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Tag Archives: Redcrosse Knight

Patron of True Holinesse ❙ Walter Crane

Image May 18, 2014 Larkrise Leave a comment

Illustration Redcrosse Knight Una Walter Crane

Videos

Faerie Queene ❙ Walter Crane
May 20, 2014 Larkrise Leave a comment
Music from Spenser’s England
May 18, 2014 Larkrise Leave a comment

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Quotes

“Spenser not only creates a world in his Faerie Land and peoples it with characters who engage our imaginations, but also mirrors our own world and show us ourselves. Those characteristics can be seen n the way that The Faerie Queene, 400 years after the publication of its first three books, still holds the attention of readers, even those unfamiliar with, and uninterested in, the historical events that inform so much of the poem. The value of The Faerie Queene rests not just in the beauties and intricacies of Spenser’s poetry, not just in historical allegory, or even its superb moral coloration. Rather… its value rests on Spenser’s ability to draw us into his work, not just to appreciate and understand it, but to learn from it and to grow to a better understanding of the human condition.

“In the denizens of Faerie Land we see not just knights and ladies who must face their own deepest fears, but ourselves, just as clearly as Spenser’s contemporaries must have seen themselves in Redcrosse, Una, Guyon, Britomart, or Calidore. We need not identify directly with Guyon’s knightly accoutrements or the Redcrosse Knight’s deep religious devotion to see in them our own need to achieve temperance or behave faithfully to our God or to our companions. Here then is the true value of The Faerie Queene: it speaks directly to our deepest convictions and helps is better understand not just what to means to be human, but what it means to exist in society.“–Russell J. Meyer, The Faerie Queen: Educating the Reader

To Exist in Society
July 11, 2014 Larkrise Leave a comment
“[T]he knights Spenser uses as his examples ‘to fashion a gentleman or noble person’ are politically and socially involved, not merely contemplative. Their role is in the world of action, not the world of prayer, although prayer always forms an important part of their lives. In the newly rediscovered classical literature the Renaissance humanists found precisely the examples for behavior that best suited their needs. The educated man… was trained to play important roles in governing the nation, an ideal expressed in such classical authors as Cicero and Quintilian. This classical concept did not fit well with the medieval ideal of the contemplative life, but, in this new era, it added the respectability of tradition to the necessity of practice…. Cicero and Quintilian furnished for the Renaissance… the importance of moral instruction as an integral part of preparation for the active life.”—Russell J. Meyer, The Faerie Queen: Educating the Reader

The Active Life
May 28, 2014 Larkrise Leave a comment

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Images

Saint George and the Dragon. Raphael. 1504-1506.

St. George and the Dragon
July 12, 2014 Larkrise Leave a comment
St. George the Victorious. Artist Unknown.

St. George the Victorious
June 5, 2014 Larkrise Leave a comment

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Aside

The Faerie Queen is growing on me—or I am growing into it. More and more frequently my mind is wrestled into the dim loveliness of Spenser’s world. I feel my thoughts tuned to its archaic cadence, its ordered beauty, its “actual avenging virtue.” This is not a passive or a tranquil world. But it is beautiful.

Growing into It
May 20, 2014 Larkrise Leave a comment
I recently dreamed I had a daughter called Gloriana. That is the only time in my memory that I’ve dreamed the name of a future family member. Now I’m seriously considering the Faerie Queen’s appellation for my offspring.

A Daughter Called Gloriana
May 19, 2014 Larkrise Leave a comment

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Fierce warres and faithfull loves shall moralize my song.

Welcome!

In spare moments I am reading the Faerie Queen for the first time. At the slow but steady rate of one canto per month I find myself apparently occupied for the next six years, and happily so. So much have I enjoyed reading, taking notes, and looking at illustrations, that I have started collecting and archiving my efforts here. May it be a help to you on your way to Goodness, Beauty and Truth.

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