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

Cowardly Sir Turpine has no intention of improving himself, though he puts on a friendly outer face. Two knights he doesn’t recognize come to visit him. They ask about an evil man that they heard about nearby, and Turpine points them in the direction where Arthur can still be seen riding off. The one knight calls to Arthur, then attacks him.

Arthur fends the knight off and strikes back with a swing that wounds the knight seriously and bathes him in his own blood. He dies. The other knight arrives and is intimidated to see his partner dead and bloodied on the ground. The knight fights for a little while, but Arthur is clearly so strong that eventually the knight begs for mercy. Arthur grants it to him, but says that as a condition, he must bring whoever sent him on his quest to kill Arthur.

The knight goes back to Sir Turpine and lies to him, telling him that both his partner and Arthur are dead. He and Turpine then go back to where Arthur and the dead knight are. In fact, Arthur is sleeping after the battle and does look on the outside like he could be dead. Turpine is satisfied and wants to go back, but the knight prevents him, telling him the truth about Arthur’s deal to spare his life if he brought Turpine there.

Sir Turpine begins to quake at the thought of being punished by Arthur, so he makes plans to attack him while he’s still asleep. While he’s debating what to do, however, the “savage” man is watching from the woods.

The savage man shakes his wooden weapon. Just then Arthur wakes up and immediately sees Sir Turpine coming for him. Arthur gets his sword ready, but Turpine immediately drops down and begs for mercy again. Arthur takes all of Turpine’s gear, then hangs him upside-down from a tree by his ankles as a warning to others.

Turning back to Serena and Timias, they behold the lady on an ass, led by a fool and a churl. The dignified lady, whose name is Mirabella, is famous throughout Faerie Land, even though she is of low birth. Though she seems worthy of love, her pride and stubbornness have stopped her from finding it.

One day, Cupid held a meeting in his court and found that several lovers were missing. Infamy and Despight testified that these men were missing on account of Mirabella, who has allegedly killed them by withholding her love. Cupid punished Mirabella by sentencing her to wander in penance until she saves as many people as she has “killed.” When she meets Serena and Timias, she has been repenting for a year and only saved two out of 22 required people.

The rude man with Mirabella is a giant from the same house as Orgoglio (who was slain by Arthur in Book 1) named Disdain. He wields an iron club. The fool who leads her horse is called Scorn, and he is a cruel man who wields a whip.

Timias is dismayed to see how Disdain and Scorn treat Mirabella, so he attacks Disdain. When Timias’s foot slips, Disdain whacks him with his iron club, then ties him up. They take Timias with them, while Serena thinks he’s been slain and so runs away.