The Faerie Queene: Book V: Canto II Summary & Analysis

Arthegall happens to meet a dwarf on the road who tells him that Florimell is going to marry Marinell. It turns out he’s Florimell’s dwarf, Dony. Dony wants to get to the wedding himself, but he faces an obstacle. He tells Arthegall about a cruel Saracen on a nearby bridge who has defeated many wandering knights who tried to pass. The Saracen, named Pollente, charges a toll and fights those who don’t pay it. His bridge is long and narrow, with many traps.

At the end of the day, Pollente takes his ill-gotten wealth to his daughter Munera, who is richer than many princes. Arthegall goes to the bridge and finds another Saracen there asking him for a toll. Arthegall kills the man, which Pollente witnesses, and soon the two rush at each other with spears. Because of a trap, they both end up falling into the water of the river below.

Pollente is skilled at fighting in water and seems to have an advantage. Arthegall gets off his horse and fights Pollente while swimming. Eventually, he sees an opportunity and smites Pollente’s head off. The head falls on dry land, but the body is carried downstream, so Arthegall impales the head on a pole as a sign for other men who pass that way.

Arthegall goes to the castle where Pollente’s daughter Munera lives. With Talus’s help, Arthegall breaks into the fortified castle. Munera tries to stop him with stones and magic spells, but it doesn’t work, so she hides. After breaking in, however, Talus is able to find Munera lying on a heap of gold.

Munera has hands of gold and feet of silver. Though she pleads for mercy, Arthegall chops off her hands and feet, then nails them up so that everyone can see, then he throws her body over the castle wall where she drowns in the mud. Arthegall then burns her possessions and has Talus destroy the castle from the foundations so that it can’t be repaired.

Arthegall and Talus set out again, and they soon come across a giant. The giant has a scale and is talking to a crowd about how he wants to use his scale to balance the whole world. The giant says everyone in the world is unequal, but he can make things equal again. Arthegall says the giant is wrong and God made everything perfect, but the giant says things would be better if mountains were razed to make everything flat and level.

Arthegall argues that the world is already balanced and that things that die and return to the earth eventually blossom, and things that blossom eventually die and become dust again. The giant still disagrees and the two of them argue about the various ways to measure wrong against right.

It turns out the giant isn’t interested in justice; he’s only interested in extreme positions and misleading people. When Talus realizes this, he knocks the giant off his rock, and he falls into the sea and drowns.

The giant’s followers see this and raise their weapons against Arthegall and Talus. Arthegall is dismayed, because he doesn’t want to get his noble hands dirty with the blood of such common people. He sends Talus to broker a truce, but the crowd refuses, and so Talus kills them like flies. When there are no more people in the crowd left to fight, Talus and Arthegall leave to continue on their journey.