Orlando Furioso

The narrator’s introduction is about Anger and Reason. He compares Achilles’ killing spree after the death of Patroclus, to Alfonso and the Lord in his audience, and then to Orlando and Brandimart. Orlando kills Agramant by beheading him. Brandimart, while dying, asks for pardon for his sins and his last word is his beloved’s name. Orlando sees a ship (the one Ruggiero had to abandon).

In France, Bradamant is concerned about Ruggiero. She complains to Marfisa, who consoles her by assuring her that Ruggiero will return.

Rinaldo looks for Angelica, and asks the magician Maugis for help. Maugis conjures spirits who tell them about the curse of the love springs, and about Angelica’s new husband. Rinaldo is speechless, cries, and decides to follow her. Rinaldo heads out of Paris and into the forest of Ardennes. There, he finds a monster in the shape of a woman with too many eyes and ears, snakes instead of hair, and a tail. Rinaldo is terrified, but when he tries to ride away, the monster sticks to him, and he is unable to shake it. A knight in shining armor attacks the monster, frees Rinaldo, and leads him to the spring that takes away love. After Rinaldo drinks, the knight reveals himself to be Wrath and vanishes. Rinaldo rides towards Orlando. Rinaldo meets a knight who invites him to his lavish palace, full of sculptures of chaste women, such as Isabel, Beatrice, and Diana. The host tells Rinaldo that all husbands should see if their wives are faithful by drinking from a magic cup that detects cuckoldry. 

The narrator argues against greed and avarice.

Rinaldo debates drinking from the magic cup, comparing it to Eve’s Biblical apple. When Rinaldo tells the host he isn’t going to drink, the host cries and tells him how he obtained the cup. In a nearby city, back when the host was young and handsome, an old man in the city bought a woman, had a daughter with her, and then banished the mother. He built his daughter this palace with chaste women painted or carved everywhere. The host was chosen to marry the girl, who was cultured and sweet. After they were happily married for five years, the girl’s dad died. A noblewoman named Melissa fell in love with the host, but he refused her because he loved his faithful wife. Melissa stirred up jealousy by offering him the magic goblet which would test his wife’s fidelity. She told him to drink from it before and after going on a “trip”—actually a ruse during which Melissa would magically disguise him as one of his wife’s admirers. While in disguise, the host tried to seduce his wife with jewels, and she agreed, with the condition that it remain a secret. Melissa transformed the host back to his normal appearance, which upset the wife so much that she ran away to the person whom the host had imitated.

The host has been offering knights the goblet test for ten years, and Rinaldo is the first one to refuse. Rinaldo says the host behaved worse than his wife did. The host offers Rinaldo a boat. As he sails, Rinaldo thinks about his wife Clarice, and talks with the boatman about the goblet test being foolish. In return, the boatman tells the tale of Adonio the Mantuan.

In the boatman’s tale, Anselmo, a jealous judge, married the beautiful Argia. A knight named Adonio fell for Argia, and gave her so many gifts that he became poor and lived in poverty for seven years before returning to town. Meanwhile, an astrologer told Anselmo that Argia would betray him because of greed, so to try to prevent this Anselmo put her in charge of all of his money and told her to live in the country. Adonio saved the life of Manto, a sorceress who lived as a snake once a week. To repay him, she helped him to woo Argia at her country villa by turning herself into a dog that charmed Argia. She wanted to buy it and Adonio revealed that the dog magically gave him coins, jewels, and other expensive things. Argia could buy it for the price of sleeping with him once. Argia learned the man selling the dog was her old suitor, and accepted the price. Anselmo’s astrologer revealed to him that had Argia cheated. Anselmo sent an assassin to kill Argia in a dark wood. However, she disappeared with Manto’s help. Anselmo tried to find her, but instead found an enchanted palace owned by an ugly man who offered to sell Anselmo the palace for the same price that Argia paid for the dog. After much persuasion, Anselmo agreed. At that moment Argia popped out of hiding—she’d heard everything. She suggested that they forgive each other and live happily ever after. He agreed, and they did.

Rinaldo laughs at this story and praises Argia. Rinaldo disembarks and rides to Lipadusa, arriving at the very end of the fight between the six knights. Rinaldo cries with Orlando about Brandimart’s death. Fiordiligi had a premonition of Brandimart’s death in a dream. When she learns that it really happened, she goes mad and tears at her hair. She wants to commit suicide.

Orlando, Oliver, and Rinaldo hold Brandimart’s funeral in Agrigento. Orlando performs a eulogy. There are 300 poor mourners, a hundred squires, and hundreds of others in attendance holding flaming torches. Fiordiligi lives in a cell in Brandimart’s tomb for a while, before dying of heartbreak. The hermit who baptized Ruggiero cures Oliver with prayer; seeing this, Sobrino asks to be baptized. They meet up with Ruggiero and learn he was baptized. 

The narrator’s introduction is about how friendship is hard to maintain among the wealthy, and how poor people are better friends.

The poor hermit teaches the knights how to be friends. Rinaldo knows Ruggiero saved Richardet, and feels like he is in Ruggiero’s debt. So, Rinaldo wants to facilitate Ruggiero marry his sister Bradamant. However, her father Aymon wants her to marry Leo, the son of the Greek emperor Constantine.

Meanwhile, Astolfo turns his ships back into leaves and his horses back into boulders. Astolfo’s magic horn loses its sound. Astolfo flies to France on the hippogryph, and frees it. Astolfo and other knights are reunited. They have an audience with Charlemagne, who celebrates them with a festival of masques, balls, games, and many more amusements.

Bradamant and Marfisa learn about Ruggiero’s conversion. Rinaldo argues with Aymon about who Bradamant should marry. Bradamant weeps while debating the function of marriage, as well as whether to prioritize familial love or romantic love. Ruggiero and the narrator contemplate the function of wealth in marriage. Ruggiero fears Bradamant wants to follow her parents’ wishes, but she sends him a message reassuring him that she still wants to marry him. She asks Charlemagne to grant her one request—that she only marry a man who beats her in combat. He agrees, but Bradamant’s parents trick her and imprison her.

In Belgrade, the Greeks are fighting the Bulgars. Leo is winning the battle for the Greeks when Ruggiero rides in and rallies the Bulgars, inspiring them with his fighting prowess. Leo retreats and admires Ruggiero’s fighting from afar. The Bulgars ask Ruggiero to be their king. Instead, Ruggiero attacks Leo, and Leo flees. Ruggiero stops in his pursuit of Leo in a city ruled by Ungiardo.

The narrator’s introduction is about Fortune’s fickleness.

Ungiardo grabs Ruggiero in his sleep and imprisons him: Theodora, the Emperor Constantine’s sister, wants revenge on Ruggiero for killing her son. However, no one knows Ruggiero’s identity, so they call him the knight of the unicorn because of the heraldry on his armor. Theodora puts Ruggiero in another dungeon.

Meanwhile, Charlemagne orders Bradamant’s parents bring her back to court. She is concerned because Ruggiero is not there. Leo hears about the imprisonment of the knight of the unicorn (not knowing that this is Ruggiero), and decides to rescue him. Ruggiero is being tortured as his dungeon cell is slowly filling with water that will eventually drown him. Leo frees Ruggiero, and Ruggiero feels indebted to Leo for saving his life. When Leo hears about Bradamant’s challenge for her hand in marriage, he knows he can’t beat her, so asks Ruggiero to pretend to be him in the fight. Ruggiero is deeply conflicted about this, but feels like he cannot refuse.

In France, the combat between Bradamant and Ruggiero (in disguise as Leo) is arranged. Ruggiero knows Bradamant has Astolfo’s magic lance, so he chooses to fight with swords. Ruggiero, protected by his magic armor, only makes defensive moves, which makes him evenly matched with Bradamant. Charlemagne sees this, ends the fight, and declares Bradamant should marry this knight. Bradamant (assuming she has to marry Leo) laments and wants to die. Marfisa asserts that Leo and Ruggiero should fight, and the winner should be able to marry Bradamant. Leo agrees, planning to use the knight of the unicorn as his fight double again, not knowing the knight of the unicorn is Ruggiero.

The narrator talks about coming to the end of his poem, giving examples of Italian poets and writers at the end of their journeys.

Melissa saves Ruggiero’s life by leading Leo to where Ruggiero is lamenting and starving to death in the woods. Ruggiero reveals who he is, and says he’s already married to Bradamant. Leo is shocked, but wants to be the most chivalrous knight, so he is in favor of Ruggiero and Bradamant being husband and wife. They return to Paris. The Bulgars have been searching for Ruggiero so they can crown him.

Leo and Ruggiero (who is not recognizable because he is not wearing his regular armor) have an audience with Charlemagne. Leo asserts that the knight next to him should marry Bradamant because he won the fight with Bradamant. Leo reveals that the knight next to him is Ruggiero, commends Ruggiero’s fighting in Belgrade, and persuades Aymon that Ruggiero is the best husband for his daughter.

Bradamant is overjoyed. Ruggiero agrees to take the throne in Bulgaria. However, Ruggiero and Bradamant first have a lavish wedding. Melissa helps with wedding preparations, including magically transporting a pavilion to Paris from Constantinople. The embroidered pavilion, like the mural, tells the future.

While they are feasting, a knight in black—Rodomont—arrives. His vow of solitude for a year, month, and day is up, so he challenges Ruggiero. Ruggiero agrees to fight, despite Rinaldo, Orlando, Oliver, Grifon, Aquilant, Dudone, and Marfisa all intervening to fight on his behalf because he’s on his honeymoon. In the fight, Hector’s armor protects Ruggiero, and Rodomont breaks his sword on Ruggiero’s enchanted helmet. Rodomont hits Ruggiero with the hilt and pommel of his broken sword, and they wrestle. Ruggiero pins Rodomont and asks him to surrender, but he refuses, so Ruggiero kills him with a dagger to the forehead.