Gloriana
The Fairy Queen who reigns over Fairy Land in Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queene.
Introduction#
Gloriana is the Fairy Queen and sovereign of Fairy Land in Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie Queene. Although she appears only briefly in the poem, her presence shapes the entire narrative, as the adventures of its heroes are undertaken in her service.
Titles | Fairy Queen; Queen of Fairy Land
Affiliations | Court of Fairy Land, Order of Maidenhead
Queen of Fairy Land#
Gloriana presides over a magnificent court in Fairy Land, where she commissions knights to undertake quests that test and demonstrate the virtue. Among those who serve her are the Redcrosse Knight, Sir Guyon, Sir Artegall, and Sir Calidore, each representing a different moral virtue.
Through these quests, Gloriana acts as the guiding force behind the poem’s moral and chivalric vision.
Prince Arthur’s Quest#
According to the poem, Prince Arthur beheld Gloriana in a dream and immediately fell in love with her. Inspired by this vision, he set out to find the Fairy Queen, and his search became the thread connecting the individual books of The Faerie Queene.
Because Spenser never completed the poem, Arthur’s quest remains unfinished, and the long-awaited meeting between the prince and Gloriana never takes place.
Allegorical Significance#
Gloriana is one of Spenser’s most important allegorical figures. She represents the glory, authority, and virtue of Queen Elizabeth I, whose reign Spenser celebrated throughout the poem.
More broadly, she embodies the ideal monarch: a ruler who inspires courage, justice, and virtue without needing to intervene directly in every adventure.
In the Arthurian Tradition#
Although Gloriana does not belong to the medieval Arthurian legends, she occupies a central place in the Arthurian tradition through Spenser’s Renaissance reinterpretation. By making Prince Arthur the champion of the Fairy Queen, Spenser transformed Arthur into the embodiment of perfect virtue while placing Gloriana at the heart of his moral and political vision.
Sources#
The Faerie Queene | Edmund Spenser, 1570-1599
