Timias is the squire of Prince Arthur in Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie Queene. Yet, he is more than a simple side character. In fact, he even gets his own adventure.
At first, most of his role is devoted to Arthur, frequently coming at Arthur’s bidding to help out. But later in the story, he sees poor Florimell running away from someone who would do her harm, and he chooses to chase after her, not because of her beauty, but because it is simply the right thing to do to stop someone like her assailant.
Additionally, he has a strong relationship with Belphoebe, which leads to speculation that he reflects a real-world character. Since Belphoebe was analogous to Queen Elizabeth I (not the only person to represent Her Majesty, as the Faerie Queen also embodies that role), many speculate that Timias was meant to represent Sir Walter Raleigh, who was the Queen’s favorite courtier.
Timias demonstrates the perfect example of proper courtly love, according to Edmund Spenser. In this mindset, you had to be both loyal to your own lady, as well as show a particular interest and politeness to other women of the court as well.
However, as awesome as Timias is in The Faerie Queene, the story makes it clear that he is still a lower-class citizen compared to Arthur. This is demonstrated by his final trial, where Arthur is forced to save him.
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.
