Orlando Innamorato

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1655 edition by Giovanni Battista Brigna, Venice.

Orlando Innamorato (

Orlando (Roland
). It was published between 1483 (first two books) and 1495 (third book published separately, first complete edition).

Composition and publication

To material largely quarried from the

Tartars, and, finally, with the Moors' siege of Paris and their struggle with Charlemagne
's army.

The poem, written in the ottava rima stanza rhythm, consists of 68 cantos and a half. Boiardo began the poem when he was about 38 years old, but interrupted it for a time because of the Ottoman–Venetian War (1463–1479). He is believed to have continued till 1486, but then left the poem unfinished. The last verses say:

Mentre ch'io canto, Iddio Redentore
vedo l'Italia tutta a fiamma e foco.

— Matteo Maria Boiardo, Orlando Innamorato

meaning

While I sing, Redemptor God, I see Italy covered in flame and fire.

The first two books were published sometime between 1482 and 1483, most likely by Pietro Giovanni di San Lorenzo in Reggio; but all copies were lost.[1] It most likely bore the title L'innamoramento de Orlando. The third book first appeared in 1495 (Venice: Simone Bevilacqua) under the title El fin del inamoramento de' Orlando. The first complete edition was published later in 1495 (Scandiano: Camillo Boiardo). Like the editio princeps (first two books), the first complete edition of 1495 has been completely lost. The oldest copy which came down to us is the 1487 reedition of the first two books (Venice: Pietro de' Piasi); only one copy exists, kept at the Biblioteca Marciana. There is also only one extant copy of the 1495 Venetian edition of the third book, located in Monaco. The oldest complete edition we have is dated 1506 (Venice: Giorgio de' Rusconi); there also remains only one copy, kept at the Marciana.[2]

Plot

An illustration from the book

The beautiful

paladins, especially Orlando and Rinaldo. Stopping in the Ardenne forest, she drinks at the Stream of Love (making her fall in love with Rinaldo), while Rinaldo drinks at the fount of hate (making him conceive a passionate hatred of Angelica). She asks the magician Malagigi to kidnap Rinaldo, and the magician brings him to an enchanted island, while she returns to Cataio where she is besieged by King Agrican, another of her admirers, in the fortress of Albraccà. Orlando comes to kill Agrican
and to free her, and he succeeds. Afterwards, Rinaldo, who has escaped from the enchanted island, tries to convince him to return to France to fight alongside Charlemagne: consequently, Orlando and Rinaldo duel furiously.

In the meantime the

duke Namo, offering her to the one who will fight most valorously against the infidels. In the meantime, the Saracen paladin Ruggiero and Rinaldo's sister, Bradamante, fall in love. The poem stops there abruptly, with Boiardo's narrator explaining that he can write no more because Italy has been invaded by French troops headed by king Charles VIII
.

Influence

In spite of its unfinished state and some deficiencies in rhythm, Boiardo's Orlando is considered a notable work of art. The story of Angelica's struggles and Orlando's pursuit were continued in

British Museum Library
(1830).

Another Renaissance poet, Torquato Tasso, borrowed many of Boiardo's epic conventions, although his Jerusalem Delivered does not use the Orlando frame.

An unabridged English translation was performed by Charles Stanley Ross, published in 2004 by Parlor Press.[3]

See also

References

  1. ^ Matteo Maria Boiardo, L'Orlando innamorato, Andrea Canova (ed.), Milan: BUR Rizzoli, 2011, Vol. I, 'Introduzione'.
  2. ^ Matteo Maria Boiardo entry (in Italian) in the Enciclopedia italiana
  3. ^ "Parlor Press: Boiardo: Orlando Innamorato". www.parlorpress.com. Archived from the original on 2004-02-02.

External links

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