Orlando Furioso

Bradamant is waiting for Ruggiero, who did not return when his letter said he would. Bradamant curses Love, and blames Merlin and Melissa, but has moments of hope. One day, a visiting knight tells her about Ruggiero’s fight with Mandricard and his relationship with Marfisa—there’s a rumor they plan to marry. Bradamant believes the rumor, curses Ruggiero, and tries to kill herself, but since she is still wearing her armor, her sword does not penetrate her breast. Bradamant decides that dying in battle is better, so she takes Astolfo’s horse and his golden magical lance, and goes to Paris.

Along the way, Bradamant meets a messenger sent to Charlemagne from Iceland—accompanied by the kings of Sweden, Gothenburg, and Norway. She carries a shield for the best knight, which the kings plan to also compete for. Bradamant, pondering the implications of this, gets lost. As night falls, she finds Tristan’s castle. There, they only accept one knight and one lady as guests. If a second knight arrives, the knights must joust, and only the winner is given lodging. If a second woman arrives, only the most beautiful woman may stay. There are already guests there, so Bradamant challenges the knights—the kings she met earlier. Bradamant wins the moonlit joust, takes off her helmet, and reveals that she is a woman. As they all feast, the host decides that he needs to evict one woman, and it is decided that Bradamant is prettier than the damsel from Iceland. However, Bradamant says they both should stay because they cannot prove she is a woman while clothed. The host agrees. After dinner, he shows Bradamant the stunning castle murals. 

The narrator’s introduction is about painters and artists. He explains that some art is prophetic: This castle’s murals were painted by demons that Merlin summoned with his magic book. The murals depict future French actions and include many characters, including Charlemagne defending Italy. Then the lord of the castle tells Bradamant about Charles the Eighth, Sforza, King Louis, the Pope, and others. That night, Bradamant dreams of Ruggiero being faithful. In the morning, she puts on her armor and heads out.

The narrator switches to Rinaldo and Gradasso who are fighting for Orlando’s sword Durindana and the horse Bayard. Both have enchanted armor, and both are strong fighters. Bayard is attacked by a bird monster, so the knights call a truce to save the horse. Rinaldo cannot find the horse, so he heads back to the Christian camp. Meanwhile, Gradasso finds the horse, steals it, and heads to Arles where the Moorish army is.

The narrator returns to Astolfo, who travels all around France and Spain on the hippogryph, and then heads to Africa. In Ethiopia, Astolfo visits Senapo (aka the mythic figure Prester John). He lives in a gold castle with lots of jewels, but he has no eyes, and harpies steal his food because he went up a mountain looking for Eden and God punished him. Astolfo will help with the harpies if Senapo agrees to worship the correct God. When they sit down to eat, seven harpies arrive. Senapo and his men put wax in their ears, and then Astolfo uses his magic horn to drive the harpies to fly into a cave that is supposedly a gateway to hell.

The narrator describes harpies causing trouble in Italy in his era, and wishes for an Astolfo to save them.

Astolfo decides to go into the cave to hell. He leaves the hippogryph tied to a bush outside, and descends into smoke. He first encounters the shades of women damned for being ungracious and spiteful towards faithful suitors, though Apollo’s Daphne tells him there’s another, worse, place for men who mistreated women. Lydia, daughter of the King of Lydia, confesses her sin of vanity. When her father refused to give Alcestes Lydia’s hand in marriage, Alcestes defeated the kingdom of Lydia, and then offered to stop the violence if he could have Lydia. Lydia said he must win her love. Alcestes won the King of Lydia his kingdom back, but Lydia started sending him on missions hoping he would die. He died from a broken heart. For this, she is tortured in hell for all eternity. Astolfo tries to see further into hell, but the smoke pushes him back. He leaves the cave and covers its opening to keep the harpies inside.

Astolfo flies to the top of a mountain where there is an earthly paradise. In a palace, Astolfo meets an old man (who turns out to be John the Evangelist). St. John tells him about Orlando’s madness, and that he can help by going to the moon to get medicine to restore Orlando’s sanity. That night, they get in a chariot with four red horses, cross a sphere of fire, and arrive on the moon. There, in a valley where all the lost things from earth—tears of lovers and reputations, as well as gold and silver hooks—end up, Astolfo sees Orlando’s brains (lost wits) liquefied in a vial. Then St. John shows him a woman winding reels of thread and another one sorting threads: These are the Fates, spinning lives and afterlives for mortals.

The narrator wonders whether his wits, which he lost to a woman, are on the moon.

Astolfo finds a particularly pretty thread: the life of the virtuous and good Hippolytus d’Este (a member of Ariosto’s patron family). Outside the palace they see an old man, Time, stealing the markers identifying whom each thread belongs to and putting them in the river Lethe. There, some names are lost, but worthy ones are carried by swans to a shrine where a nymph puts them around a statue to preserve them.

The narrator compares poets to the swans—they also keep names alive. The narrator describes critics and writers as givers of immortal reputation, and lists famous poets like Homer and Virgil. Poets have long favored their friends in their works and how their enemies will be represented negatively.

Back on earth, on her way to Paris, Bradamant learns that Agramant went to Arles. Bradamant then meets Fiordiligi who is looking for a champion to fight Rodomont. Bradamant agrees to help because Fiordiligi’s beloved is faithful. On the bridge, Bradamant defeats Rodomont, so he has to give her his armor and release his Christian prisoners. Disgraced, he leaves to live in a cave, rumor has it.

Bradamant offers to accompany Fiordiligi to Arles, where Bradamant incognito challenges Ruggiero as a pledge-breaker. He doesn’t suspect Bradamant is the challenger. 

The narrator’s introduction contrasts chivalry from the days of Arthurian knights to that of his era. He also contrasts Charlemagne’s war with the actions of Italian royalty in following eras.

As Bradamant challenges Ruggiero, one of Ruggiero’s allies sees her without her helmet, realizes that she looks like Richardet, and figures out that she must be Bradamant. Ruggiero is conflicted about fighting her, but Marfisa wants to fight. Bradamant fights Marfisa, believing she is Ruggiero’s lover. As they fight with lance and sword, Ruggiero watches and thinks about how his love for each of them is very different: romantic towards Bradamant, and brotherly towards Marfisa. Bradamant sees Ruggiero, and declares she will kill him for breaking her heart. He takes a defensive position, and she can’t hit him, so she turns her fury towards other knights. After she kills over three hundred Moors, Ruggiero asks to talk.

Marfisa follows Bradamant and Ruggiero into the woods. As Bradamant and Marfisa fight, a sword ends up embedded in a tree and an earthquake happens. The voice of Atlas comes from a tomb and explains that Marfisa and Ruggiero are siblings—they share a mother, Galaciella, who died after childbirth. Atlas raised Ruggiero and eventually died, while Arabs took Marfisa and raised her. Atlas prophesied this fight between them, and set up the tomb to help. He tells Bradamant to not be jealous, and they all are reconciled. Ruggiero talks about how they are descendants of Hector. Marfisa is angry that Ruggiero has not killed Agramant for killing their father, and so she vows to do so. Bradamant and Marfisa want to forbid Ruggiero from fighting for the Moors, but Ruggiero fears dishonor, and will go back to Agramant. They hear a woman weeping in a nearby valley. 

The narrator’s introduction is about women becoming more than muses. He believes that male poets tarnish the reputations of women by not telling the world all of their good deeds, and he lists good women who obtained fame, as well as laments all the women who were not properly recognized. Then, the narrator advises women to keep doing good deeds, even if they are not recognized for them.

The narrator admits that he doesn’t know all of Bradamant and Marfisa’s good deeds. In a nearby valley, there are three damsels in distress—one is Ullania, the Icelandic ambassador—because people from a nearby castle beat and disrobed them. The knights learn that the castle is home to a tyrant—Marganor—who is strong, terrifying, and hates women. Ruggiero asks why.

The story goes that Marganor had two sons: Cilander and Tanacre. Cilander fell for the wife of a Greek emperor, and her husband killed him. Then, Tanacre fell for Drusilla, the wife a baron, Olinder of Longueville. Tanacre ambushed and killed Olinder and brought Drusilla home against her will. She then killed him with poisoned wine at their wedding and also died. Marganor, grieving for his lost sons, attacked the women in the church, ordered all women to leave the castle, and declared that any women who pass by the castle must have their skirts cut off and be beaten. Marganor kills women who have knights with them and imprisons the knights. In order to be released, the knights must agree to hate women.

In the morning, Ruggiero, Bradamant, and Marfisa free Drusilla’s servant (who made the poison). When they get to the castle, Marfisa ties up Marganor and leads townsfolk to rise up against him. The people gain possession of his castle. The women are given control of territory and old laws are revoked. They bury Drusilla properly, and inscribe their new law on a column. Ruggiero and Bradamant sadly part again.

In his introduction, the narrator comforts ladies who are upset about the parting of lovers. He assures them that it will help his honor for Ruggiero to go to Arles.

Bradamant and Marfisa are welcomed at the Christian camp, and Marfisa kneels before Charlemagne. She tells him the story of her birth; now that she knows she and Charlemagne are related, she has turned her anger towards Agramant. She wants to be a Christian, and is baptized.

Astolfo is on his way back from the moon with Orlando’s wits. St. John gives him a magic herb that causes Senapo to give him fighting men. Before they leave, Astolfo captures Auster (the South Wind) in a wineskin. Then as the army travels, Astolfo climbs to the top of a hill and prays. When he pushes rocks downhill, they turn into thousands of horses. He and the army begin taking over Africa.

The Kings of Fers, Algaziers, and Branzardo come to Arles to tell Agramant about Astolfo. Agramant calls a meeting about the Nubian army. His general Marsilius says Astolfo’s actions are unbelievable, so they should stay in France and fight Charles. His other general Sobrino says they should leave Ruggiero behind to battle a Christian champion one-on-one to settle the war. Agramant agrees with Sobrino and sends an embassy to Charlemagne. Charlemagne picks Rinaldo, and everyone except Ruggiero is overjoyed at this. Ruggiero is conflicted because Bradamant is Rinaldo’s sister.

Bradamant and Melissa plan to disrupt the battle. Ruggiero and Rinaldo agree to fight on a plain near Arles. They fight with battle-axes, and Ruggiero is reluctant.

Agramant watches Ruggiero and Rinaldo fight, displeased at Ruggiero’s defensive fighting. Melissa transforms herself into Rodomont, and goes to Agramant. She convinces him to break the truce, and attack with his army. When Agramant does this, the champions stop fighting each other and try to figure out who broke the truce. The Christians start winning the war.

Astolfo’s army is taking over Africa. He gathers leaves, throws them into water, and they magically become boats. A ship with Rodomont’s captives from the bridge lands on the Moorish coast, and Astolfo frees them. Just then, Orlando appears and starts fighting everyone. Astolfo recognizes Orlando despite his mad appearance. After several failed attempts to subdue Orlando, Astolfo’s knights tie him up. Then, Astolfo puts herbs in Orlando’s mouth so he can only breathe through his nose, and makes Orlando breathe in his wits from the moon-phial. Orlando, once healed, is confused about being bound by ropes and naked. They get him some clothes and console him. Orlando is cured of love. Astolfo tells Orlando about the war.

As the French and Moors forces fight, Agramant flees. Bradamant and Marfisa go after him, but can’t catch him before he reaches Arles. Three days later, Agramant tries to sail to Africa, but encounters Astolfo’s leaf-fleet. The ships battle, with the Moors losing.

The narrator tells us the naval battle is too long to recount in detail. He talks about a Lord in his audience and other Italian politics, comparing the battle in the story to one his Lord would know.

As Christian forces besiege the city of Bizerta from land and sea, Orlando, Oliver, Brandimart, and Astolfo fight valiantly. They ascend ladders into the city, while battering-rams break through the gates. Many innocent people die as the city burns, war crimes that neither Astolfo nor Orlando can prevent.

Agramant cries in his escape boat on the sea, and Sobrino stops him from committing suicide. Agramant is redirected by a tempest to a small island port, where he finds Gradasso. The three decide to fight the mad Orlando, so they send him a challenge to meet them in Lipadusa with two knights. Orlando is excited by the prospect of retrieving his sword from Gradasso, so he agrees. Brandimart and Oliver are to join him.

Ruggiero and Rinaldo are still searching for who broke the truce. Ruggiero learns it was Agramant and debates what to do. He tries to find Agramant in Arles, but everyone has vacated the city. He goes to Marseilles to find a ship, where he sees Astolfo’s naval commander Dudone arrive with the captured fleet and the seven kings of Africa. Ruggiero kills many of Dudone’s men, provoking Dudone into challenging him to a duel, with Dudone’s iron club against Ruggiero’s magic sword. Ruggiero holds back (because Dudone is related to Bradamant) only using the flat of the sword in the duel.