During his many adventures and misadventures to aid his Lady Faire, the Redcrosse Knight wears the armor of God spoken of in Ephesians 6:14-18. The Armor includes the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, "feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace" (Eph. 6: 15; NIV), the shield of truth, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit. The imagery given in Ephesians is on od "individual soldiers withstanding assault" (Barker. 1801), with an endurance given by God as expressed in this biblical armor. As Redcrosse journeyed, each piece was tested, If he had kept tru to the principles behind these various pieces, the many challenges he encountered in his journey would have been much easier for him to overcome.

Errour's den was the foreshadowing and beginning of his downfall, even though he was successful in defeating her in the end. His Lady had warned him to be cautious, to think before he acted, to "with-hold (his stroke), till further triall made." (1.105). He chose to disregard her wise advice and advanced into the darkened cave of Errour's lair, resulting in a battle during which he became entagnled in Errour's tail. When exhorted to "add faith unto (his) force, and be not faint" (1.165), he chose anger and contempt instead. His succes set the stage for his later errors, which occurred as a result of not evaluating all according to the principles implied in his armor. Character is the warrior's defense (Barker, 1801), and his character is what ends up being tested.

It is here that Redcrosse figuratively dropped the shield of faith. Biblically, faith is "trust in, or reliance on, God" (Achtemeier, 298). Its expression is fidelity to God for He "alone can be the object of trust and faithfulness" (Achtemier, 299). however, Redcrosse did not rely on God or "add faith" to his force. Being "fearful more of shame" (1.208), it was with pride and furious anger that he "resolved in minde all suddenly to wim" (1.211), not with calm faith in god. His shield is cast aside.

While yet unaware of his loss or peril, he and his Lady meet with Archimago. Tested twice, he stands firm at first then falls to a ploy which should have been as transparent as clear glass. When he departs, he lieaves behind not only the belt of truth, but also the joy of Christian love. Believing the lie Archimago showed him, he became angered and fled without speaking to the Lady who had thus far been loyal to him. True Christian love is "not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs . . . it always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres." (I Cor. 13:5, 7; NIV). It is in this that love and truth are connected. The closest word to truth in the Old Testament means "constant, permanent, faithful, reliable" and refers to being able to "stand up under testing" (Achtemeier, 1100). Instead of relying on these two intertwined foundations of character, he allowed himself to believe the lie before his eyes rather than the truth in his heart.

With love and truth lost to him, he has nothing left with which to evaluate the claims of Duessa, who perhaps has seen a tarnished knight before and the opportunity to continue his fall. And without love, his gaze is less than courteous, which gets in the way of true discernment of her falsities. :More busying his quicke eyes, her face to view" (2.231), his ears are "dull . . . to heare what she did tell" (2.232). Buying her line of lies, he follows her to a court ruled by the Queen of Pride and bows before her in obesience. this is an appropriate picture of his current state. It was pride he relied on to defeat Errour, and hurt pride that caused him to leave his Lady behind without a word to discover the truth of what he saw. Having allowed pride to rule him thus far, it is only fitting that he ". . . on humble knee / (Make) obeyssance. . " (4.114-115) to the very picture of pride.

When he finally begins to see his folly, he flees once more, leaving yet another piece of his holy armor behind him. When Orgoglio finds him, Redcrosse discovers that his feet are no longer "fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace" (Eph. 6:15; NIV). He hears the "dreadful sowned" (7.58), but is neither prepared for battle nor able to prepare in time. All he could do was "lightly (leap) from underneath the blow" (7.105), and even then was sent tumbling from the force of the blow. Overcome and without defense, he becomes captive of the Geant and Duesssa.

There Redcrosse remains until saved by his LAdy and Prince Arthur. Faithful and true, Una has not stopped seeking him. When he is freed from captivity, she asks for no explanations, but is an example of true Christian love: patient, kind, not proud or self-seeking, not easily angered, and, probably most importantly for Redcrosse, not keeping record of the wrongs done her. Under her nurturance, he seems to begin to come back to himself, only to fall victim to his impulsiveness and pride once more. Having heard of Despair, he cannot seem to stop himself from proving himself against him.

If not for Una, he would have dropped another piece of armor at the feet of a foe. Failing to rely on the breastplate of righteousness, he nearly fell victim to the twisted rhetoric of half truths and philosophy Despair spun around him. Had he been securly armored, he would not have needed Una yo step in and prevent him from taking his life. He would have known that it is not by ourselves that righteousness is acheived. Righteousness is God's gift and is bestowed when we accept his offering. "being right or vindicated", forgiven, justified, sanctified, and washed from sin (Achtemeier, 871) is not something done by man, but completely the work of God. But it is only through faith we understand that and since Redcrosse lost his shield of faith long before, he had no defense against the "flaming arrows of the evil one" (Eph. 6:16; NIV). God's grace is forgotten and "The sight whereof so thoroughly him dismaid, / That nought but death before his eyes he saw, / And ever burning wrath before him laid, / By righteous sentence of the Almighties lae" (9.442-445).

Fortunately Una reminded, saw and forestalled his untimely demise. she intervened and became faith for him, reminding him of his place in God's mercy. "Where justice growes, there grows eke greater grace" (9.474). His helmet of salvation remains by the grace of God. Redcrosse finally listens to his Lady Faire, and allows himself to be led away from destruction. It is not the beginning of discernemtn, perhaps, but the beginning of his return to truth. Most of his armor is lost, but he seems ready to go find it again. With faithful Una by his side, it would appear unlikely that he would fail in this quest.


Works Cited

Achtemeier, Paul J., et al (eds). Harper's Bible Dictionary. California: Harper & Row, 1985.

Barker, Kenneth, et al (eds). The NIV Study Bible. Michegan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1985.


The Fairie Queene (1590, 1596)
Edmund Spencer
The Norton Anthology: English Literature 6ed, Vol. 1
Essay written May 26, 1998
grade: A