A maid whom Arthur, Britomart, and Guyon saw pursued by a lustful forester. Arthur and Guyon set out to rescue her. During her flight, she sought refuge in the cottage of a witch. The witch’s son tried to rape her, but she escaped. The witch then sent a monster after her, but she eluded it by rowing out into the ocean. The owner of the boat, a fisherman, was asleep in the boat. He awoke and tried to rape Florimell.
Her screams brought the assistance of the sea god Proteus, who took her to the bottom of the ocean. When Florimell refused to become Proteus’s mistress, he imprisoned her. She was freed from the prison by her true love, Marinell, and was joyously united with him.
The witch’s monster had taken Florimell’s girdle, which the witch used to create a ‘False Flormiell’ out of snow. The False Florimell became the amie of the witch’s son, but she was carried away by a peasant named Braggadocchio, who became her “champion”. She caused jealousy and dissention among several knights and friends. She eventually melted when she stood next to the real Florimell.
Source
The Faerie Queene | Edmund Spenser, 1570-1599