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

Calepine and Serena’s fortune has been like the fortune of a sailor caught at sea and tossed on the waves. Just as they’re in trouble, however, a “savage” man who, up until that point in his life, had never shown pity before, sees Sir Turpine’s cruel assault and tries to intervene. Though the man doesn’t have armor or weapons, he is invulnerable due to magic.

The savage man fights up close with Sir Turpine, gaining the advantage and causing him to flee. Though the savage man is fast on foot, he can’t keep up with Turpine’s horse.

The savage man comes back to Sir Calepine and Serena. He can’t talk but uses gestures to indicate that he wants to help. He then brings them to safety and helps staunch their wounds. He’s mostly successful at healing their outward wounds, but Serena still has an inward wound that herbs and salves can’t heal.

When Sir Calepine gets back his strength, he goes out wandering in the woods without his weapon or armor, and he sees a bear carrying a crying infant in its mouth. Calepine chases after the bear, and even without a weapon, he’s able to snatch the baby away. This, however, angers the bear, which charges at him.

Sir Calepine stays strong as the bear tries to attack him. He shoves a stone down its throat, then chokes the bear while it’s weakened. The bear stops struggling, so Calepine takes the baby and heads off. He soon realizes, however, that he’s gotten lost, and so he begins to wander with the baby. Around nightfall, he makes it out of the forest.

Outside the forest, Sir Calepine runs into a sad-looking woman named Matilda. Her husband, Bruin, recently conquered the surrounding lands by defeating a giant named Cormoraunt. He ruled the land well, but despite this good luck, he doesn’t have an heir, and Cormoraunt still threatens to take back the land.

Sir Calepine replies that he actually has the perfect solution to their problem, since he just found a baby in the middle of the woods. Matilda agrees that what Calepine says is reasonable, and so she adopts the child as her own, eventually raising him to grow up and be a famous knight. While Calepine is satisfied with this resolution for the baby, he still worries about Serena, and so he sleeps on the hard ground, promising not to use a bed until he finds Serena again.