Not only was Spenser writing in the late sixteenth century, but some of the words he used were deliberately archaic, even then. This page is a growing glossary of words from the Faerie Queen you may not know.

http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Faerie_Queene/Book_I/Glossary

Spelling Notes

If you are reading the original text you will frequently encounter unconventional spelling and even multiple spellings of the same word.

i=j

u = v

v = u