Sansjoy: Saracen Brother in The Faerie Queene

Jason

June 23, 2022

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Sansjoy is one of three brothers in Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie Queene. (the other two being Sansfoy and Sansloy). He is a Saracen, meaning a Muslim or nonbeliever, and his name means “without joy” or “joyless”.

While trying to get revenge for the death of his brother, Sansfoy, Sansjoy engages the Redcrosse knight in battle and loses. However, unlike his brother, he survives with the help of Duessa, who takes him into the underworld to be cured by Aesculapius.

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