The Faerie Queene: Book IV: Canto XI Summary & Analysis

Meanwhile, the real Florimell has been in Proteus’s dungeon this whole time. She spent seven months in a dungeon so dark that she couldn’t tell night from day, all because she loved Marinell (the knight by the shore), who doesn’t love any woman (because he was told a woman would be his downfall).

Marinell is still suffering from a wound that Britomart gave him during their battle. His mother the nymph has tried many herbs and other methods to cure him, with no luck. Eventually Tryphon, the surgeon of the sea gods, gives her a whistle made from a shell, which she uses to call a leech that heals Marinell’s pain.

A great feast is held with all the sea gods to celebrate the marriage of Medway and Thames. (They both have the same names as rivers in England, with the Thames being the river that runs through London.) The feast takes place at Proteus’s house.

The guest list at the feast is so long and illustrious that the narrator calls on Clio, a Muse who was nursed by Memory, in order to remember everyone. Starting with the great sea god Neptune and his wife Amphitrite, the guests include many other notable figures from the sea. Some are sons of Neptune, like Albion, while others are the namesakes of rivers, like Nile, Ganges, and Euphrates.

The list of guests continues with many of the guests bearing the names of rivers in England, as well as Irish rivers like the Liffey. Following the rivers are many, many sea nymphs. After listing off so many guests, the narrator says he has tired himself out and must switch over to the next Canto.