The Palmer is the main traveling companion for Guyon in book 2 of Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie Queen.
He is a pilgrim, or someone who has made a trip to the Holy Land to demonstrate his devotion and religious piety.
His Role in The Faerie Queene
Throughout the book, he frequently shows the superiority he enjoys because of his religious affiliations. Frequently, he will be magically gifted with knowledge about the enemies that they are fighting, as well as how to defeat them.
He also embodies aspects of reason and rationality, seen as key components when coupled with religiosity.
His Relationship with Guyon
The Palmer is the guide to Sir Guyon, frequently telling him what to do, what not to do, and how to think. He even stops Guyon from doing certain things that would get him into trouble.
In other words, Sir Guyon has a lot to thank the Palmer for when it comes to his own virtues.
The Palmer spends most of the book with Sir Guyon, but they are temporarily separated for a time, and during that time Guyon is nearly killed.
The Palmer also carries a staff with magical properties, similar to the one used by Moses in the Old Testament.
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.
