Fierce Wars and Faithful Loves: Book I of Edmund Spenser's 'The Faerie Queene'

Every high school kid should read The Faerie Queene, and preferably in this Canon edition, which combines helpful definitions with updated spelling and helpful, enjoyable footnotes.

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Edmund Spenser (1552-99) ranks just below Shakespeare, with Chaucer and Milton, in the pantheon of great writers. In The Faerie Queene, he spins a sub-created fantasy universe that would be the model for Tolkien and Lewis. This poet, whom Milton considered to be a better teacher than the medieval theologians, wrote an epic tale of adventure, love, noble deeds, and faith.

Despite all his acknowledged greatness, almost no one reads Spenser anymore. Roy Maynard takes the first book of The Faerie Queene, exploring the concept of Holiness with the character of the Redcross Knight, and makes Spenser accessible again. He does this not by dumbing it down, but by deftly modernizing the spelling, and including notes in the margins explaining the obscurities in clever asides, and cuing the reader towards the right response.

"It is best to have made one's first acquaintance with Spenser in a very large edition of The Faerie Queene, on a wet day, between the ages of twelve and sixteen... To read him is to grow in mental health." -C.S. Lewis

What People Are Saying:

"Edmund Spenser (1552-99) ranks just below Shakespeare, with Chaucer and Milton, in the pantheon of great writers. In The Faerie Queene, he spins a sub-created fantasy universe that would be the model for Tolkien and Lewis. This poet, whom Milton considered to be a better teacher than the medieval theologians, wrote an epic tale of adventure, love, noble deeds, and faith. Despite all his acknowledged greatness, almost no one reads Spenser any more. Roy Maynard takes the first book of The Faerie Queene, exploring the concept of Holiness with the character of the Redcross Knight, and makes Spenser accessible again. He does this not by dumbing it down, but by deftly modernizing the spelling, explaining the obscurities in clever asides, and cuing the reader towards the right response. In today's cultural, aesthetic, and educational wars, Spenser is a mighty ally for the 21st century Christians. Maynard proves himself a worthy mediator between Spenser's time and ours." -Dr. Gene Edward Veith, Fellow at Patrick Henry College

"Now that I have found the Canon Press series, I will not use any other edition of Spenser's The Faerie Queene. Engaging (and often hilarious) footnotes, helpful definitions of archaic language, enlightening end-of-chapter questions, a delightful re-telling in the Appendix, and a classy printing all contribute to the readability and accessibility of this edition. Toby J. Sumpter provides more than just an excellent annotation and edition of an important but often inaccessible text. He serves as a merry travel guide for our middle and high schoolers who would rather be found catching snakes than reading books."  ~ Rosaria Butterfield, author of The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert, in praise of The Elfin Knight: Book 2 of the Faerie Queene