Welcome to my blog, dedicated to my English translation of Boiardo’s Orlando Innamorato and to the Matter of France in general.
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The Orlando Innamorato in English, Book I, Canto XVII, Stanzas 21-66
41
“The gate lets all men in, but no man out,
And once it closes on the knight forlorn,
He must begin an even fiercer bout:
The south gate opens and a monster born
And bred to guard the bower comes: a stout
And massive bull, who has one iron horn
And one of fire; each one is so keen
That armor, plate and mail are worthless screens.
42
“And if this mighty bull is robbed of life,
Which as a miracle all men would hail,
The south gate closes, but be not yet blithe.
The west gate opens, and thou must prevail
Against a greater foe in deadly strife:
A donkey with a deadly pointed tail
Sharp as a sword, and with two great long ears
Which grab and thrust at any foe who nears.
43
“It has great scales, and not a furry hide,
Which shine like gold, and which cannot be cut;
While the beast lives, the gate is open wide,
And when it dies, that western gate is shut.
But then the fourth, as in the book I spied,
Opens at once, and you are valiant, but
The might and strength of man in vain go forth
To battle with the guardian of the north,
44
“For it is guarded by a giant fierce,
Who stands athwart the path with sword in hand.
And if he’s slain by any cavalier,
Two spring up from his blood and take their stand.
From their blood, four are born. No victory nears
If these be slain; eight spring up in a band,
Then sixteen, two-and-thirty warriors good
Are born, full-armored, from their father’s blood.
45
“And though the number of them is so grown,
It will not stop, not through eternity.
Oh, leave, for God’s sake, leave this quest alone,
Which can bring nought but shameful death to thee.
All of its perils to thee are made known.
Thou shouldst not hesitate to leave it be.
Many bold knights have for its conquest yearned.
All of them died; not one of them returned.
46
“But if thou art desirous to perform,
For chivalry and honor, mighty deeds,
Then come with me, my lord, and do not scorn
To listen to me, who before thee plead.
Remember, when thou foundest me forlorn,
How thou didst swear to help me at my need,
So come with me, and be my champion bold
To free Orlando from the fairy’s hold.”
47
Rinaldo stands a while and deeply ponders,
Nor gives the answer that the dame requires,
Because to enter in this garden’s wonders
Above all worldly things he now desires.
He never quakes when warning voices thunder,
And does not fear the damsel’s warnings dire.
For as the danger and the peril mount,
He deems the enterprise of more account.
48
But on the other hand, his plighted oath
He well remembers, and the damosel
Moves him to pity, and he’s far from loath
To find Orlando whom he loves so well.
Moreo’er, the fairy and her garden both
When he returns, will likely be here still,
Waiting for him to enter and to strive
To break th’enchantments and come out alive.
49
So finally he rideth on his way
With Fiordelisa and the pair of knights.
They rest by night and travel far by day,
By field and mountain and by craggy heights,
Until the clearing in the woods reach they,
Where men were wont to see the garden bright
Of Dragontina by the river side,
Which now is gone. The empty field spreads wide.
50
You will recall the garden was destroyed,
And the fair palace, and the bridge and stream
Whereby Orlando and the rest were joyed,
But Fiordelisa knew not of the scheme
Of fair Angelica to leave it void.
To find her Brandimarte here she deemed,
And with the help of bold Amone’s son
To save him, and the others, everyone.
51
They ride on, therefore, through the forest vast,
Until the sun hangs brightly in the sky,
When, coming cautiously but very fast
Upon a horse, an armored knight they spy.
The rider’s face by fear is overcast.
His horse, it seemeth, to collapse is nigh.
Its flanks are heaving, and its nostrils quake.
The man is pale as death; his body shakes.
52
They ask him what befell him, every one,
But not a word he gave them in reply.
His eyes were vacant, and his head he hung.
After a time, with halting voice and shy,
For as his heart was trembling, so his tongue.
“Curséd be Love forevermore!” he cried,
“Which led King Agrican to go to war,
And many thousand men have died therefore.
53
“I was, my lords, before Albracca’s walls
With many men ’neath Agrican’s command.
We’d beat King Sacripant, and from his halls
He dared not stir; the field was in our hands.
One only tow’r was left, and that was all.
When one morn, who should come into the land
But she, the dame who held the rock in fee,
With just nine cavaliers in company.
54
“Among them King Ballano, joyed to fight,
And Brandimart, Oberto dal Leon,
And one I do not know, a valiant knight,
The strongest man the world has ever known.
All by himself he set us all to flight.
He slaughtered Radamont and Saritron,
And five more kings, all of them men renowned:
They all lay in two pieces on the ground.
55
“I saw (I see it still before my face)
Him slicing Pandragone side to side;
His arms cut off, him split from chest to waist.
Since I saw Pandragone opened wide,
Two hundred miles on my steed I’ve raced,
And gladly in the ocean I would hide,
I’ve felt him ev’ry second of the way.
Now God preserve you, for I dare not stay.
56
“I will not feel myself secure at all
Until in Roccabruno I am hid.
I’ll raise the bridge and hid behind the wall.”
And as the fearful man spake, so he did.
He plunged into the forest’s thickest pall,
And passed from sight, the twisting trunks amid.
The damsel and the knights thus left behind
Revolved the words he’d spoken in their minds.
57
They spoke to one another, wondering
What chance or fate had gathered those great lords
Round Count Orlando, for none else could swing
Such blows, or in such manner wield a sword.
They wonder who was bold enough to bring
Deliv’rance to those bound by magic’s cords.
At last, unanimously they agreed
To travel to Albracca with all speed.
58
Out of the wilderness at last they ride,
And past Lake Baku they pursue their track.
At last, on Drada River’s bank, they spied
A knight whose shield was slung across his back.
Armed at all points was he, sword at his side.
His horse, held by a damsel, was no hack.
Smoothly, unhurriedly, his seat he gains,
At which his damsel handeth him the reins.
59
To her companions turneth Fiordelis,
Saying, “If recollection serves me right,
And well I recognize that armor piece,
Then that which stands before us is no knight,
But is a lady, the renowned Marfis,
Who in all lands is famous for her might.
Search though you might th’entire world around,
No greater marvel anywhere is found.
60
“So all of you I urgently advise
You must not joust with her, for any cause.
In fact, I think another path were wise.
My words are true; don’t hesitate or pause.
We may escape, if we avoid her eyes.
But if she gets a chance to use her claws,
Than you shall die, and you shall die in pain.
None in the field against her can remain.”
61
Rinaldo heard her and his laugh resounded.
He thanked her for her counsel with good grace,
But would not let Marfisa go unsounded.
He grabbed his lance and shield, his helmet laced.
The Sun had now up to his zenith mounted,
When these two met each other face to face.
Each one so strong (and well aware of it)
That neither feared the other one a whit.
62
Marfisa looks upon Amone’s son,
And rightly judges him a valiant knight.
His destrier seems to her already won.
She’ll make him sweat to keep his honor bright.
Both check their saddle-girths, lest they be stunned
And fall from horseback in the coming fight.
They had already turned their steeds around –
Just then, a messenger the couple found.
63
This herald was an old and wizened man,
And twenty men-at-arms beside him go.
“Your enemy, my lady,” he began,
“Has wrought us unimaginable woe.
Archilor’s dead, and no one living can
Lift his great hammer, deal such mighty blows.
Since Agricane cut that giant down,
No one to stand and face him has he found.
64
“King Galafrone to thee now doth plead,
In whom and whom alone his hopes reside,
To succor him in this, his greatest need,
And set thy fame to spreading yet more wide.
Thy strength, thy courage, shall our army lead,
And let King Agrican of mickle pride,
Who thinks to fight against th’entire world,
By thee be killed, or captured, or down hurled.”
65
Marfisa answers: “I will come anon,
When I have given yonder knights a fall,
Those three thou seest coming o’er the lawn,
I’ll give them thee to ransom or to thrall,
And I will quickly conquer Agrican,
So help me Máhomet, the lord of all!
I will take him alive, for all his power,
And hang him from Albracca’s highest tower.”
66
At this the noble lady silent fell,
And turned her horse’s head toward the knights,
And with words menacing, and harsh, and fell,
Challenged all three of them at once to fight.
The battle that began upon that fell
Was the most terrible and cruel of sights.
For each was strong beyond the common run,
As my next canto tells, for this is done.
HERE ENDETH THE SEVENTEENTH CANTO
NOTES TO THE SEVENTEENTH CANTO
41-43. The Monsters. To the best of my knowledge, these monsters are Boiardo’s inventions, though I have heard of a beast called a yale or eale which had two horns it could rotate separately. The multiplying giant is probably inspired by various creatures in Greek mythology: the hydra, the serpents which sprang up wherever the blood dripped from Medusa’s head, and the soldiers born from dragon’s teeth sown in the ground all come to mind.
58. Lake Baku. The Caspian Sea.
Drada. I have been unable to find whether this is a real river.
59. Marfisa. Invented by Boiardo.
The Orlando Innamorato in English, Book I, Canto XVII, Stanzas 21-40
21
Rinaldo says, “Orlando I am not,
But I will try whatever I can do,
Not so that fame or glory be got,
Or that thou mayst repay me favors new,
But for my faith, from which I’ll swerve no jot,
That never have there been such friends as you
In history, nor are there such today.
Were I the third, I should be blessed for aye.
22
“Thou didst renounce thy lady for thy friend,
Of all delight wast by thy self deprived.
And he for thy sake was in prison penned,
And without him thou never canst be blithe.
Such friendship as is yours will never end.
But shall endure for aye, in death and life;
And if today thou draw’st thy final breath,
I fain would go along with thee to death.”
23
But while the twain are speaking in this manner,
A mighty host arriving they espy,
Before which went a bright and waving banner,
And two poor souls who were condemned to die.
Some had no weapons, others had no armor,
They jeered and mocked as they paraded by.
All of them ribalds, lowlifes from the taverns;
The worst of all was leader of these gamins.
24
As Rubicon he was known all around;
On legs the size of rafter-beams he goes.
The great poltroon weighed nigh six hundred pounds,
Beastly and proud, a terror to his foes.
Blacker his beard than any coal e’er found.
An ugly scar ran halfway up his nose.
His eyes were bloodshot, one of them was blind,
One such as he the Sun could nowhere find.
25
He breathed out threats ’gainst her who went before:
A lovely damsel on a palfrey chained,
A knight who still a proud expression wore.
Equally with the girl he was restrained.
Ambling palfreys this sad couple bore.
Rinaldo views them with surprise unfeigned,
For the sad lady is the damosel
Who did the story of Iroldo tell,
26
And then was kidnapped in the lonely wood
By the strange centaur, that misshapen creep.
When he recalled her, he no longer stood,
But on his Rabicano gave a leap.
A thousand strong or thereabout, who should
Have fought, their lady’s prisoner to keep,
But when Rinaldo coming they espy,
The greater part incontinently fly.
27
Meanwhile, Irold had to the saddle flown,
Spurred his good horse, and drawn his broadsword out;
The prince already fought with Rubicon,
For all the other folk were put to rout,
And he was left to his defense alone.
Not overlong endured this little bout,
Because Rinaldo with a blow extreme
Sent him to hell, and let his guts be seen.
28
And dives among the others like a storm,
And slays the villain folk without regret,
He stings and darts among the fleeing swarm,
And he rejoices, basking in their dread.
To two of them he gives a new, forked form,
And from four others he removes the heads.
Laughing out, with the frenzied joy of fighting,
He chases them, their arms and legs dividing.
29
Only the pris’ners on the field are left,
Upon their palfreys, and their bindings chaff.
Of all that rabble is the plain bereft,
Who led them to their fate with hoots and laughs.
The grass is strewn with shields and lances cleft,
Gonfalons, helmets, Rubicone’s halves.
He lies, his arms cut off, split at the waist.
Rinaldo after his companions chased.
30
But Don Iroldo, he who, as I said,
Had lain beside the fount with weeping eye,
Now that the two of them are safe from death,
Hastens the man and woman to untie.
Never so glad he’s been since he drew breath.
Prasildo he embraces. He can try
To speak, but cannot form the words he would.
His tears say more than his words ever could.
31
The prince by now two miles away had sped
The fleeing multitude he hacked and diced,
While the two barons stood, astonishéd,
Staring at Rubicone, who’d been sliced
Cleanly and now lay on the soil red.
They marvel at his wounds so oversized,
And say he can’t be human, but a god
Who laid this giant fierce upon the sod.
32
When Don Rinaldo, after having wrought
Untold destruction, came back from the mount,
Each of the barons, with his hands clasped, sought
To pay him worship, kneeling on the ground,
And piously, as they conceive they ought,
They say, “O King of Heaven, God Mahound,
Who in Thy mercy didst exert Thy might
To save Thy servants from their helpless plight,
33
“Thou hast vouchsafed to show to us Thy face,
And left Thine Heavenly abode of light;
Thou art the Savior of the human race,
And none without Thy power can do right.
Grant us, O Lord, to not despise Thy grace,
But worthily Thy favor to requite,
That when our earthly lives have run their course,
We may rejoice forever in Thy courts.”
34
Rinaldo is surprised when he looks on it:
But soon he scarcely can suppress a smile.
He has to force himself now not to don it,
Seeing them kneeling thus, devoid of guile,
Who innocently think he is Mahomet.
He speaks, in humble earnest all the while:
“This false belief it needeth you lay by,
For mortal man, just as you are, am I.
35
“I am but flesh and blood, so is my horse,
Save for my soul, which was by Jesus bought.
You need not marvel at my mighty force,
Christ in His mercy gave me what I sought.
He gave strength to my arm and ruled my course.
With all my heart I trust the Faith He taught,
And when you, too, believe it firm and sure,
Then from all danger are your souls secure.”
36
With further words, the noble baron saith
How he is lord of Montalbano’s land
And teaches them the fullness of our Faith,
And how and wherefore Christ became a man;
And, to sum up, God works so by His grace,
They both wish to be christened at his hand.
Iroldo and Prasildo now are lief
To leave Mahound and ev’ry false belief.
37
The three of them the damsel now advise,
And many telling reasons they expound
Why she should take the Christian Faith and why
She should renounce the falsehoods of Mahound.
She was not only beautiful, but wise,
And with contrition and with faith new-found
The knights and she beneath the pleasant shade
In the fount, by Rinald, are Christians made.
38
The four of them begin now to discuss
How the fair, deadly garden can be won,
Which to so many has been ruinous.
The knights wish to began th’assault anon,
But Fiordelisa interposes thus:
“God keep thee from the plan th’art set upon!
Thou canst gain nothing but a speedy death,
Such magic guards it through its length and breadth.
39
“I have a book, wherein the painter’s art
Has set forth all the secrets of the bower.
Bear with me, while I tell a little part
Of what you face. There is no earthly power
Can scale or pierce, or even hope to start
To crack the walls wherein the pris’ners cower.
A thousand mangonels and catapults
Would not dislodge a pebble from the vaults.
40
“But on the east, below a turret’s base,
A marble gate is open, eve and morn,
Where lies a dragon with unblinking face,
Which never once has slept since it was born.
It keeps its watch forever in that place.
He who would enter must hold it in scorn
And slay it, or he’ll never pass that gate,
And greater perils after this await.
The Orlando Innamorato in English, Book I, Canto XVII, Stanzas 1-20
CANTO XVII
ARGUMENT
Iroldo tells of cruel Falerin,
And how Prasildo for his sake will die.
Rinaldo swears that he will thwart this queen,
And for Prasildo shouts his battle-cry.
By holy Baptism, three souls are cleaned.
And Falerina’s garden is described.
Another garden is found bare and waste,
So to Albracca now the foursome haste.
1
Last time I promised I’d delight your ears
By telling you the cavalier’s response
Whose spirit was disposed to sighs and tears,
When Don Rinaldo found him by the font
Under the arbor, by the streamlet clear;
Now hearking, lordings, to a woeful song.
The knight, though choked with tears he often was,
Replied to Don Rinaldo’s query thus:
2
“Twenty days’ journey from here may be seen
A city matched for nobleness by none,
Who once was of the Orient the Queen;
The city is my home, hight Babylon.
A lady lived there who was named Tisbin,
Than whom, in all the lands beneath the sun,
Or all the countries girdled by the sea
No woman, nothing, was more fair than she.
3
“In the sweet spring-tide of my youth was I
The lover of this dame, and she of me.
Our wills, our hearts we did together tie,
I lived in her heart and in mine did she.
But to another she at last did fly;
Think for yourself what was my misery!
I won’t tell all of how my heart was sore.
I love her still, will love her evermore.
4
“It seemed as if the half my soul was gone,
As if my heart out of my chest was torn,
I felt that I was dead, but I lived on.
Pray God thou never feelest so forlorn!
Two times the sun his ’ppointed course had run,
Twenty-four times the moon had grown her horns,
And I, distraught and weeping, left my kin
And wealth to roam the world, a peregrine.
5
“The lapse of time, the hardships I endured
In many lands, in wildernesses barren,
At last my heartache and my love-woes cured.
Love’s bitter pleasures I had no more share in.
And Don Prasildo, he who had secured
Tisbina’s love, was such a courteous baron,
That I rejoiced to have him as a friend,
And I shall ever, unto my life’s end.
6
“Now, to continue with my tale, I bent
To travel round the world, sans wealth and fame,
And, as Dame Fortune willed with ill intent,
Into the country of Orgagna came.
A woman rules the realm, for their king went
(The noble Poliferno is his name)
With Agrican, his suzerain, to fight
For great King Gallifrone’s daughter bright.
7
“The woman who now in the realm holds sway
Is mistress of all cunning and deceit.
With gentle speech and with a winning face
All foreign knights with courtesy she greets,
But once she has them, they will ne’er retrace
Their path back home. No care how strong or fleet
They are the lady hath. No one can fly,
But by a cruel and savage death must die,
8
“Because the wicked-working Falerin,
(For such the name is the enchantress bears
Who of Orgagna calls herself the Queen)
Has made a garden which is wondrous fair;
No ditch surrounds it. No thorn hedge is seen,
But living rock enclosed it ev’rywhere
Save for a single gate, which, were it closed,
No one can enter, unless wings he grows.
9
“The rock is open on the Eastern side,
Where has been wrought a tall and narrow gate.
Here doth a mighty serpent aye reside,
Which human flesh and blood delights to eat.
To this are thrown the folk who walk or ride
Into this country, led by cruel fate.
The fairy seizes them, and day by day,
She gives them to the dragon for its prey.
10
“Now as I’ve said, into this wretched land
I wandered, and I had been bound in chains;
Four months I languished in a dungeon and
Saw many knights and ladies there complain.
I cannot tell the woes on ev’ry hand.
Never has been, I think, so much of pain.
Every day, by lot it was decreed
Which two of us should sate the dragon’s greed.
11
“On each slip for the lots were writ two names,
One of a lady, and one of a knight.
Together were the first two who there came,
And so on, till the newest in their plight.
Here I thought I was destined to remain,
And hoped nor wished to hope for some respite,
When cruel Fortune, who abused me so,
Gave me relief, to give me greater woe.
12
“Because Prasildo, courteous all above,
For whom I had renounced Tisbina bright,
And Babylon, my country which I love,
Learned the whole story of my hopeless plight.
I know not how he heard the tale thereof,
But he rode off, nor rested day nor night,
And in disguise, and with an ample purse,
Towards Orgagna’s borders set his course.
13
“Thither he hastened, he, that baron bold,
To do his uttermost to set me free.
He offered to the wardens land and gold,
If they would look away and let me flee,
But all in vain, the guards are self-controlled.
All he could win from them by bribe or plea
By dire threating or by speaking fair
Was that we should exchange our places there.
14
“Thus from the gloomy dungeon I was brought
And in my place they laded him with chains,
And my life with his own Prasildo bought.
Is any man so noble known to fame?
Today the day is when they’ll draw his lot
And bring him forth to face the dragon’s flame.
There is no hope but he will be devoured,
So I have waited here for many an hour.
15
“Though in my heart I know I have a dearth
Of strength, and all will be in vain I try,
Yet hereby I will show to all the earth,
How much respect for that good man have I,
And pay him guerdon, though not half his worth,
Because when, they shall lead him forth to die
With those who lead him forth I shall do battle,
Although there are a thousand of that rabble.
16
“And when those swine have laid my body low,
It will be filled with joy that I have died.
To Paradise I will not wish to go
Unless I have Prasildo by my side.
I only grieve that he must undergo
A cruel death the dragon’s maw inside,
And that I cannot, though I give my life,
Deliver him from such a painful strife.”
17
When he had done, his voice by sobs was choked,
And weeping, on the grass he laid his head.
Rinaldo’s spirit was to pity woke,
The tears adown the hero’s visage sped,
And courteously, from his heart he spoke.
He offered help, bade him be comfortéd,
With words like these, “Sir Baron, have no fear,
But that we two shall save thy friend so dear.
18
“Although the company were twice as big,
As thou hast said it is, I would not care.
I’ll break them quicker than an elder twig,
And by my honor as a knight I swear,
That we shall make that host dance such a jig
That none of them again will ever dare
To stand against the might of my right hand.
They’ll run till safely behind walls they stand.”
19
He stares at him, and sighs with all his heart,
And says, “Sir Knight, with silly boasts have done.
Unless the Count Orlando’s self thou art,
Or else his cousin, Duke Amone’s son,
The two of us will play no better part
Than one alone. ’Tis best to lose but one.
I have no doubt th’art worthy of thy spurs,
But still, no mortal’s deeds could match thy words.
20
“Let us then part as friends; I should be loath
To be the reason for thy death in vain.
Thou hast no part in my heart’s ache, my oath
Which leads my to my death, as I explained.
And in no way can I requite thee, both
For giving comfort and for off’ring aid.
All I can give is words, but I have trust
God will repay thee, for thou art most just.”
The menu at the top of the blog that listed each page of the poem and the notes has been simplified. It now has a link to a table-of-contents page, and a link to Part 1 of Canto I, to begin reading.
A PDF of the story thus far (cantos 1-16) is now available on the Table of Contents Page.
Current Status of the Kings:
BESIEGERS:
Agricane of Tartary
Saritrone of Mongolia – killed by Orlando
Radamanto of Moscow and Comana – killed by Orlando
Polifermo of Orgagna
Pandragone of Gothland
Argante of Russia
Lurcone of Norway – killed by Orlando
Santaría of Sweden
Brontino of Normany – killed by Orlando
Uldano of Denmark
VS.
BESIEGED:
Sacripante of Circassia.
Varano of Armenia – cut down by the rabble
Brunaldo of Trebisond – killed by Radamanto
Ungiano of Roase – killed by Radamanto
Savarone of Media – cut down by the rabble
Torindo of Turkey
Trufaldino of Babylon and Baghdad
Bordacco of Damascus – killed by Agricane
AND
REINFORCEMENTS
Gallifron of Cathay
Archiloro – killed by Agricane and the Tartars
Marfisa
The Orlando Innamorato in English, Book I, Canto XVI, Stanzas 41-64
41
“But the fierce battle which we twain have fought
And the fierce give-and-take of strikes and blows
Have forced me somewhat to adjust my thought.
I see I am a man of flesh and bone.
But by tomorrow, I’ll be further taught,
And which of us is greater shall be known.
And thou wilt see if I deserve renown
And truly am the flower and the crown.
42
“But now I pray thee as thou seekest fame,
To let me go in peace, Sir Cavalier,
If thou hast ever felt a lover’s flame,
I beg thee by what thou dost hold most dear.
I see my people scattered, brought to shame,
By that proud giant who does not know fear,,
And if thou let’st me save them from their ill,
If I can not repay thee, Heaven will.”
43
Although Orlando was a baron bold,
And by his hammering was sore distressed,
And burns to pay him for it sevenfold,
Yet he does not refuse the King’s request.
A highborn lover cannot be so cold
As not to answer Courtesy’s requests.
Orlando puts away his trenchant blade,
And offers Agricane all his aid.
44
But he, who all assistance holds in scorn,
Just like a man who’s full of arrogance,
Turns on Baiard, the best steed ever born,
And from a nearby squire grabs a lance.
His people see him come, and, once forlorn,
Their hearts leap up, and shines each countenance;
They shout their war-cry, and again they fight;
All of the men return, who took to flight.
45
King Agricane with his crown of gold
Rallies his troops and sets them all to rights;
His place as leader of them all he holds.
On Baiard, who could match an arrow’s flight,
To Archilor, with fury uncontrolled
He speeds. The giant stands, secure in might,
His shield upon his arm, hammer in hand,
His breastplate crimson with the blood of man.
46
All of enamel wrought and ivory,
The Negro’s shield was, and four fingers thick.
King Agricane’s steel goes easily
Through it, but goes no farther. There he sticks,
And Archiloro stands immovably.
He is not fazed the slightest by that prick.
He swings his mighty hammer at the lance.
A thousand splinters through the ether dance.
47
But the proud king is not a whit surprised,
Though few have ever seen so great a blow.
No sooner had his lance been atomized,
Than do his fingers to his sword hilt go,
And with the steed whom all men so much prized,
He sets about to wreak the giant woe.
Now on the side he strikes, now front, now back.
One thing he never does, and that is slack.
48
The giant stands unmoved on his two legs,
Just as atop a castle stands a turret.
He moves no more than do a mountain’s crags,
Save to bring down his hammer (much I’d fear it!)
The king behind, before, around, zig-zags
On the good steed, who’s swifter than a spirit.
Great Archiloro deals his blows in vain,
So swift are Baiard’s hooves, so keen his brain.
49
The folk on either side now watch and wait,
The Tartars and the Indians, I mean,
As if the fight were just between these greats,
And they could take their ease upon the green.
Some stand, some sit. Their labors all abate,
And cheer their champions, who are bold and keen.
While everyone is watching, chatting, resting,
Lo! Archiloro deals a blow oppressing.
50
He’s thrown away his shield, to use both hands;
If he’d hit Agrican, he would have died.
The hammer sinks so far into the sand
He couldn’t pull it out, though much he tried.
Agrican, looking on, soon understands
He’d left his arms unarmored, in his pride.
He swings his sword down with so deft a twist
He lopped off both the brute’s hands at the wrist.
51
His hands as tightly round the hilt remain
As ivy wrapped around an old fence post,
And soon a mob of troops upon him came,
And through a thousand wounds departs his ghost.
Each Tartar wishes to avenge his shame,
For he that day had slain a mighty host.
King Agrican moved on. That worthy lord
Thought him unworthy to die by his sword.
52
And so he’s finished by the Tartar herds,
As I have said, and ev’ry man flocks round
While Agricane, having left him, spurred
The good Baiard into the Indians’ ground,
And such a dreadful slaughter soon incurred,
No words fit to describe it can be found.
The king chops, cuts, and dices all he can.
He’s joined by Poliferno and Uldan.
53
These two kings had been lying on the ground,
Devoid of sense, as if they had been dead,
Since Archiloro’s hammer had them found,
Which hurt them grievously, as I have said.
But both of them had lately come around
And now their troops in battle-lust they led
Into the Indian ranks. They slash and hack,
And wreak their vengeance on the people black.
54
They take no rest, no more than if they tried
To save their darling child from a fire;
King Agrican looks on with smile wide.
He chases not the rabble; he aims higher.
Now you must now Marfisa did abide
Two miles from the fight, or slightly nigher.
By the banks of a river, on the grass,
In the shade sleepeth the redoubted lass.
55
Her heart is arrogant; lofty her mind;
She does not wish to earn fame or renown
Against a baron more than some low hind,
Only against a head that wears a crown.
So now she’s sleeping underneath a pine
Where the sweet babble of the brook is found.
But ere she’d lighted from her good destrier,
She’d spoken to her maid as you shall hear.
56
(This damsel was Marfisa’s chambermaid)
“Hearken now to my words,” Marfisa said;
When thou shalt see retreating our brigade,
And Gallifrone prisoner or dead,
And that our banner on the ground is laid,
Then bring my horse and rouse me from this bed.
Until that happens, let me sleep in peace,
For I alone can make this war to cease.”
57
After her speech, she rests her lovely head
Upon the grass, but stays in armor clad;
She sleeps as sound as if she’d made her bed
Behind the strongest walls that could be had.
Now let us speak about the armies led
From India. The case looked very bad.
They break, they flee, in a disgraceful manner,
Thinking not of their cause or of their banner.
58
King Gallifrone’s foaming at the teeth
When he beholds his people turn and fly.
He spurs his horse like one consumed by grief;
If he can conquer not, he fain would die.
His daughter, of the Rock’s defenders chief,
Beholds the peril that he comes so nigh,
And fearing for him, as her nature bade,
She sends to Count Orlando, seeking aid.
59
She sends to ask him, to at once begin
Her father’s rescue, earnestly beseeching,
If he has any hope her love to win,
To show a courage that’s beyond impeaching;
And to remember that the Rock is in
His hands, to save it from the foe besieging.
He needs no urging, for he’d rather die
Than fail the slightest in his lady’s eyes.
60
The loving Count these words no sooner hears,
Than he draws Durindana in his hate,
And starts a battle terrible and drear,
Which blow by blow for you I will relate –
But not right now. I wish to leave him here
And tell of Don Rinaldo’s valor great,
Who, as I’ve told, beneath an arbor’s shade
Had found a knight beside a fountain laid.
61
He wept as if his heart had burst asunder.
Even a dragon he’d have made to sigh.
He takes no notice of Rinald, for under
His folded arms are hid his welling eyes.
The prince is silent, and he’s filled with wonder
Pondering why this stranger knight so cries.
For though his sobs and catching breath he heard,
Yet could he not distinguish his soft words.
62
Rinaldo lighted off his good destrier
And with most courteous words the knight saluted,
Beseeching him to make his story clear,
What circumstance to such laments was suited.
The stranger lifts his face, and on the Peer
Awhile he stares, but still his voice is muted.
At last he speaks, “Sir knight, my fate is such
That death by any means seems fairer much.
63
“But by the living God and by my word,
I swear to thee, such is not why I weep;
My death I soon will find, yet unperturbed
Am I at that. I will it gladly greet;
But for one thing regret is in me stirred.
Were’t not for this, my death I’d gaily meet.
But one more valiant, with all virtues decked,
Will die with me, whom I cannot protect.”
64
Rinaldo answers, “For God’s sake I pray
That thou wilt tell me how this came to pass,
Since to discover it I came this way,
Seeing thee in such grief upon the grass.”
The knight bestirred himself from where he lay,
Sat up, and with a gentle countenance
Began to tell his tale, with many tears,
As in the coming canto you shall hear.
HERE ENDETH THE SIXTEENTH CANTO
The Orlando Innamorato in English, Book I, Canto XVI, Stanzas 21-40
21
The watchers, ev’ry time a knight is hit,
Thank their good stars they didn’t feel that one.
But the two barons feel of fear no whit.
They do not speak, when deeds are to be done.
At dawn they started, and by now is it
Six hours since the rising of the sun.
But neither one was ready for a stop;
Indeed, till now they’ve just been warming up.
22
As when, within the forge of Mongibello,
The demon Vulcan hammers out the thunder,
First heating up his fire with the bellows,
Then strikes so hard and fast it is a wonder,
Even so, sounding like a devil’s bellows
Their two swords strike without a miss or blunder,
And shoot out clouds of sparks amidst the clangor.
Yet neither one for any respite hankers.
23
The Count Orlando, like a mighty hitter
With Durindana strikes the Tartar’s crown
A two-hand blow so terrible and bitter
The echoes could be heard for miles around.
King Agricane’s wits away have flittered.
Upon Baiardo’s neck the king slumps down.
Only his saddle kept him still aloft.
The helmet, though, of Solomon, fell off.
24
Clever Baiard with him to safety races
Till soon the king recovers all his sense.
He turns to fight Orlando, and his face is
So fierce it could have made a dragon flinch.
Mighty Tranchera in the sunlight blazes.
With both his hands, he thinks ’twill be a cinch
To split Orlando open head to toe;
But just his helm is splintered by the blow.
25
Upon his horse’s back now sprawls the knight,
Who cannot move a muscle on his own.
So heavily can Agricane smite,
His head was knocked against his steed’s backbone.
He didn’t know if it was day or night,
And though the midday sun above him shone,
He thought above him were the starry skies,
Dancing and skipping ’round before his eyes.
26
But soon his wrath extreme begins to rise.
His eyes shoot sparks; he clutches Durindan.
But o’er the field there came a mighty noise.
Swift through the mountains is the echo gone.
Never have there been any louder cires:
An army infinite arrives anon,
With banners raised, and pennons fair-adorned,
Blowing their trumpets, sounding drums and horns.
27
This is the army of King Galafron,
In three divisions, each amazing vast.
He sought the keep, which rightly was his own,
In fury. He had raised this army fast
By envoys sent to ev’ry country known,
And half of India now with him passed.
Some came for hear of him, and some for gold,
For he had wealth and potency untold.
28
From the Gold Sea, the which is India’s bound,
Had come an army eager to attack.
The first brigade, which made a dreadful sound,
Was led by giant Archilor the Black.
The second marched beneath a woman crowned.
In all the Orient there was a lack
Of knights who could remove her from her saddle.
She was as beautiful as strong in battle.
29
Marfisa. Thus was spoken far and wide
The damsel’s name. She loved so much to fight
That for five years she had not laid aside
Her armor, whether by day or by night.
For she by solemn vows herself had tied,
By great Mahomet and by all his might
Not to take off her hauberk, plate, or mail,
Until three kings she’d caught in war’s travail.
30
And these three were the King of Sericane,
I mean Gradasso, who had such puissance,
And Agricane, lord of Tramontane,
And Charlemagne, the Emperor of France.
Our history will very soon explain
Her matchless power and her arrogance,
But at the moment I will say no more,
And turn back to the progress of the war.
31
With shouts and battle cries so loud and varied
They crossed the Drada (that’s a river wide)
That Heaven above, it seemed, would soon be harried.
The third troop still was on the farther side,
’Neath Gallifrone’s sway, who proudly carried
His royal banner, as one born to guide:
A black flag which a golden dragon bore.
Let us leave him, and speak of Archilor,
32
Who was a giant, rather oversized,
And worshipped nothing but himself alone.
Mahound he blasphemed and he God despised,
And spake of either with an angry tone.
This Archiloro above all things prized
The joy of making the first blow his own;
Just like a demon who is loosed from Hell,
He wreaks destruction on his foes pell-mell.
33
The great Black wields a hammer in his hand
(No anvil ever made could match its weight)
With every swing he slays a little band
Of Tartars, sent to their eternal fate.
The frank Uldano sallies to withstand
His fury, with good Polifern his mate.
With their batallions twain, the two set out,
A hundred thousand each, or thereabout.
34
Each is a valiant man and worthy knight.
These two kings do not make this charge together,
But one goes to the left, and one goes right,
Whether by chance, or else by fate, or whether
They planned it so, they at the same time smite
The Negro’s sides; they pierce nor steel nor leather,
And cannot even knock him from his horse;
They strike with opposite and equal force.
35
The black King sits unmoved ’twixt lance and lance.
The mighty blows don’t even leave him stunned.
He swings his hammer round with both his hands,
And Poliferno on the head he dunned,
And stretched him, almost lifeless, on the land,
And then, without a pause, around he spun
And struck the strong Uldano on the visor
And knocked him from the saddle, and he lies there.
36
These kings upon the field lie, half-awake,
And Archilor advances in his glory;
He sweeps ahead, just like a fire-drake,
Slicing helms, shields, and mail in combat gory.
No one can stop him, even make him shake.
He slays the men behind, and those before he
Drives in a panicked rout across the lea.
King Agricane sees his people flee.
37
And turning to Orlando with sweet speech,
He says, “Ah, Cavalier, for courtesy,
If thou hast ever loved a damsel sweet,
Or if thou lovest one of high degree,
Then by her lovely face, I thee beseech,
(As thou hast hope that she will too love thee)
To let us halt, and we may fight again,
When I have given succor to my men.
38
“And since no one who knows thee can believe
That thou art other than a valiant knight,
I give thee Moscow’s kingdom as thy fief,
Which stretches to the Russian Sea by right.
Its king is won in Hell, in smoke and grief;
Thou sent’st him thither yesterday with might;
King Radamanto ’twas, so tall to view,
Whom with thy sword thou didst divide in two.
39
“Freely I give to thee this king’s domain,
And I believe it is the best I rule,
For I trust all the world does not contain
A knight who could in anything thee school.
I promise thee, and I will swear amain
That we shall meet again in battle cruel
And that time, it will surely be made clear,
Which of us two is he without a peer.
40
“I truly thought that I was more than man
Until I matched myself with thy puissance;
I never thought to guard against a brand
Or feel discomforted by someone’s lance;
Though I‘d heard of Orlando, from a land
Somewhere far west of here (they call it France)
I was convinced his might I should despise
If we should meet; myself I did so prize.
The Orlando Innamorato in English, Book I, Canto XVI, Stanzas 1-20 Notes
12. Almonte’s former sword. Orlando won Durindana from the pagan Almonte, son of Agolante, in the battle of Aspremont.
The Orlando Innamorato in English, Book I, Canto XVI, Stanzas 1-20
CANTO XVI
ARGUMENT
Orlando and King Agricane duel
To th’admiration of the heathen crowd.
But they are parted when, to save his jewel
King Gallifron arrives, to vengeance vowed.
With him is Archiloro, tall and cruel
And allied with him is Marfisa proud,
Who does not deign as yet to join the fight.
Meanwhile, Rinaldo meets a woeful knight.
1
Ev’rything which beneath the Moon is found,
The riches and the kingdoms of the earth,
Are Fortune’s playthings, and she wheels them round
Without a thought, except to give her mirth.
She overthrows whatever seems most sound.
But, above all, in war there is no dearth
Of her caprices and her wayward freaks.
A parallel it would be vain to seek.
2
This may be seen in Agricane’s case,
Who was the emperor of Tartary,
And in the world had such a lofty place,
And ha many kings his slaves to be.
But when he tried to win a lovely face,
Dead and destroyed was half his company.
And seven kings who knelt at his command
Died in one day, at Count Orlando’s hand.
3
Desperate now, he rides across the field,
Blowing his horn and seeking for a fight,
Or else demanding Count Orlando yield,
With his companions, to that valiant knight.
Himself alone will fight, sword, lance, and shield,
Any who dare to here contest his might.
Now comes the drawbridge of Albracca down,
And the French count appears, armed tow to crown.
4
Beside him ride Oberto dal Leon,
And Brandimart, of chivalry the flower,
King Adriano and frank Chiarïon.
With these, Angelica may mock the power
Of Agrican, as she in beauty shone,
Leaning out of the window of her bower
So that the Count may see and be inspired.
The five ride down the slope, in arms attired.
5
King Agricane stands athwart the path,
Scorning to ride ahead to meet so few.
His face burns like a fire, such is his wrath,
Which ev’ry corner of his mind imbues.
He turns t’address the coward troops he hath,
Who lack for strength and chivalry, and who
Don’t even dare to look him in the face
As this invective spews he in that place.
6
“Now listen well, you churls with knocking knees.
Nobody move to give me any aid!
A thousand thousand could not make me flee,
Not even if their allies they had made
Samson, Achilles, Hector, Hercules.
I still would leave them mangled and filleted.
And once I have cut down these braggart five,
I will not leave a man of you alive.
7
“For every one of you, accurséd folk,
Before the evening star tonight I’ve viewed,
I’ll cut in tiny pieces, brain, or choke,
And leave the plain with all your corpses strewed,
Lest turning home, you should in wedlock’s yoke
Raise up in Tartary degenerate broods
Who should bring such dishonor to my sway
As ye did in the battle yesterday.”
8
The people trembled when his speech they heard,
Like poplar leaves amidst a hurricane.
Nor do they dare to answer him a word,
So much they feared their ruler’s wrath insane.
Alone King Agrican his charged spurred
And left behind him all his vast brigade.
He blew upon his horn with lusty breath,
Playing the song of flesh and blood and death.
9
Orlando, who had noticed as he fought
Agrican’s matchless bravery and might,
From Jesus Christ in humbleness besought
To bring him to the true religion’s light.
He signs himself, and then, as Christians ought,
Commends himself to God. He soon caught sight
O’ th’ Tartar coming with intention dire,
Baiardo left a trail of wind and fire.
10
If you have ever seen two thunderstorms,
From east and west turning the heavens drear,
Some hint of those two barons you may form;
They knock each other o’er their horses’ rears.
Their lances shatter, and the armor worn
By them makes such a rattle in men’s ears,
That upward turn the eyes of one and all,
Thinking the heavens are about to fall.
11
Every looker-on calls on his God,
Asking aid for the cause he thinketh just.
Great Brigliadoro lies upon the sod:
Orlando spurs him up, but only just.
But good Baiardo with such swiftness trod
You could not see him for the clouds of dust;
But then he halts, and paws, and turns around,
Leaping Orlando with a seven-foot bound.
12
The Count by now is ready to withstand
All of the force his foe can bring to bear;
Almonte’s former sword* is in his hand,
And Agricane has the sharp Trancher;
The two combatants face to face now stand,
Whose equals cannot be found anywhere;
As on that day to one and all was shown,
Rarely on earth hath such a pair been known.
13
Neither one seeks a rest, and neither grieves,
Nor to they halt from giving heavy blows;
But as the trees are stripped bare of their leaves
By the great blasts the mighty tempest blows,
E’en so the fighting of these barons leaves
Their armor tattered from their heads to toes;
Their shields are ruined and their surcoats tattered.
They had no crests left, at least none that mattered.
14
Orlando thinks that he will make this brief,
And end the battle with a single clout.
He brings his sword down on the helmet’s chief;
It bounces off, while sparks of fire shoot out.
King Agricane says through gritted teeth,
“Just wait a moment, and we’ll see how stout
Thy helmet is, and I believe we’ll find
It is not worthy to be named with mine.”
15
And when he’s spoken, with both hands he starts
To bring Tranchera down, and he is sure
He’ll cleave the Count Orlando in two parts,
And even his horse will be beyond a cure,
But damage none unto the helm imparts,
For by enchantment was the work procured.
Wizard Albrizach, the curséd one
Made it to give to Agolante’s son,
16
Who lost it, when Orlando by the fount
Slew him and saved the crown of Charlemagne,
As all men know. Now turn we to the Count,
Who has received he blow of might and main.
In sweat he broke out – ’twas no small amount,
And vengeance was the thought that filled his brain;
Ever and ever stronger grows his wrath.
He swings his sword with all the strength he hath.
17
The cruel sword glanced off the helmet’s marge,
And landed on the shoulder, splitting steel.
It slices off the third part of his targe,
And opens steel and leather to reveal
The white flesh, with his muscles bulging large.
Down to his waist it glances, and he feels
It lightly graze his flesh and pierce him there.
The armor’s torn away; his side is bare.
18
King Agricane felt such grievous pain,
He thought, “I must withdraw and rest a spell.
If of a poultice I were not so fain,
You would be dead before the twilight fell.
But all his prowess will be all in vain,
For I will shortly send him straight to Hell;
And mail and plate have never yet been wrought
That could protect the man whose life I sought.”
19
And with such thoughts, he lifts in his right hand
Tranchera, his inimitable blade;
Orlando’s shield could not the blow withstand,
But he was forced to drop it on the ground.
The sword glides down his flank, and all to-rends
His hauberk, with an awful grinding sound.
Pieces of metal scatter here and there,
But no skin’s broken, no blood anywhere.
20
They stand and watch, those four good cavaliers
Who with Orlando rode in company,
And marvel at the fight, the blows so fierce,
And each and ev’ry one swears certainly
That all the world has never seen the peers
Of those two knights for strength and chivalry.
The pagans likewise doth the fight astound,
“The two of them are equal, by Mahound!”
Pietro Aretino (1492-1556) was an Italian author most famous for his ribald verses and his exquisitely devastating satires. These latter won him such a great reputation that he was eventually able to live almost entirely off blackmailing the nobility of Italy, all of them fearful lest he turn his pen against them. He died laughing. He won a place in our pages by beginning no fewer than four Carolingian epics in ottava rima, all of which he abandoned after a few cantos.
Pietro Aretino must not be confused with Leonardo Aretino (1370-1444), mentioned in the beginning of Pulci’s Morgante Maggiore. That Aretino was a humanist and historian who was the first to introduce the concept of the “Middle Ages.”
Pietro’s abandoned epics are as follows:
Marfisa, Three cantos, 338 stanzas. First two cantos printed 1532, the third in 1535
Angelica, Two cantos, 181 stanzas. Printed 1536.
Orlandino, Two cantos, 56 stanzas. Written between 1536 and 1547,
Astolfeida, Three cantos, 121 stanzas. Written after 1547.
Rodamonte, A pirated and abridged version of Marfisa, comprising two cantos and 79 stanzas, a few of which are not attested elsewhere. Printed 1532.
There are, of course, no English translations of any of these.
ORLANDINO
Canto I
The author roundly abuses Turpin for his lying chronicle from which Pulci, Boiardo, Ariosto, and Pietro Aretino drew their heroic stories. He presents the truth: all the paladins and the great Saracen knights were mere drunkards, gluttons, and libertines, who spent as little time as possible fighting and as much time as possible wenching, wining and dining. Their fine ladies were all on a level with the most amorous of the enchantresses whose gardens the paladins kept destroying. The poet dismisses the pagan gods as similarly worthless, and invokes as his muse one Vincenzo Gambarino.
Charlemagne holds court at Pentecost, at which the Paladins overindulge in food and wine, while boasting about how they will skewer their enemies like they skewer their meat and will eat up their lady loves like they do their food. Oliver carelessly flings a shoulder of mutton, which hits Ganelon. The Maganzan is silent but swears revenge, which will ultimately lead him to betray the Paladins at Roncesvalles.
Charles brings out a giornea (a type of tabard) which is embroidered with pornographic scenes, and is about to begin a contest to see who shall have it, when the feast is interrupted by the arrival of a Spanish Almansour named Cardo, lord of Sabomia, who challenges the Paladins. Charlemagne bids Orlando fight him. The Count declines. Charles calls on Astolfo, who accepts with boasts, then prudently decides to make his confession and his will first. Turpin helps him with both. Upon still further reflection, Astolfo starts to slink away. Charles now calls upon Rinaldo, who would be glad to fight if someone would lend him armor: his own is in hock. Charles is reduced to shouting at Astolfo to shame him into returning to battle, which at length he does. The English prince swears that he will go on pilgrimage to the Holy Sepulchre, Loreto, and Compostella if he escapes, but Cardo knocks him off his horse.
Canto II
Astolfo kneels before the Saracen and asks for mercy. Cardo laughs…
Pietro Aretino wrote no more of the Orlandino.
COMMENTS
This work, despite its name, has no relation to the narratives of Orlando/Roland’s childhood which often go by the title of Orlandino, or “Young/Little Roland.” Later editions bore the title “Le Valorose Prove delle Arcibravi Paladini” (“The Valorous Deeds of the Very Brave Paladins”) or variants thereof.
Orlando Innamorato in English 