[herself]; take part in a masque or
masquerade}

and:

time > [her] term of apprenticeship

(e) Explanations of character-names

Most of the names of major characters in the poem have special
meanings. These are briefly explained as follows:

Archimago > "Arch Mage", "Arch Magician"

Sometimes there is a qualifying parenthesis giving information on
the etymology or adding comment:

Una > "One" (Latin; she is the sole Truth)

Character-names from the poem and from classical mythology are
typically explained once only, on their first occurrence. If you
encounter a name which is not defined, then it has appeared
somewhere before. The list of proper nouns will quickly help you
to find it.

THE TEXTUAL APPENDIX

A textual appendix, detailing actual or proposed departures from
the copy-text, is incorporated. The Textual Appendix records:

(a) obvious misprints;

(b) lections from 1590 or 1609 which seem preferable;

(c) lections from 1590 or 1609 which throw light on the spelling,
punctuation or sense of 1596;

(d) illuminating conjectures or suggestions made by Spenserian
scholars and editors.

The four main sources for the text are quoted as follows:

1590: the 1590 quarto edition (Books I-III)
1596: the 1596 quarto edition (Books I-VI)
1609: the 1609 folio edition (Books I-VII)
FE: the corrigenda (Faults Escaped in the Print) which accompany
1590 (Books I-III)

In the Textual Appendix, all original text is shown in "roman"
type, except where it occurs in italic type in the sources. All
editorial comment in the Textual Appendix is shown in "italic"
type.

Examples

(a) Departures from the text of 1596

Elfe > Elfe, _1596_

The lection from 1590 and 1609 is to be preferred, since 1596
(with an extraneous comma) appears to be in error.

sawe > saw _1596, 1609_

The lection from 1590 is to be preferred.

there > their _1590, 1596_

The lection from 1609 is to be preferred.

that > _omitted from 1596_

The word has been supplied from the lection of 1590 and 1609.

who > _omitted from 1596 and 1609_

The word has been supplied from 1590.

has > _omitted from 1590 and 1596_

The word has been supplied from 1609.

wite > wote _1590 etc.; this correction is generally agreed_.

All three editions contain a blatant error, which has been
corrected by editorial conjecture.

those > t