Archimago
Encyclopedia
Archimago is a sorcerer
in Spenser
's "Faerie Queene." His name means Arch-Image; he is continually engaged in deceitful magics, as when he makes a false Una to tempt the Red-Cross Knight into lust, and when this fails, conjures another image, of a squire, to deceive the knight into believing that Una was false to him.
It is a statement by the Protestant Spenser against the extensive use of images by the Roman Catholic Church. It also carries the implication of "Arch Mage
", "Arch Magician." Disguised as a reverend hermit, and by the help of Duessa or Deceit, he seduces the Red-Cross Knight from Una or Truth.
Book 1, Canto XII, lines 303 and 305 describe Archimago as "clokt with simpleness". Much of the The Faerie Queene is allegory, reflecting the religious/historical framework of 16th century England. Thus the "cloak of simpleness" may refer to monks' garb, or more specifically to the monks themselves, whom Spenser and Protestant England did not tolerate. Furthermore, the iconoclastic Dissolution of the Monasteries
links the monks to iconography, just like Archimago's name.
Magician (fantasy)
A magician, mage, sorcerer, sorceress, wizard, enchanter, enchantress, thaumaturge or a person known under one of many other possible terms is someone who uses or practices magic that derives from supernatural or occult sources...
in Spenser
Spenser
Spenser is an alternative spelling of the British surname Spencer. It may refer to:Geographical places with the name Spenser:* Spenser Ecological District in New Zealand* Spenser Mountains, a range in the northern part of South Island, New Zealand...
's "Faerie Queene." His name means Arch-Image; he is continually engaged in deceitful magics, as when he makes a false Una to tempt the Red-Cross Knight into lust, and when this fails, conjures another image, of a squire, to deceive the knight into believing that Una was false to him.
It is a statement by the Protestant Spenser against the extensive use of images by the Roman Catholic Church. It also carries the implication of "Arch Mage
Archmage
Archmage, archmagi, or archmagus is a title used to identify an especially powerful wizard, usually within the context of fantasy fiction...
", "Arch Magician." Disguised as a reverend hermit, and by the help of Duessa or Deceit, he seduces the Red-Cross Knight from Una or Truth.
Book 1, Canto XII, lines 303 and 305 describe Archimago as "clokt with simpleness". Much of the The Faerie Queene is allegory, reflecting the religious/historical framework of 16th century England. Thus the "cloak of simpleness" may refer to monks' garb, or more specifically to the monks themselves, whom Spenser and Protestant England did not tolerate. Furthermore, the iconoclastic Dissolution of the Monasteries
Dissolution of the Monasteries
The Dissolution of the Monasteries, sometimes referred to as the Suppression of the Monasteries, was the set of administrative and legal processes between 1536 and 1541 by which Henry VIII disbanded monasteries, priories, convents and friaries in England, Wales and Ireland; appropriated their...
links the monks to iconography, just like Archimago's name.