# Gloriana — The Faerie Queene character guide

> Gloriana in The Faerie Queene by Edmund Spenser.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Gloriane, the Faery Queene

**First appearance:** 0023-canto-i

## Snapshot

The Faery Queene herself, whose glory and bounty send her knights out on quests, though Arthur has sought her sight for seven years without finding her.

## Who they are

Gloriana reigns over Faery land as the source of every quest and the object of every knight's devotion, praised as the flower of grace and chastity whose glory shines like the morning star. Yet she is almost never seen directly: Arthur has wandered seven years hoping to glimpse her, and Guyon speaks of her bounty as something known by report and faith. Her elusiveness is the point — she is the ideal that drives the poem's action, and the reason its heroes keep riding.

## In the story

### [Dedication to the Edition of 1590](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_faerie_queene_se/chapters/dedication-to-the-edition-of-1590)

The Faerie Queene, representing Queen Elizabeth I, is the dedicatee of the poem.

### [Dedication to the Edition of 1596](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_faerie_queene_se/chapters/dedication-to-the-edition-of-1596)

The Faery Queene, representing Queen Elizabeth I, is the dedicatee of the poem.

### [Sonnet VI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_faerie_queene_se/chapters/sonnet-vi)

Referenced as the Faery Queene, whose last praises the poet hopes to sing in a future, bolder work.

### [Sonnet IX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_faerie_queene_se/chapters/sonnet-ix)

Referenced as 'that Emperesse' and 'the worlds sole glory and her sexes grace', the Faerie Queene who favors the Lord of Hunsdon.

### [A Letter to Sir Walter Raleigh](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_faerie_queene_se/chapters/a-letter-to-sir-walter-raleigh)

The Fairy Queen, representing glory in general and Queen Elizabeth in particular; she holds a twelve-day feast that occasions the knights' adventures.

### [The Faerie Queene](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_faerie_queene_se/chapters/the-faerie-queene)

The Faerie Queene, who dispatches knights on their quests and embodies Glory.

### [Canto I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_faerie_queene_se/chapters/canto-i)

The Faerie Queene who assigned the Redcrosse Knight his quest.

### [Canto II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_faerie_queene_se/chapters/canto-ii)

The Faerie Queene, to whom Guyon owes homage and from whom he received the Order of Maidenhead.

### [Canto IX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_faerie_queene_se/chapters/canto-ix)

The Faery Queene, whose image Guyon bears on his shield; both knights express their devotion to her.

### [Canto X](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_faerie_queene_se/chapters/canto-x)

Mentioned as the Faery Queene and the culmination of the Elfin line.

### [Canto II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_faerie_queene_se/chapters/canto-ii)

Addressed as the sovereign Queen in the narrator's praise of wisdom.

### [Canto III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_faerie_queene_se/chapters/canto-iii)

The Faery Queene, referenced as the glorious sovereign whose ancestry Merlin traces.

### [Canto I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_faerie_queene_se/chapters/canto-i)

The Faery Queene, who chooses Artegall to restore Irena to her rightful inheritance.

### [Canto XII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_faerie_queene_se/chapters/canto-xii)

The Faerie Queene who appointed Artegall to the quest against Grantorto.

### [Canto X](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_faerie_queene_se/chapters/canto-x)

The Faery Queene, invoked by Colin Clout as the 'Sunne of the world' and 'greatest Majesty,' to whom he dedicates his praise.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_faerie_queene_se/characters/gloriana
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_faerie_queene_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_faerie_queene_se/characters