Orlando Innamorato by Matteo Maria Boiardo

First transcribed: 1483-1495 (English translation, 1823)

Type of work: Poetry

Type of plot: Romance

Time of plot: Eighth century

Locale: France, India, and Africa

Principal characters

• Charlemagne, the king of France
• Orlando, his nephew, a paladin of France
• Angelica, a princess of Cathay
• Uberto, in reality Argalia, her brother
• Rinaldo, a paladin of France
• Malagigi, a magician, Rinaldo’s brother
• Bradamant, a maiden knight, Rinaldo’s sister
• Rogero, a noble young Saracen
• Ferraù, a Spanish knight
• Astolpho, an English knight
• Agramant, the king of Africa

The Poem:

King Charlemagne summons all his paladins and vassal barons to a court plenary meeting in Paris, an occasion to be celebrated with magnificent tournaments and great feasts. Christians and Saracens, friend and foe alike, are invited to take part. To the banquet on the opening night of this fete comes an unknown knight, a beautiful damsel, and four giants serving as bodyguards. The knight, who calls himself Uberto, offers his lovely sister, Angelica, as the prize to any man who can defeat him in the jousts to be held the next day. He, in turn, will claim as his prisoner any knight whom he unhorses.

Orlando, the greatest paladin of Charlemagne’s court, immediately falls in love with the beautiful damsel. Only respect for the monarch keeps Ferraù, a Spanish knight, from snatching her up and carrying her away in his arms. Even the great Charlemagne is affected by her charms. The only person who remains unmoved is Malagigi, a magician, who senses in the visitors some purpose quite different from that which they claim.

After the damsel and her brother retire for the night, Malagigi summons a fiend who informs him that Uberto is in reality Argalia, the son of King Galaphron of Cathay, who has been sent with his sister to demoralize the Christian knights. With Angelica as his lure, protected by a magic ring that would ward off all enchantment or make him invisible if placed in the mouth, Argalia plans to overcome the Christian knights and dispatch them as prisoners to distant Cathay. Armed with this knowledge, Malagigi mounts a magic steed and flies through the air to the stair of Merlin, where Argalia and Angelica are asleep. There he casts a spell over the watchers that causes them to fall into a deep slumber. The magician approaches Angelica with the intention of killing her, for she is as false as she is fair, but he himself becomes enslaved by her beauty and clasps her in his arms. Angelica wakes with a shriek. Argalia, aroused by her scream, runs to her assistance and together they overcome Malagigi. Angelica summons fiends and orders them to carry the magician to Cathay. There, King Galaphron confines him in a dungeon beneath the sea.

Dissension has meanwhile broken out among the knights of Charlemagne’s court, for all wish to try their skill against the strange knight to win such an enchanting prize. At length lots are cast to determine the order of combat. The first falls to Astolpho, the second to Ferraù, and the third to the giant Grandonio. Next in order is Berlinghier, Otho, and Charlemagne himself. Orlando, much to his indignation, is thirty-seventh on the list.

At the running of the first course, Astolpho is jolted from his saddle. Ferraù, who follows, is also unhorsed, but, contrary to the rules of the joust, he leaps to his feet and continues the fight on foot. After he has slain the giants who attempt to restrain him, he bears himself so fiercely that Argalia, even though he is protected by enchanted armor, finally calls a brief truce. When the combat is renewed, Angelica suddenly disappears, followed by Argalia. Ferraù pursues them into Arden forest but finds no trace of the knight or the damsel. Rinaldo and Orlando also set off in pursuit of the fleeing maiden. Meanwhile, Astolpho has taken up the magic spear that Argalia had left behind; with this weapon he performs great feats of valor until, carried away by the excitement of the combat, he kills friends and foes alike. Finally, Charlemagne commands that he be subdued.

Rinaldo, Ferraù, and Orlando wander through the forest in search of Angelica. Rinaldo has a rather ironic success in his quest. After drinking from a fountain that Merlin had created years before to relieve the love pangs of Tristram and Isolde, the knight’s love for Angelica turns to hate. A short time later he falls asleep beside a nearby stream. Angelica, coming upon the stream, drinks from its magic waters and immediately becomes enamored of the sleeping knight. When she pulls a handful of flowers and throws them over him, Rinaldo awakes and, in spite of her piteous pleas and avowals of love, flees from her in loathing.

Ferraù, riding through the forest, comes upon Argalia asleep beneath a tree. The two engage in fierce combat. Ferraù, finding a chink in his enemy’s magic armor, strikes him to the heart. Dying, Argalia asks that his body and armor be thrown into the stream. Ferraù agrees, keeping only the helmet of his adversary. As he rides on through the woods, he comes upon Angelica and Orlando, who, having chanced upon the sleeping maiden, has thrown himself down by her side. Supposing that Orlando is her protector, Ferraù awakes the sleeping man with taunts and insults. Orlando, starting up, reveals himself, but Ferraù, although surprised, stands his ground. A duel follows, in the middle of which Angelica again flees. The combat of champions ends only when a strange maiden, Flordespina, appears with news that Gradasso, the king of Sericane, is ravaging the Spanish dominions. Ferraù, torn between love and duty, departs for Spain with Flordespina.

Gradasso, a mighty monarch who covets whatever he does not possess, has invaded Europe to obtain possession of Durindana, the famed sword of Orlando, and Bayardo, Rinaldo’s horse. Charlemagne, assembling all the knights summoned to the tournament, dispatches a mighty army under Rinaldo to aid King Marsilius against the pagans. During a battle fought near Barcelona, Gradasso and Rinaldo engage in single combat. Neither prevailing, they agree to fight again on the following day; if Rinaldo is the victor, Gradasso will release all the prisoners he has taken, but if the victory goes to Gradasso, Rinaldo will surrender Bayardo to the king.

Angelica has meanwhile returned to Cathay. Deciding to use Malagigi as the mediator in her pursuit of the disdainful Rinaldo, she releases the magician and promises to give him his complete liberty if he will bring Rinaldo to her. Deceived by his own brother, Rinaldo is decoyed away from his encounter with Gradasso. His troops, left leaderless, return home, whereupon Gradasso invades France and takes Charlemagne and his knights prisoner. When Charlemagne is offered his liberty and the restoration of his lands if he surrenders Durindana and Bayardo to the conqueror, he agrees. He sends to Paris for the horse, which had been returned from Spain, but Astolpho refuses to give up the animal and challenges Gradasso to a duel. Using the enchanted lance, Astolpho overthrows the king. Gradasso, true to his promise, releases his prisoners and returns to Sericane.

Orlando, continuing his wanderings, learns that Agrican, the king of Tartary, has sought the hand of Angelica in marriage. Angered by the girl’s refusal, Agrican besieges Albracca, the capital of Cathay; he had sworn to raze the city, if need be, to possess the princess. Because news of the war has spread far and wide, Orlando, Astolpho, and Rinaldo journey by different routes to the kingdom of Cathay. There, Orlando and Astolpho join the side of the defenders, while Rinaldo, still filled with loathing for Angelica, joins the forces of King Agrican. Orlando, riding to the defense of King Galaphron, meets Agrican in single combat and slays the Tartar king. Later, Orlando and Rinaldo engage in furious combat. When night falls, each withdraws in expectation of resuming the struggle on the following day; that night, however, lovesick Angelica, scheming to save Rinaldo from his kinsman’s fury, sends Orlando on a quest to destroy the garden of Falerina in the kingdom of Orgagna.

Agramant, the young king of Africa, prepares to lay siege to Paris in revenge for the killing of his father. One of his advisers prophesies failure in his efforts, however, unless he can obtain the help of Rogero, a gallant young knight held prisoner by the magician Atlantes on the mountain of Carena.

After Orlando sets out on his quest, Rinaldo and several of his companions leave the camp near Albracca and start in pursuit because Rinaldo is still eager to settle the quarrel. On the way, Rinaldo encounters a ruffian with whom he fights until both plunge into a lake and disappear beneath the waves. While these events are taking place, the messenger of Agramant returns with word that he could not find Rogero. Irked by the delay, Rodomont, a vassal king, decides to embark with his forces on the invasion of France. Agramant is told that the garden of Atlantes is invisible and that the young knight can be freed only by possession of Angelica’s magic ring. A dwarf, Brunello, offers to obtain the prize for his master.

Orlando, having accomplished his quest, arrives at the lake where Rinaldo has been carried under the waves. Seeing his kinsman’s arms stacked by the shore, Orlando determines to avenge his former companion in arms. He and the guardian of the place fight a mighty battle in which Orlando is victorious. From the enchanted garden beneath the lake he frees all the prisoners held there by Morgana, the sorceress. All the knights except Orlando then return to France to aid in the defense of Christendom. Orlando, now reconciled with Rinaldo, turns back toward Albracca. On the way he encounters Brunello, who had in the meantime stolen Angelica’s magic ring.

In possession of the ring to dispel the mists of enchantment, Agramant comes at last to the castle where Atlantes holds Rogero. At Brunello’s suggestion, the king announces a tournament. Joining in the tourney, Rogero is wounded but revenges himself on his assailant. When his wounds are miraculously healed and he returns to the tourney, Agramant recognizes him and makes him his knight. Rinaldo and Rodomont have meanwhile engaged in single combat in a great battle between Christians and pagans. When they are separated during the fighting, Rinaldo, in pursuit of his enemy, rides once more into the forest of Arden.

On his arrival in Albracca after his perilous quest, Angelica prevails upon Orlando to help her in her escape from the beleaguered city and to escort her into France. Orlando does not suspect that her real purpose is the pursuit of Rinaldo, and he immediately agrees. After many adventures they embark for France and at length arrive, hot and tired, in the forest of Arden. There, Angelica drinks from the waters of hate; at the same time Rinaldo drinks from the waters of love. When they meet a short time later, the circumstances of their love have become reversed. Angelica now flees from Rinaldo in disgust, while he pursues her with passionate avowals. Again, Orlando and Rinaldo fight, and in the middle of their struggle, Angelica flees. When she takes refuge in Charlemagne’s camp, the king, hearing her story, gives her into the keeping of Namus, the duke of Bavaria.

Agramant, joined by Gradasso, begins the siege of Paris. In the ensuing battle, Bradamant, a maiden warrior and the sister of Rinaldo, becomes enamored of Rogero and goes over to the side of the Saracens. When she removes her helmet and allows her hair to fall down, Rogero falls in love with the valiant maiden. They are attacked from ambush and Bradamant, unhelmeted, is wounded slightly in the head, but Rogero avenges her hurt by routing their enemies. When Rogero pursues the enemy, he and Bradamant are separated, but she will later become his wife and the mother of the illustrious line of Este.

Bibliography

Boiardo, Matteo Maria. Orlando Innamorato. Translated by Charles Stanley Ross. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1989. The first complete modern English-verse translation, with an excellent thirty-page introduction by the translator. Also contains the Italian text for a comparison of the intricacies of the two languages.

Cavallo, Jo Ann. Boiardo’s “Orlando Innamorato”: An Ethics of Desire. Madison, N.J.: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1993. Analyzes the epic in terms of Ferrara’s status as a center of humanistic education. Argues that the work forms a coherent argument for classical ethics based on the traditionally moralistic interpretation of ancient texts.

‗‗‗‗‗‗‗. The Romance Epics of Boiardo, Ariosto, and Tasso: From Public Duty to Private Pleasure. Buffalo, N.Y.: University of Toronto Press, 2004. Cavallo’s history of the Italian Renaissance romance epic includes a lengthy analysis of Orlando Innamorato. She compares this work to epic poems by Ludovico Ariosto and Torquato Tasso, who, like Boiardo, were part of the Este court.

Di Tommaso, Andrea. Structure and Ideology in Boiardo’s “Orlando Innamorato.” Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1972. A brief but perceptive work. Regards Orlando Innamorato as an independent work rather than as an inspiration for Ariosto’s sequel Orlando Furioso. Reveals how courtly ideology emerges in contrast to the epic’s warrior features.

Kisacky, Julia. Magic in Boiardo and Ariosto. New York: Peter Lang, 2000. Examines the function of magic in Orlando Innamorato and Ariosto’s Orlando Furioso. Kisacky demonstrates how the authors associated magic with chaos and the irrational, in contrast to order and reason, and how they used magic to explore the Renaissance debate about fortune versus self-determination.

Looney, Dennis. Compromising the Classics: Romance Epic Narrative in the Italian Renaissance. Detroit, Mich.: Wayne State University Press, 1996. Looney analyzes the “radical neoclassicism” in Boiardo’s Orlando Innamorato and in Italian Renaissance romance epics by Ariosto and Tasso. He demonstrates how these poets adapted the romance epic by imitating classic epics, as well as pastorals, satires, and other literary genres.

Marinelli, Peter V. Ariosto and Boiardo: The Origins of “Orlando Furioso.” Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1987. Analyzes Orlando Innamorato as a source of literary capital that Ariosto consciously drew upon while he manipulated and re-created it in his Orlando Furioso.