Glauce is the nurse of Britomart, and she is fantastic at her job. She originally appears in book 3 of Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie Queene.
Throughout much of book 3, she accompanies Britomart, dressed as a man and Britomart’s squire. Before that, she took care of Britomart, trying to discern how she could help Britomart from feeling ill with love. She also suggests visiting Merlin, and dressing as men in order to find Britomart’s love: Artegall.
Glauce and Britomart’s Relationship
Glauce and Britomart’s relationship is one of the only female/female relationships that we see in The Faerie Queene. It gives us a solid glimpse into Britomart’s life as a woman before she takes on the role of a knight.
In this way, Glauce is the only character that bleeds over from Britomart’s past life into her current life. Though she is often forgotten in the narrative, she never leaves Britomart side.
See our complete list of Arthurian characters for more entries like this one.
Arthurian Bibliography
- Norris Lacy, Geoffrey Ashe, Debra Mancoff – The Arthurian Handbook (Second Edition)
- Alan Lupack – The Oxford Guide to Arthurian Literature and Legend
- Ronan Coghlan – The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Arthurian Legends
- Anonymous – Lancelot-Grail, the French Vulgate
- Sir Thomas Malory – Le Morte d’Arthur
See also my ever-expanding list of primary and secondary sources.
