Audiobook · read by volunteers
Faerie Queene Book 1
Edmund Spenser (1552–1599)
Read by Graham Williams, Clayton J. Smith, MorganScorpion, secooper87 · 13 chapters · 5 h 22
About the book
A young knight sets out in battered armour he has never worn before, bearing a red cross on his shield, to slay a dragon that has laid waste to a kingdom. At his side rides the lady Una, pure and wise, and with them goes a dwarf with the baggage. But the road is full of snares: a false magician, a treacherous witch, the monster Error, a giant called Orgoglio and a man named Despair. Edmund Spenser’s Faerie Queene is a poem of knights, monsters and enchanted forests, and its first book tells the legend of Holiness through a story full of adventure. The language is that of the sixteenth century, rich and musical. Spenser planned twelve books but completed only six. Four voices share the reading of this 5.4-hour epic in thirteen parts.
Introduction
Edmund Spenser lived from 1552 to 1599, and the first book of his great poem is titled The First Book of the Faerie Queene, Contayning the Legende of the Knight of the Red Crosse or Holinesse. First published in 1590, it was written in praise of Queen Elizabeth and of the age over which she presided. Spenser planned twelve books but completed only six, so the poem remained unfinished, yet it is still counted among the great works of English literature. He addressed a famous explanatory letter to Sir Walter Raleigh, and the poem stands as one of the crowning achievements of Elizabethan poetry.
Book One tells the story of the Redcrosse Knight, who represents holiness, and of his adventures on behalf of the lady Una. It is allegorical, meaning that its characters and events carry moral and religious meanings alongside the literal story. At the same time it is a rich piece of storytelling, full of battles, disguises and marvels, and written in a special stanza form that Spenser invented and that bears his name.
The recording is arranged in a prologue followed by twelve cantos, each of which is a separate track. The total running time is around five and a half hours. The language is early modern English and may need a little patience at first, but the music of the verse carries the listener along.
The reading is shared between four LibriVox volunteers. For those who have always meant to try Spenser, hearing the poem aloud is probably the easiest way in. It is a major cornerstone of English poetry and a feast for the ear.
Public domain
Edmund Spenser died in 1599: the work is in the public domain in Switzerland, more than 70 years after the author’s death.
The LibriVox volunteers dedicated this recording to the public domain.
Sources : LibriVox page · Files at the Internet Archive · Original text