Archimago is a sorcerer in ''

The Faerie Queene ''The Faerie Queene'' is an English epic poem by Edmund Spenser. Books IIII were first published in 1590, then republished in 1596 together with books IVVI. ''The Faerie Queene'' is notable for its form: at over 36,000 lines and over 4,000 sta ...

'' by Edmund Spenser. In the narrative, he is continually engaged in deceitful magics, as when he makes a false Una to tempt the Red-Cross Knight into lust, and when this fails, conjures another image, of a squire, to deceive the knight into believing that Una was false to him.

Etymology

His name is an amalgam of the Greek words ἄρχων and μάγος. ''Archon'' ( gr, ἄρχων, árchōn, plural: ἄρχοντες, ''árchontes'') means "ruler", frequently used as the title of a specific public office. It is the masculine present participle of the verb stem αρχ-, meaning "to be first, to rule", derived from the same root as words such as

monarch A monarch is a head of stateWebster's II New College DictionarMonarch Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest authority and power i ...

and hierarchy. ''Magos'' ( gr, μάγος, mágos, plural: μάγοι, ''magœ''), also of Greek origin, means "wizard" or "conjurer"; it is not infrequently employed to describe a practitioner of

black magic Black magic, also known as dark magic, has traditionally referred to the use of supernatural powers or magic for evil and selfish purposes, specifically the seven magical arts prohibited by canon law, as expounded by Johannes Hartlieb in 14 ...

. Ultimately the origin of the word can be traced to Old Iranian, where according to

Herodotus Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer A geographer is a physical scientist, social scientist or humanist whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society ...

it is the title of Zoroastrian priests. The Greek word was transliterated into Latin as "magus", which is the origin of the English " magician". The spelling ''archimage'' appears occasionally throughout the poem's text, however as an alternate form of the character's name, rather than a title. Percy Bysshe Shelley would later use archimage as a synonym for wizard in his poem "Letter to Maria Gisborne". This in turn led to Ursula K. Le Guin using the variant "archmage" in her novel ''

A Wizard of Earthsea ''A Wizard of Earthsea'' is a fantasy novel written by American author Ursula K. Le Guin and first published by the small press Parnassus in 1968. It is regarded as a classic of children's literature and of fantasy, within which it is widely in ...

'' to describe the leader of a group of wizards. The term has since become common place in fantasy literature and media.

Critical interpretation

One of the character's most prominent appearances is when he disguises himself as a reverend hermit, and with the assistance of Duessa (''Deceit'') seduces the Red-Cross Knight from Una (''truth''). Archimago has thus been interpreted as a symbol of religious hypocrisy, especially the rampant hypocrisy which Spenser perceived within the leadership of the Catholic church. He has also been cited as emblematic of temptation itself and as a character who presents a mutated worldview which causes the knight to doubt the reality of their faith -- the very source of their strength.

References

{{The Faerie Queene The Faerie Queene Characters in epic poems Literary characters introduced in 1590 Wizards in fiction