E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Flor’imel [honey-flower].
A damsel of great beauty, but so timid that she feared the “smallest monstrous mouse that creeps on floor,” and was abused by everyone. Her form was simulated by a witch out of wax, but the wax image melted, leaving nothing behind except the girdle that was round the waist. (Spenser: Faërie Queene, book iii. 4, 8; iv. 11, 12.)
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“Florimel loved Mar’inel, but Proteus cast her into a dungeon, from which, being released by the order of Neptune, she married the man of her choice.”—Spenser: Faërie Queene, book iv.
“St. Amand had long since in bitterness repented of a transient infatuation, had long since distinguished the true Florimel from the false.”—Sir E. B. Lytton: Pilgrims of the Rhine, iii.
