Weighing winged words: An intertext in The Faerie Queene V.ii

This note concerns The Faerie Queene V.ii.44, 8-9, the image of winged words escaping from the Giant's scales. While existing interpretations have tended to stress the biblical and epic affinities of this image, this note argues that Aristophanes' Frogs in fact provides a much more exact source, and advances the argument that Spenser is using it as an intertext.