Archimago is a

sorcerer Sorcerer may refer to: Magic * Sorcerer (supernatural), a practitioner of magic that derives from supernatural or occult sources * Sorcerer (fantasy), a fictional character who uses or practices magic that derives from supernatural or occult sou ...

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 Edmund Spenser (; – 13 January 1599 Old Style and New Style dates, O.S.) was an English poet best known for ''The Faerie Queene'', an epic poem and fantastical allegory celebrating the House of Tudor, Tudor dynasty and Elizabeth I. He is re ...

. 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'' (, 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 Dictionary. "Monarch". Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. Life tenure, for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest ...

and

hierarchy A hierarchy (from Ancient Greek, Greek: , from , 'president of sacred rites') is an arrangement of items (objects, names, values, categories, etc.) that are represented as being "above", "below", or "at the same level as" one another. Hierarchy ...

. ''Magos'' (, plural: μάγοι, ''magœ''), also of Greek origin, means "wizard" or "conjurer"; it is frequently employed to describe a practitioner of

black magic Black magic (Middle English: ''nigromancy''), sometimes dark magic, traditionally refers to the use of Magic (paranormal), magic or supernatural powers for evil and selfish purposes. The links and interaction between black magic and religi ...

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

Herodotus Herodotus (; BC) was a Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus (now Bodrum, Turkey), under Persian control in the 5th century BC, and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria, Italy. He wrote the '' Histori ...

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 Percy Bysshe Shelley ( ; 4 August 1792 – 8 July 1822) was an English writer who is considered one of the major English Romantic poets. A radical in his poetry as well as in his political and social views, Shelley did not achieve fame durin ...

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 Ursula Kroeber Le Guin ( ; Kroeber; October 21, 1929 – January 22, 2018) was an American author. She is best known for her works of speculative fiction, including science fiction works set in her Hainish universe, and the ''Earthsea'' fantas ...

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 Characters in The Faerie Queene Fictional characters who use magic Literary characters introduced in 1590