The Faerie Queene: Book VI: Canto III Summary & Analysis

After helping the wounded knight back to the castle, Calidore meets Aldus, an old man who used to be strong in his younger days and who is the father of the wounded knight (whose name is revealed as Aladine). Though Aldus has reason to grieve because his son is injured, he tries to be cheerful for his guest.

The lady, whose name is Priscilla, keeps grieving. She fell in love with Aladine, who was of lower birth than her but who had proved himself valiantly as a knight. Priscilla won’t go to bed, wanting to watch over wounded Aladine all night.

Aladine wakes up and is dismayed to see how much his injury is upsetting Priscilla. When Calidore visits them later, Aladine seems to be doing better. In order to help ease everyone’s grief, Calidore goes back to the corpse of the evil knight, chops off the head, and brings it back with him. Everyone is happy to see it. After spending a little while longer there, Calidore rides off to continue his journey.

As Calidore is riding, he sees a knight called Sir Calepine in the shade with his lady, Serena. They are both ashamed when they see Calidore coming toward them. While they’re talking, Serena wanders off to pick flowers and is suddenly taken by the Blatant Beast. The knights chase after the beast, which decides it doesn’t want to fight Calidore, and so it drops Serena to get away.

Sir Calepine is dismayed to see that Serena has bloody wounds from the beast. He puts Serena on his horse so that they can take her to get help. They travel until they come to a river that isn’t crossable on foot. A knight (Sir Turpine, but not the Sir Turpine killed by Radigund) and lady (Blandina) also come to the river. Calepine asks for their help in carrying Serena across, but the knight refuses. The knight’s lady doesn’t approve of her knight’s behavior, finding it discourteous.

Sir Calepine decides to try carrying Serena out into the river, using his spear as a walking stick. The discourteous knight on the riverbank laughs at Calepine’s attempts, so Calepine gets angry and challenges the knight to a duel. Eventually, Calepine makes his way across the river and gets Serena to a castle.

The porter at the castle door is also rude and refuses to let Sir Calepine and Serena inside. The porter replies that the lord of the castle, Sir Turpine, only lets into the castle knights that he has fought with. Turpine is stern and macho, challenging every knight he meets. When the porter tells Turpine about Calepine and Serena’s plight, Turpine still refuses to let them in, even after Blandina pleads with them. With nowhere else to go, Calepine takes Serena to a bush to sleep.

The next day, Serena looks feeble, and Sir Calepine is concerned. Calepine is angry and wants revenge, but for Serena’s sake, he rides on in search of help. As he rides, he sees a knight who looks like he might want to take advantage of Calepine’s situation. Calepine realizes it’s the rude knight who wouldn’t help him by the river or let them stay in his castle: Sir Turpine.

While Calepine is angry with Sir Turpine, he doesn’t want to fight because he needs to help Serena. But the rude knight isn’t satisfied, chasing after Calepine and leaving a severe wound on his shoulder, then continuing to follow him even after that.