Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queene: A Prose Rendering

Welcome to Edmund Spenser’s 1590s epic poem, The Faerie Queene. This text-faithful, line-by-line prose rendering transports modern listeners into a vast narrative tapestry. Knights traverse diverse fantastical landscapes including the shadowy depths of an enchanted forest, a treacherous underwater lair, a mysterious subterranean kingdom, and the deadly Bower of Bliss.

Through these realms stride Spenser’s unforgettable knights—brave yet fallible, powerful yet vulnerable—as they confront ferocious monsters, cunning wizards, beguiling enchantresses, and even encounter young Prince Arthur, who wanders Faerie Land consumed by his passion for Gloriana, the elusive Faerie Queene.

Many have attempted to read Spenser’s original masterpiece only to retreat, daunted by language that was deliberately archaic even in Elizabethan times. Classical educator Rebecca K. Reynolds bridges this gap, crafting a prose adaptation that gradually introduces more of Spenser’s distinctive vocabulary and diction. By the final volume, listeners will find themselves prepared to engage directly with Spenser’s original text with confidence and delight.

For 400 years, Spenser’s realm has captivated powerful creative minds, igniting literary movements and inspiring countless works. So, take a few first steps with us through the mist-shrouded edges of Faerie Land. As C.S. Lewis wisely observed: “The Faerie Queene never loses a reader it has once gained... Once you have become an inhabitant of its world, being tired of it is like being tired of London, or of life.”

VOLUME ONE:
BOOK ONE:
The Red Cross Knight embarks on what first seems a straightforward quest to slay a dragon, rescue a maiden, and save a kingdom. Yet beneath this familiar chivalric framework, Spenser weaves a profound spiritual allegory.

As our noble but naive hero confronts not only external terrors but also the labyrinth of his own flawed heart, he discovers a humbling truth: a hero must be rescued before he can save anyone.

BOOK TWO:
Sir Guyon navigates a world designed to test every facet of self-restraint. Refusing to present temperance as mere moderation, Spenser plunges his knight into the psychological complexities of human desire. As Guyon journeys toward Acrasia’s Bower of Bliss, he confronts increasingly seductive temptations, ultimately destroying the beautiful but corrupting bower. Through Guyon’s trials, Spenser explores the vigilance required to maintain virtue in the face of enticement.

This set also contains a rendering of Spenser's alternate ending to Book Three as well as a rendering of the Cantos of Mutabilitie, a fragment contained after Spenser's death.

As C.S. Lewis once said, enjoy The Faerie Queene, if possible, on a rainy day in front of a warm hearth.