Wednesday, March 14, 2018

The Elfin Knight

Book Two of Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queene
updated and annotated by Toby J. Sumpter
282 pages / 2010

Last month I reviewed an update of Book One of Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queene. I knew that I would be reviewing the next volume in the series soon, but I was a little worried that it would not be as good a read. Book I, after all, was based on the legend of Saint George, the patron saint of England. How could Book II be as good? Hollywood has shown how few sequels measure up to the original.

Of course, the second book of The Faerie Queene is not really a sequel. Rather, it's a totally new adventure showing us, symbolically, another aspect of the Christian life. Our new hero is Guyon, who stands for temperance. Ironically, we meet him first when he is almost tricked into attacking Saint George, the Redcrosse Knight who is the hero of Book I. This near double homicide illustrates just how difficult it is to keep one's temperance.

Toby Sumpter's introduction and generous footnotes make it clear that Spenser is showing that temperance – taking the middle way – is not merely a passive quality, but involves using wisdom to find the right path, and then pursuing it with full heart. In a world where temptation tests temperance tenaciously (pornography, the glorification of violence), it is important to see that maintaining a temperate approach is ultimately an adventure - the spiritual warfare that Paul tells us about in Ephesians 6.

Like Saint George, Guyon has a sidekick. While Guyon represents the strength of the temperate man, his companion, the Palmer, represents the wisdom needed to find the right path. Book II also has a counterpart to the House of Patience - a castle laid out like the human body that shows how temperance combats the temptations of the seven deadly sins and the moral challenges brought to us through our five senses, in a couple of epic battles that end with the triumph of another figure from Book I - Prince Arthur. What makes Prince Arthur a little more fun in this volume is his reading of the history of England (including a version of the story of Shakespeare's King Lear) - a story that ends just before the rise of King Arthur. Hmmm... Prince Arthur, King Arthur - any connection?

Another parallel to Book I is Guyon's own epic quest - to destroy the Bower of Bliss, a sensual but ultimately false paradise that subverts the manliness and the very souls of the knights who become entrapped by the wanton pleasures of the witch Acrasia. Guyon has encountered the temptations of both male fury and female beauty earlier in the story, but, having seen the death her enchantments have already brought, how will he handle her added lure of illicit artistic depictions?

Roy Maynard's followed his update of Book I of The Faerie Queene with an insightful epilogue. Sumpter ends his with a short play that picks up on the most approachable plot points of the story for students to act out – a nice little bonus that shows that temperance is more than just thrift or prudish abstinence. Like Spenser, Sumpter shows us that temperance is well-directed generous and zealous effort.

If you think The Elfin Knight is joust what you or the young warriors in your life needs to remind you of just how courageous it is to resist temptation, you can get it here.

Wednesday, March 7, 2018

Golly's folly: The prince who wanted it all

by Eleazar and Rebekah Ruiz
illustrated by Rommel Ruiz
36 pages / 2016

Loosely based on the Preacher's denouncement that "all is vanity," this is the story of Golly, a prince who wanted more and more and more, but found that nothing satisfied. It's all done in rhyme, which along with the bright pictures makes this one that kids 3 and up will adore!

Our story begins with Prince Golly looking to power as the way to happiness. He convinces his father to give up his throne, so Golly can be king. And he is happy...for a time.

Next he turns to things, telling his trusted advisor:

"I want flocks of animals, and a farm on a hill.
Get some of all kind – what a thrill!
Build lots of houses, find rings for my hand.
Oh – and I'd like my very own band."

But the buzz from all this stuff only lasts for a while. And so Golly turns to food, partying, knowledge, but none of it brings him happiness and contentment.

In his despair, he starts to cry. And then his father comes by.

(It is hard to write a review of a rhyming book, and not start doing it yourself.)

In Ecclesiastes the world turns out to be vanity, but life under God is not. In this story Golly also learns the world is vanity, and he looks to find contentment in submitting to his father. In doing so the story almost presents "family" as the ultimate good and the one true way to happiness and contentment.

But, of course, his father, King Zhor, is meant to point us to our Father in heaven. That analogy shouldn't be pressed too hard, though, because while King Zhor gives up his crown, our Father doesn't. Maybe, in this act King Zhor is more comparable to Jesus humbling himself in becoming man. But it's not a direct parallel – like any analogy, the connections are partial, and incomplete. It's the gist that matters, not the details.

This is a great one to use as a conversation starter about seeking contentment in what the world offers. I read this out loud to my kids once, without the pictures, and they already liked it. And the pictures are so vivd, that makes it all the more remarkable. I'd recommend as a fun one to read in a family setting with kids of all ages.

You can get the e-book for free if you subscribe to the publisher's newsletter here.