Precis of the story of Una and the Red Cross Knight who feature in Elizabethan poet Edmund Spenser's THE FAERIE QUEENE.
FULL ILLUSTRATED TEXT
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The poet Spenser, who lived in Elizabeth's reign, in the early part of Shakespeare's time, wrote the beautiful poem called the Faerie Queene, of which a brief and bare outline may be given here.
The leading character is Una, a beautiful damsel, the personification of Truth. She appears before us as riding upon a white ass and leading a gentle lamb ; she is on her way to the court of the fairy queen, Glorianna, there to seek and enlist the services of a champion who will slay the destructive dragon, the most horrible ever seen, by whom the king and queen, her father and mother, had been carried off and made prisoners in a strong castle. The Red Cross Knight, the most famous in the land, was accordingly sent with her.
Once when separated from her champion, so kind and gentle was she, a lion came and fawned upon her and became her constant companion.
One adventure of many others on the way was the killing of a seven-headed serpent ; but the greatest was the encounter with the huge dragon which, half walking and half flying, rushed at the champion. Its gigantic body was covered with brazen scales ; its great wings were like two sails, having at the tip of each a many-pronged claw ; in its mouth were three rows of pointed teeth, while its immense tail lay curled in a hundred coils.
The knight tried to pierce through the monster's scaly plates at the back of its head, but a stroke of its tail overthrew both the champion and his horse. Then the dragon spread wide his wings, rose heavily in the air, and making a swift dart downwards, snatched both horse and rider from the ground. But the knight stung the beast so sorely with his spear he was glad to let go of his captives again.
Before the fierce creature could gather himself together, the knight dealt him such a shrewd blow under the left wing that he gave a roar of agony, and snapping at the weapon with his claws, pulled out the barbed head with such violence that the blood rushed forth with a torrent sufficient to turn a water-mill ; while the rage and pain of the wounded dragon were shown by the enormous flames of fire that gushed from its mouth. Then with lightning speed he coiled his great tail round the horse's legs, and brought both the animal and his rider to the ground.
Instantly the knight was on his legs again, showering blows on the brazen scales of the dreadful beast. Though he could not pierce that scaly hide, the knight noticed that his enemy was unable to rise from the ground by reason of his wounded wing ; yet the scorching flames that came from the creature's mouth prevented him approaching near enough to deal him a deadly blow. Being half blinded by the scorching and poisonous flames, the knight was knocked into a well that lay behind him. The dragon thought the fight was over ; but the well happened to be the Well of Life, which cured all hurts and healed all wounds.
Una, who was watching the fight from the top of a neighbouring hill, also thought the end had come. Yet faithfully she kept watch all night, and was amazed in the morning at earliest dawn to see the champion rise from the well, fairer and mightier than ever.
Without a moment's hesitation the Red Cross Knight rushed once more upon his enemy, who had gone to sleep thinking the victory had been won. Taking his sword in two hands, he drove it right through the brazen scales deep into the dragon's skull ; he then cut off the terrible tail from the body. In vain the monster roared and struggled ; and though he rose to his feet and laid about him as heavily as before, darting his head forward over and over again with wide-open jaws to swallow his assailant, he could gain no advantage.
At last the knight, avoiding the snapping jaws, sprang nimbly on one side and thrust his sword right down that yawning gulf of a mouth, right up to the hilt, and so gave the creature his death-blow. The victor himself trembled ; and it was long ere Una dared draw near to her hero, dreading lest the foul dragon should stir to life again.
But he was indeed dead ; and right joyfully they set forth to tell the king and queen that the dragon was slain, and that they were free. At the great news the trumpets sounded, the people assembled, and public rejoicings were held to celebrate the destruction of the awful pest which so long had troubled the land. A mighty procession was formed, headed by the grateful king and queen, who came to lay the laurels of victory at the feet of the Red Cross Knight, who married the Princess Una ; and so all ended happily.
In this story, the beauty of which can only be realised by reading it in Spenser's own words, it will be again noted that the dragon is created merely to be - slain !
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git langauage but women fucks very well
sunpg100 5 months ago