THE FAERIE QUEENE COINS BY JOEL ISKOWITZ

 

The East India Company Collection's new Faerie Queen coin series sees this epic medieval tale of honour, chivalry, love and virtue reimagined by one of the world's leading coin designers, Joel Iskowitz.

First published in 1590, Edmund Spenser's epic poem The Faerie Queene is a classic work of medieval English literature. At over 36,000 lines long, its six books contain one of the longest poems in the English language, believed to be an allegory of the life of Queen Elizabeth I.

Book One opens with a letter written by Spenser to Sir Walter Raleigh. Spenser explains to Raleigh how his tale has been influenced by the legends of King Arthur, and other great Classical epics such as the Illiad and The Odyssey. He describes how his story will be based around a festival, hosted by The Faerie Queene, called ‘The Feast of 12 Days'.

Across each of these 12 days Queen Gloriana, the Queene of Faerieland, will listen to appeals for help from her subjects who find themselves in trouble, and on each day she will select a worthy quest and assign it to one of her bravest knights. Each of these quests, and the knight to whom it is assigned, would be the subject of one of the 12 books that would make up Spenser's complete work.

Ultimately, Spencer was only able to complete six of his intended 12 books, joined by a seventh unfinished chapter. Each book did focus on a specific quest as planned, with each knight being a personification of a particular virtue.

 

UNA AND THE REDCROSSE KNIGHT
Book One tells the story of The Redcrosse Knight and the quest he is given by Queen Gloriana on behalf of the lady Una; to rescue her parents from the captivity of an evil dragon. Through the various trials and tribulations of his quest, he transitions from a young peasant boy to a brave and embattled knight called Redcrosse, an allegory for St George, the patron saint of England.

Una is a beautiful princess whose mother and father have been imprisoned by a wicked dragon. Carrying a suit of armour with a red cross painted upon it, she visits The Faerie Queene during ‘The Feast of the 12 Days' to ask for the help of a brave knight in her quest to free her parents.

On LinkedIn Joel writes:

 
Because bigger is better...

To read the complete discussion, see:
https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6915095714658164737/

For more information, or to order, see:
THE FAERIE QUEENE COIN COLLECTION (https://www.theeastindiacompany.com/bullion/the-faerie-queene-collection-2/)

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