Orlando Furioso

The narrator admonishes love because of the curse of the springs.

As Rinaldo and Sacripant challenge each other to fight on foot with swords, Angelica rides away. She meets a hermit magician who conjures a servant spirit that convinces Rinaldo and Sacripant that Orlando and Angelica are going to Paris. The knights pursue. On the way, they encounter Charlemagne, who orders Rinaldo to England. Rinaldo obeys and, on the English Channel, gets caught in a tempest.

Bradamant, the knight who beat Sacripant, is Rinaldo’s sister. She is seeking her lover, the pagan knight Ruggiero, when she arrives at a spring. Here, a knight named Count Pinabello tells her about his past troubles: His lover was stolen by a magician on a winged steed (a hippogryph) to a castle with a demon-made metal wall protecting it. There, he and two other knights, Gradasso and Ruggiero, fought the magician, named Atlas. When the sky became dark, Atlas revealed the shiny surface of his shield, which blinded Pinabello. When he could see again, the two other knights and magician were gone.

As Bradamant asks Count Pinabello to show her where the castle is, Pinabello realizes that he and Bradamant are from rival families, so he lures her into a cleft in the mountains. He thinks she is dead, but she survives the fall.

The narrator invokes Phoebus for assistance in telling the story.

At the bottom of the cleft, Bradamant finds a door that leads to an altar. After she prays, Melissa, a sorceress, tells Bradamant that they are near Merlin’s tomb, and Merlin foretold her arrival. When they approach the tomb, Merlin speaks to Bradamant, telling her she’s destined to be Ruggiero’s wife.

Melissa summons the spirits of Bradamant’s descendants, telling Bradamant many prophecies of their deeds. That night, Bradamant stays up talking with Merlin’s disembodied voice. In the morning, Melissa agrees to be her guide. As they travel, they talk about magic. There is a ring that will make Bradamant immune to the magic of Ruggiero’s captor Atlas. The ring is held by Brunello, whom Bradamant must meet in secret at an inn by the sea.

At the inn, Bradamant and Brunello see a winged horse (the hippogryph), and the innkeeper explains that its owner, the magician Atlas, steals pretty women and has a magic castle. Brunello offers to guide Bradamant there. Neither mentions the magic ring. They ride off into the Pyrenees, where they see that the magic castle can only be accessed by flying.

As instructed by Melissa, Bradamant steals Brunello’s ring and ties him to a tree. She rides in front of the castle and challenges the magician, who comes to the fight with his covered shield and a book of magic that allows him to create illusions. Wearing the ring on her finger allows Bradamant to see through his illusions. She pretends to be blinded by his shield, but when he dismounts the hippogryph and puts down his weapons to tie her up, she attacks and subdues the now unarmed old man.

Atlas claims that he is trying to protect Ruggiero against a premonition that he will die young and offers his shield and hippogryph to Bradamant in exchange for leaving Ruggiero in the castle. Bradamant refuses his offer, and orders him to release everyone from the castle. When they reach the castle gate, Atlas lifts a stone covered with sigils, revealing a room with smoking urns. When he breaks them, the castle and Atlas disappear, though his prisoners are left behind, now freed. Bradamant tries to claim the hippogryph, but it flies around them until Ruggiero mounts it. As it flies up into the sky, carrying him away, Bradamant cries.

The narrative switches to Rinaldo. The tempest blows him to Scotland’s Caledonian forest. He travels to an abbey, and asks for a quest. They tell her about Guinevere, the daughter of a baron named Lurcanio. She was convicted of having sex before marriage, but if a warrior agrees to fight on her behalf, he will save her from the death penalty. Rinaldo agrees to help her. As he rides out to where she is being held, he comes across a damsel being accosted by two villains. These villains run away when they see Rinaldo. He and the damsel ride off together.

The narrator discusses the unnaturalness of domestic dispute and violence using an animal parable, arguing that all men who do violence against women are demonic, like the villains who ran away at the end of the last canto.

Dalinda, the rescued damsel, was a servant of the princess Guinevere. She fell for the Duke of Albany, Polynex, who would climb in her room, which was near to Guinevere’s room, for nighttime visitations. After months of these liaisons, the Duke decided that he was actually in love with Guinevere, who was already in love with Ariodant from Italy.

To trick Ariodant, Polynex asked Dalinda to dress in Guinevere’s clothes the next time he climbed to her balcony. Polynex told Ariodant that he (Polynex) is already sleeping with Guinevere, and situates Ariodant in the foliage to see Polynex climb up to Dalinda dressed as Guinevere. Convinced, Ariodant threw himself into the sea in front of a messenger, who told Guinevere about Ariodant’s apparent death. Meanwhile, Polynex hired two villainous men to kill Dalinda, and she fled the castle.

Guinevere’s father, the king, knows that the death penalty for adultery can only be avoided if a champion fights for his daughter. Rinaldo learns that another mysterious knight is fighting for Guinevere. Rinaldo reveals Dalinda’s story to the king, fights Polynex, and quickly wins. Polynex confesses to the trick, and Rinaldo kills him. The narrator will reveal the mysterious knight’s identity in the next canto.

The narrator’s introduction is a moral lesson about the impossibility of hiding evil. He includes Polynex as evidence of this claim. Then, he reveals that the mysterious knight is Ariodant, who swam instead of drowning when he jumped into the sea. The king is pleased and allows Ariodant and Guinevere to get married. Rinaldo ensures that Dalinda is pardoned by the king; she becomes a nun in Denmark.

Then, the narrative returns to Ruggiero, who flies the hippogryph to a beautiful island. Ruggiero ties the hippogryph to a myrtle tree, but the tree asks Ruggiero to untie it. The tree turns out to be is Astolfo, a cousin of Orlando and Rinaldo. The sorceress Alcina, sister of famed Arthurian witch Morgana, used her magic to carry Astolfo on a whale to this island, which is owned by Alcina’s sister Logistilla. Astolfo became Alcina’s lover, but when finished with her lovers, Alcina transforms them into plants and animals on the island.

Because Astolfo is Bradamant’s cousin, Ruggiero wants to help. However, he does not know how to break the spell. So, heads off to seek help. Along the way, he sees Alcina’s beautiful city, and fights monsters that are mixtures of animals and men. When the creatures overwhelm him, two women rescue him and bring him to Alcina’s idyllic and beautiful part of the island. The women ask for Ruggiero’s help with Erifilla, who rules the monsters and is blocking a bridge; he agrees.

The narrator points out that only his select audience will believe his story.

Erifilla wears armor and rides a wolf instead of a horse. Erifilla and Ruggiero joust, and he unseats her; she now allows them to all cross the formerly blocked bridge to Alcina’s palace. Alcina is a beautiful blonde. Ruggiero disregards Astolfo’s warning and falls for her after she uses magic to make him forget about Bradamant. Alcina spoils Ruggiero with music, food, wine, and clothes. She entertains him with dancing, tourneys, masques, and hunting for days.

Meanwhile, Bradamant searches all over for Ruggiero. Melissa (the enchantress from Merlin’s tomb) knows about Alcina seducing Ruggiero, which is part of Atlas’s machinations. Melissa offers to help Bradamant and borrows Bradamant’s anti-illusion ring. Then, Melissa rides to Alcina’s island and casts a spell that makes her appear to be Atlas.

The lush clothes and jewelry and perfume from Alcina have made Ruggiero sick. Melissa scolds him in her guise as Atlas, and gives him the magic-repelling ring. It breaks Alcina’s spell over him, and he feels guilty. Melissa changes back to her true form, and confesses that she is on a mission from Bradamant. The ring reveals that Alcina is actually ugly and old. Ruggiero pretends to still be enchanted, retrieving his armor and a horse. Melissa turns herself invisible and helps Ruggiero escape. Once free, Ruggiero heads to Logistilla’s part of the island.

The narrator describes the work of sorceresses—deception.

When Alcina discovers Ruggiero gone, she leaves the palace to find him. In her absence, Melissa slips into the palace and frees everyone who has been changed into plants and animals, including Astolfo.

The narrator turns to Rinaldo, who seeks help for Charlemagne from the Kings of Scotland and England. After the Scottish king agrees to help in Charlemagne’s war against King Agramant, Rinaldo sails to England, where he gains the agreement of the prince to help with the war effort.

Meanwhile, Angelica is still on the run, pursued by a hermit magician, who summons demons that destroy her horse. Angelica feels suicidal and calls out to Fortune. Later that night, the hermit tries to embrace her as she cries. She pulls away, so he drugs her and tries to rape her while she’s unconscious. However, due to his advanced age, he is impotent, so he simply sleeps beside her.

The narrator turns to the island Ebuda, located past Ireland. Its inhabitants believe a legend: An ancient Ebudan king’s beautiful daughter was impregnated by the sea-god Proteus. After the king had her killed, Proteus wreaked havoc. An oracle foretold they inhabitants would need to sacrifice young women to please the sea-god—these women are killed by a sea monster called an orc. Women have it hard enough without this, says the narrator in an interjection. The drugged Angelica is kidnapped for the sacrifice and taken to Ebuda. The locals keep her in a dungeon, and then tie her, naked, to a rock. The narrator interrupts again, lamenting that no one knows where she is.

Meanwhile, Paris is under attack by Agramant. God intervenes with rain that halts the fighting. In the Christian camp, Orlando can’t sleep, because he misses Angelica. After crying and lamenting, he dreams of being on a green bank with his love. Orlando wakes in the middle of the night, gets in his armor, and rides off. Orlando’s friend Brandimart goes after him, pursued by Brandimart’s love Fiordiligi.

The narrator opines that Love can overtake fealty. Orlando chooses of pursuing love instead of waging war, and the narrator is excited to follow his story.

Orlando, disguised as an Arab, sneaks into the African and Spanish camps, asking if anyone has seen Angelica. He searches for her throughout France. When Orlando comes to the river between the Normans and Bretons, there is no bridge. A woman in a boat will help him cross if he destroys the island of Ebuda. After the woman explains their tradition of female sacrifices to the sea-god, Orlando worries that they have Angelica. They sail off, but a strong wind forces them to Antwerp’s river port.

In Antwerp, Olympia, a count’s daughter, tells Orlando her story. She fell in love with Bireno, the Duke of Zeeland, but her father had arranged a marriage for her with Arbante of Frisia. When Olympia refused, the countries went to war. Cimosco, the King of Frisia, has a gun, which most people have never seen before, so he was winning the war. Olympia’s father and brothers were killed. When Cimosco offered to stop the war in exchange for Olympia, her people handed her over. She played along, but on her wedding night, had Arbante killed. In retaliation, Cimosco took Bireno prisoner, and will only release him if Olympia dies.

Orlando plans to save both lovers. In Holland, Orlando challenges Cimosco: If Orlando wins, Cimosco will Bireno; otherwise, Olympia will turn herself over to Cimosco. Cimosco’s men try to trap Orlando so he can’t fight one-on-one. After Orlando kills them, the king flees. Orlando pursues, gets Cimosco’s gun, and eventually split’s Cimosco’s head open with his sword. Bireno’s army and Orlando free Bireno. After their success, Orlando and Bireno board a ship and reunite with Olympia. Orlando throws Cimosco’s gun into the ocean and heads towards Ebuda, the island where Angelica is chained to a rock. The narrator leaves Orlando and invites the reader to witness the wedding of Olympia and Bireno.

The narrator introduces this canto with a discussion about fidelity—young men are the ones who are untrue. While Olympia was constant, Bireno was not, falling in love with the daughter of the King of Frisia. While sailing, Bireno starts hating Olympia. A tempest drives them to a deserted island, on the shores of which Olympia and Bireno pitch a tent. After Olympia falls asleep, Bireno sneaks back on the ship and sails away without her. Olympia tries to drown herself, but is unsuccessful. She laments her loss, cries out, and tears her hair.

The narrator returns to Ruggiero, who is burning up on the island beach in his armor. Ladies from Alcina’s court try to get Ruggiero to join them in the shade; however, he ignores them. When Ruggiero reaches Logistilla’s part of the island, a ferryman welcomes him and tells him about the good enchantress. As Alcina’s ships approach, the ferryman uncovers his magic shield, blinding Alcina’s people. Logistilla’s army defeats Alcina’s, and Alcina flees. Alcina feels suicidal but, as a fairy, she can’t die.

Logistilla’s castle is made of jewel-mirrors of the soul and has lavish elements, including a garden where it is eternally spring. Here, Astolfo and Ruggiero are reunited. Logistilla gives Ruggiero a special bridle and rein for the hippogryph.

Ruggiero flies off, taking in the sights of India, China, Mongolia, Russia, Hungary, Germany, and more locations. Eventually he ends up in London, where Rinaldo is leading a parade of troops from different parts of England, Ireland, and Scotland in preparation to help France. Ruggiero’s hippogryph attracts attention, so he flies off.

Ruggiero ends up on Ebuda, the island where Angelica is naked and tied to the rock. When the sea monster appears. Ruggiero fights it, but his weapons can’t penetrate its hide. He gives Angelica the magic ring, which protects her while Ruggiero uses the magic shield against the monster. It falls down, but he still can’t pierce its hide. Instead of fighting further, he unties Angelica and they fly off to a forest, where, in a clearing, Ruggiero desires Angelica, and starts to undress.