Mordant: The Unfortunate Knight in The Faerie Queene

Jason

July 7, 2022

featured image that says mordant

Mordant is a tragic character that appears in book 2 of The Faerie Queene by Edmund Spenser. He is never seen alive, but lies dead next to his wife Amavia as she tells their tragic story.

We learn that Mordant had been unfaithful to his wife due to some bewitching charms from Acrasia, and upon leaving Acrasia, he was cursed with a strange poison that might represent sexually transmitted diseases (something not well understood in Edmund Spenser’s time).

This poison eventually kills him, and infects his wife as well. Their tragic end is what inspires Sir Guyon to take up the quest against Acrasia.

Both he and his wife are survived by their son, Ruddymane.

The Argovale ad

🌍 Enter a Massive Shared Universe – Where ALL Mythologies Exist Together

Step into an expansive world where multiple mythologies intertwine to create an epic, multi-era adventure. This is a massive, shared universe imagining if Zeus, King Arthur, and Sherlock Holmes all lived in the same universe.

Here’s what you get when you join:

🌟  All Argovale books for FREE! That’s right, get access to Argovale books that’s worth $499 in value.
✅ Weekly calls and guided sessions with the author.
✅ Get feedback and inspiration from a creative, like-minded community
✅ Access to the best fantasy readers group in the world.

See our complete list of Arthurian characters for more entries like this one.

Arthurian Bibliography

Photo of author

Author

Jason is a huge storytelling nerd devoted to cataloguing storytelling in all its forms. He loves mythology, history, and geek culture. When he's not writing books (see his work at MythHQ.com), his favorite hobbies include hiking, spending time with his wife and daughters, and traveling.