Plot of the Faerie Queene

Plot of the Faerie Queene:

A knight, identified only by the Red Cross on his shield, accompanies an unnamed lady (later revealed to be Una) across a plain. A storm arises, forcing them to take shelter in a beautiful forest; unfortunately, the forest turns out to be the “Wandering Wood,” where the monster Errour makes her den. Una realizes this and warns Redcrosse not to venture forth, but the knight proceeds anyway and finds himself locked in battle with Errour. Errour gains the advantage by spewing forth vile misinformation at Redcrosse, but Una encourages him to stand firm in his faith. Doing so, Redcrosse is able to gain the upper hand and strangle Errour. He leaves Errour’s body to her foul offspring, who gorge themselves on the body until they burst.

Redcrosse and Una depart the forest and encounter a hermit, who is actually the sorcerer Archimago in disguise. Archimago offers them shelter, but while they sleep, he plots against them with his dark arts. The sorcerer summons sprites (nature spirits) to do his bidding: one he sends to Morpheus, god of sleep, to procure a lying dream of Una’s unfaithfulness to Redcrosse; another he transforms into a duplicate Una to seduce Redcrosse. Redcrosse resists, however, driving the sprite away.