Reading Notes: Britomart, Part A

After finishing the first reading from this set, I'm very interested in knowing more about the The Faerie Queen. This post will mostly consist of background I found while reading about the work as a while, and then thoughts on the reading specifically.

The poem follows several knights who represent different virtues. In this way, the work is allegorical, as poet Edmund Spenser intended. He states the work is "enwrapped in allegorical devices" and aims to "fashion a gentleman or noble person in vertuous and gentle discipline." Britomart is the protagonist of Book 3, and represents chastity. She also meets Book 1 protagonist, the Redcross Knight, who represents holiness, Book 2 protagonist Guyon, representing temperance, Artegal, representing justice, and Arthur, representing "magnificence, the perfection of all virtues."

Walter Crane's Britomart from Wikimedia Commons

It may be cliche, but my favorite thing about this work is the inclusion of a female knight as a main character. This is ridiculously rare as far as I can tell in Arthurian literature, given the number of knights overall. It's not just the fact that she's female--it's the idea that her presence complicates the idea of chivalry on which knighthood is built in these works, not to mention the ideal relationship between knights and ladies. The text is aware of this, saying: "Through all ages it has been the custom that the prize of Beauty has been joined with the praise of arms and Chivalry. And there are special reasons for this, for each relies much on the other: that Knight who can best defend a fair Lady from harm is surely the most fitting to serve her, and that Lady who is fairest and who will never swerve from her faith is the most fitting to deserve his service."

Also of note is the fact that Britomart's name (as Britomartis) is recycled from a Minoan and Greek goddess of mountains and hunting. In Greek, she was a mountain nymph associated with Artemis. In Crete, she was known as a mother of mountains associated with gorgons, "double-axes of power," and snakes. She must have been a fearsome and dangerous figure, but this aspect of her character was also softened by her status as a "good virgin" goddess. This carries through into The Faerie Queene in that she is a figure of chastity and virtue, but also one of honor and power. Her name carries extra meaning as well, in that "Brit" denotes "Briton" and "Martis" could mean "of Mars," the Roman god of war.

Sources:
Mary Macleod: Stories from the Faerie Queene
Wikipedia: The Faerie Queene
Wikipedia: Britomartis