · Rating 4 out of 5]

sick

[Ava Jast]

i’m not even going to rate this because more than half the time i could not decipher in the slightest what i was reading. The sparknotes made it seem like i had potential to be interesting if it was written in like middle-fucking-english. Yet again another flop assigned by Prof. Rice.

[Elizabeth · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting concept but it lost the plot halfway through. Also not a single fairy in this book. Disappointed.

[Ruth Dahl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Much to ponder, as always with Spenser's Fairie Queen books. Can't wait for the next translations to come out

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

melting away from reading this

[Debbie Reads]

----------March 17, 2026--------------------
Re-read canto's 11 and 12 for my moot courts for 16th century lit I need to find a good way to defend Amoret! JENICA IF YOU SEE THIS IM COMING FOR YOU!

----------March 9, 2026--------------------
Only read cantos 11 and 12 in book 3 for 16th century lit. Just when I thought it got easier with the bower of bliss language wasn't easy. I'm struggling with Britomarts story so hopefully some class time will help me get the hang of her story (she seems cool! First female knight #girlpower)

[ju⛧ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Britomart is a certified butch lesbian <3

[Salomé · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Behind him was Reproach, Repentance, Shame:
Reproach the first, Shame next, Repent behind:
Repentance feeble, sorrowful and lame;
Reproach despiteful, careless" and unkind;
Shame most ill-favoured, bestial and blind.
Shame loured, Repentance sighed, Reproach did scold;
Reproach sharp stings, Repentance whips entwined,
Shame burning brandirons in her hand did hold
All three to each unlike, yet all made in one mould."

My favorite Faerie Queene book so far! This is splendidly done for the romance tradition.

[Lawrence · Rating 3 out of 5]

Each individual stanza is lovely, but goodness does Spenser write so MUCH, and with such a meandering structure. The more I read about the political context of this work re: Ireland, the more suspect I find his project of defining an English, Protestant national identity. Violent opposition to Irish cultural heritage is a lot less cute than just sucking up to Elizabeth I.

[Janet Wertman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I learned that Spenser published the first three books in 1589, only adding books four to six in 1596 and I am going to take that as justification to stop now….I will come back to it, strangely enough, lured back by a sense of duty and the beauty of the last canto of book three…

[annabelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

truly an incomparable fantasy quest written by a man with wasted potential in racism. edmund spenser could have been one of the world's great colonizers yet was limited only to terrorizing ireland. hope he has another house in hell so they can keep burning it down.

britomart is my favorite character in everything ever. she's a hot knight. she's a guy sometimes. every woman is obsessed with her. she only wants one guy who she has never met. she's ready to throw hands at any time. she will win. she's bold, but not too bold. she's so lonely.

i think someone should resurrect edmund spenser so he can write another 18 books. after that, please send him to belfast and let them have their way.

[Bronte Madeleine · Rating 5 out of 5]

my lecturer compared this to the vagina, claiming that all the characters are working towards / finding a trajectory that leads to the clitoris 😐
not sure i agree, but honestly really merges my medieval interests with my Renaissance ones - great story and really good parallels with French romance and Malory for example.
really want to get in that dewy heap of confusion which frustrates teleology can’t lie

[Reece · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's fascinating to see the compare the similarities and contrasts between Elizabethan and modern 'ideals' of love, as well as the differences in spelling and punctuation. You can really see that the fact that written stories in those times were exclusively for the aristocracy/royalty really influences what's told.

[Susan Leifker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Braggadoccio…..

—

And Amoret before the vile Enchaunter Busirane sate,/ Figuring straunge characters of his art… And all perforce to make her him to loue./ Ah who can loue the worker of her smart?/ A thousand charmes he formerly did proue;/ Yet thousand charmes could not her stedfast heart remoue. (III.xii.31)

[Maria Adaway · Rating 3 out of 5]

canto i

[Clara Mundy · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25/5

[Sarah Hartfield · Rating 4 out of 5]

(I read a different volume that came as a set with book 4.) My favorite is still book 1, but this one was still a lot of fun. I listened to the second half of it on Audible and really enjoyed that.

[Lucas Motta · Rating 5 out of 5]

So far, the best of them

[Riya ❤️ · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is what it is 🤷‍♀️

[anna seger]

what a silly story

[marz · Rating 3 out of 5]

pls pray for me it was fine, good even, but it is finals season and now my brain is dying

[lily &#x1fab4; · Rating 2 out of 5]

I HATE HIM. I HATE HIM. SHUT UP. SHUT UP.

[Addison Ware · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dante wouldve loved it

[Marko Vasić · Rating 5 out of 5]

The most thrilling part so far, and in the most semblance with Ariosto. Sexual energy is bursting throughout the stanzas.

[Beth Bauman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read parts of this - some day when I'm more ambitious I might actually finish.

[Meg Merriet · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is many people's favorite FQ book, probably cuz 1. Britomart, female knight who obviously inspired Brienne from Game of Thrones. Obviously. Martin says it was Xena Warrior Princess. Yea OK. 2. All the baddest toughest knights are bawling their eyes out over some virgin on a horse, and 3. Sir Braggadocio. I am yet to pick a favorite FQ book. This one reads like the sexual education of a young androgynous adventurer--that is Britomart, knight of chastity. Her early encounters in Faery teach her about things like flirting, female homosexuality, the consequences of being too chaste and of not being chaste enough, and finally the existence of sexual violence. Of course all of this is up for interpretation. I am reading into the villain Busyrane's act of cutting out a woman's heart as a symbolic act of rape, a reading I think is supported by the Ovidian scenes of rape in the tapestries mounted on his walls. As we come to understand desire, we all eventually confront the fact that desire has a dark side, and this horrific vision completes Britomart's journey into sexual maturity, giving her the knowledge she needs to rescue Amoret and continue her quest to find her true love.

[Mary Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

So I've been reading this and the Song of Ice and Fire series at the same time and I cannot get over how many elements of The Faerie Queene pop up in ASOIAF. I don't know if that is intentional, or if this work is just so influential that aspects of it have just become literary tropes, but it is SUPER cool anyway.

Britomart, the female knight who represents Chastity, is a very interesting character, appearing both "in person" and as the chaste behavior demonstrated by the women in the middle cantos of this volume. Her life and experiences are surprisingly bloody, but somehow Spenser's poetry renders it beautiful.