What do you think?
Rate this book
Orlando Innamorato: Orlando in Love
Like Ariosto's Orlando Furioso and Tasso's Jerusalem Delivered, Boiardo's chivalric stories of lords and ladies first entertained the culturally innovative court of Ferrara in the Italian Renaissance. Inventive, humorous, inexhaustible, the story recounts Orlando's love-stricken pursuit of "the fairest of her Sex, Angelica" (in Milton's terms) through a fairyland that combines the military valors of Charlemagne's knights and their famous horses with the enchantments of King Arthur's court. Today it seems more than ever appropriate to offer a new, unabridged edition of Boiardo's Orlando Innamorato, the first Renaissance epic about the common customs of, and the conflicts between, Christian Europe and Islam. Having extensively revised his earlier translation for general readers, Charles Ross has added headings and helpful summaries to Boiardo's cantos. Tenses have been regularized, and terms of gender and religion have been updated, but not so much as to block the reader's encounter with how Boiardo once viewed the world. Charles Stanley Ross has degrees from Harvard College and the University of Chicago and teaches English and comparative literature at Purdue University. "Neglect of Italian romances robs us of a whole species of pleasure and narrows our very conception of literature. It is as if a man left out Homer, or Elizabethan drama, or the novel. For like these, the romantic epic of Italy is one of the great trophies of the European genius: a genuine kind, not to be replaced by any other, and illustrated by an extremely copious and brilliant production. It is one of the successes, the undisputed achievements." -C. S. Lewis
720 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1495
38 people are currently reading
1194 people want to read
About the author
Matteo Maria Boiardo
204 books12 followersMatteo Maria Boiardo (1434-41 – 19/20 December 1494) was an Italian Renaissance poet.
Boiardo was born at, or near, Scandiano (today's province of Reggio Emilia); the son of Giovanni di Feltrino and Lucia Strozzi, he was of noble lineage, ranking as Count of Scandiano, with seignorial power over Arceto, Casalgrande, Gesso, and Torricella. Boiardo was an ideal example of a gifted and accomplished courtier, possessing at the same time a manly heart and deep humanistic learning.
At an early age he entered the University of Ferrara, where he acquired a good knowledge of Greek and Latin, and even of the Oriental languages. He was in due time admitted doctor in philosophy and in law.
Italian translation of Herodotus' Histories by Count Matteo Maria Boiardo, published in Venice in 1533.
Up to the year of his marriage to Taddea Gonzaga, the daughter of the Count of Novellara (1472), he had received many marks of favour from Borso d'Este, duke of Ferrara, having been sent to meet Frederick III (1469), and afterwards visiting Pope Paul II (1471) in the train of Borso. In 1473 he joined the retinue which escorted Eleonora of Aragon, the daughter of Ferdinand I, to meet her spouse, Ercole, at Ferrara. Five years later Boiardo was invested with the governorship of Reggio, an office which he filled with noted success till his death, except for a brief interval (1481–86) when he was governor of Modena.
In his youth Boiardo had been a successful imitator of Petrarca's love poems. More serious attempts followed with the Istoria Imperiale, some adaptations of Nepos, Apuleius, Herodotus, Xenophon, etc., and his Eclogues. These were followed by a comedy, Il Timone (1487?). He is best remembered, however, for his grandiose poem of chivalry and romance Orlando Innamorato (the Encyclopaedia Britannica Eleventh Edition provides a detailed discussion of Orlando in its several editions). Rime, another work from 1499, was largely forgotten until the English-Italian librarian Antonio Panizzi published it in 1835.
Almost all Boiardo's works, and especially the Orlando Innamorato, were composed for the amusement of Duke Ercole and his court, though not written within its precincts. His practice, it is said, was to retire to Scandiano or some other of his estates, and there to devote himself to composition, and historians state that he took care to insert in the descriptions of his poem those of the agreeable environs of his chateau, and that the greater part of the names of his heroes, as Mandricardo, Gradasse, Sacripant, Agramant and others, were merely the names of some of his peasants, which, from their uncouthness, appeared to him proper to be given to Saracen warriors.
It is uncertain when Boiardo wrote a poem about a self-composed, unusual Tarot game, which is of relevance to Tarot research of the 15th century and the question of when Tarot developed. A deck, which was produced according to the poem (probably shortly after Boiardo's death) has partially survived.
Boiardo was born at, or near, Scandiano (today's province of Reggio Emilia); the son of Giovanni di Feltrino and Lucia Strozzi, he was of noble lineage, ranking as Count of Scandiano, with seignorial power over Arceto, Casalgrande, Gesso, and Torricella. Boiardo was an ideal example of a gifted and accomplished courtier, possessing at the same time a manly heart and deep humanistic learning.
At an early age he entered the University of Ferrara, where he acquired a good knowledge of Greek and Latin, and even of the Oriental languages. He was in due time admitted doctor in philosophy and in law.
Italian translation of Herodotus' Histories by Count Matteo Maria Boiardo, published in Venice in 1533.
Up to the year of his marriage to Taddea Gonzaga, the daughter of the Count of Novellara (1472), he had received many marks of favour from Borso d'Este, duke of Ferrara, having been sent to meet Frederick III (1469), and afterwards visiting Pope Paul II (1471) in the train of Borso. In 1473 he joined the retinue which escorted Eleonora of Aragon, the daughter of Ferdinand I, to meet her spouse, Ercole, at Ferrara. Five years later Boiardo was invested with the governorship of Reggio, an office which he filled with noted success till his death, except for a brief interval (1481–86) when he was governor of Modena.
In his youth Boiardo had been a successful imitator of Petrarca's love poems. More serious attempts followed with the Istoria Imperiale, some adaptations of Nepos, Apuleius, Herodotus, Xenophon, etc., and his Eclogues. These were followed by a comedy, Il Timone (1487?). He is best remembered, however, for his grandiose poem of chivalry and romance Orlando Innamorato (the Encyclopaedia Britannica Eleventh Edition provides a detailed discussion of Orlando in its several editions). Rime, another work from 1499, was largely forgotten until the English-Italian librarian Antonio Panizzi published it in 1835.
Almost all Boiardo's works, and especially the Orlando Innamorato, were composed for the amusement of Duke Ercole and his court, though not written within its precincts. His practice, it is said, was to retire to Scandiano or some other of his estates, and there to devote himself to composition, and historians state that he took care to insert in the descriptions of his poem those of the agreeable environs of his chateau, and that the greater part of the names of his heroes, as Mandricardo, Gradasse, Sacripant, Agramant and others, were merely the names of some of his peasants, which, from their uncouthness, appeared to him proper to be given to Saracen warriors.
It is uncertain when Boiardo wrote a poem about a self-composed, unusual Tarot game, which is of relevance to Tarot research of the 15th century and the question of when Tarot developed. A deck, which was produced according to the poem (probably shortly after Boiardo's death) has partially survived.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews
December 23, 2024
Di armi o di amori (e basta)
Signori e cavalier che ve adunati
Per oldir cose diletose e nove,
Stati atenti e quïeti e ascoltati
La bela istoria che il mio canto move
Boiardo è un narratore. Deve sempre raccontare, raccontare, raccontare. Gli indugi lirici, elegiaci, descrittivi - ad esempio rispetto a quello che farà Ariosto - sono limitati, i moventi psicologici assai ridotti. Urge sempre una nuova storia, una nuova trama, un nuovo sviluppo di un troncone narrativo provvisoriamente abbandonato.
E sembra divertirsi anche ad esplorare tutti i modi in cui può essere esposta una vicenda: di solito è il narratore appunto che si rivolge ai lettori/ascoltatori, ma poi anche i personaggi raccontano ad altri personaggi (e molto spesso sono le donne che gestiscono la parola, in questo caso), oppure leggono una storia su un libro e poi partono per l'azione.
E ci saranno quindi altre "cose diletose e nove" da raccontare.
Probabilmente il duello più bello è quello tra Orlando e Agricane. A un certo punto interrompono lo scontro immane per riposarsi, durante la notte. Se ne stanno vicini vicini, «come fosse tra lor antica pace» e Orlando, che per un momento si ricorda di essere il paladino santo e che invece di correre dietro alle gonnelle farebbe bene a convertire qualche pagano, la prende alla lontana e inizia a parlare del cielo, della luna e delle stelle: «Dio tuto ha fato per la umana gente». Agricane però interrompe subito il processo di conversione: altro che teologia naturale! rivendica il suo rifiuto di tutte le scienze, e si vanta di aver rotto il capo al maestro quand'era ancora fanciullo. E da allora non si trovò più nessuno (chissà perché...) «che mi mostrasse libro né scriptura».
Non sarebbe un buon amico di goodreads, Agricane, però ha le sue ragioni: pensa che due soltanto siano gli argomenti di conversazione degni di un cavaliere:
«Io te ho scoperto la natura mia
E te cognosco che sei doto e sagio;
Se più parlasse, io non responderìa:
Piacendote dormir, dòrmite ad agio,
E si meco parlar hai pur diletto,
De arme o de amore a ragionar ti aspeto.»
Signori e cavalier che ve adunati
Per oldir cose diletose e nove,
Stati atenti e quïeti e ascoltati
La bela istoria che il mio canto move
Boiardo è un narratore. Deve sempre raccontare, raccontare, raccontare. Gli indugi lirici, elegiaci, descrittivi - ad esempio rispetto a quello che farà Ariosto - sono limitati, i moventi psicologici assai ridotti. Urge sempre una nuova storia, una nuova trama, un nuovo sviluppo di un troncone narrativo provvisoriamente abbandonato.
E sembra divertirsi anche ad esplorare tutti i modi in cui può essere esposta una vicenda: di solito è il narratore appunto che si rivolge ai lettori/ascoltatori, ma poi anche i personaggi raccontano ad altri personaggi (e molto spesso sono le donne che gestiscono la parola, in questo caso), oppure leggono una storia su un libro e poi partono per l'azione.
E ci saranno quindi altre "cose diletose e nove" da raccontare.
Probabilmente il duello più bello è quello tra Orlando e Agricane. A un certo punto interrompono lo scontro immane per riposarsi, durante la notte. Se ne stanno vicini vicini, «come fosse tra lor antica pace» e Orlando, che per un momento si ricorda di essere il paladino santo e che invece di correre dietro alle gonnelle farebbe bene a convertire qualche pagano, la prende alla lontana e inizia a parlare del cielo, della luna e delle stelle: «Dio tuto ha fato per la umana gente». Agricane però interrompe subito il processo di conversione: altro che teologia naturale! rivendica il suo rifiuto di tutte le scienze, e si vanta di aver rotto il capo al maestro quand'era ancora fanciullo. E da allora non si trovò più nessuno (chissà perché...) «che mi mostrasse libro né scriptura».
Non sarebbe un buon amico di goodreads, Agricane, però ha le sue ragioni: pensa che due soltanto siano gli argomenti di conversazione degni di un cavaliere:
«Io te ho scoperto la natura mia
E te cognosco che sei doto e sagio;
Se più parlasse, io non responderìa:
Piacendote dormir, dòrmite ad agio,
E si meco parlar hai pur diletto,
De arme o de amore a ragionar ti aspeto.»
July 3, 2025
Una lettura scandita da un susseguirsi di ottave organizzate in canti mai eccedenti, se non raramente, la misura media compresa fra i sessanta e settanta. Versi che corrono veloci come l'apparire dei cavalieri, delle dame, degli incantamenti, degli innumerevoli accadimenti. Si respira aria di corte, si attende fra il pubblico gaudente un rovescio della trama che avvincente afferra e non conclude, perfetto meccanismo da tener incollati anche i più renitenti.
Indubbiamente una lettura divertente, utilissima per meglio comprendere Ariosto, qui tutto ha origine sulla scorta sapiente di un patrimonio letterario precedente, ponderata la mistura di ciclo bretone e ciclo carolingio, bello ritrovare tanti riferimenti dal mondo classico a quello medievale, culminanti in Dante, più volte richiamato per aspetti prettamente linguistici o per scenari desunti dalla cantica infernale.
Amore e guerra, malizia e innocenza, forza e fortuna, dritto e rovescio.
Non conclude per causa di forza maggiore ma non avrebbe potuto farlo, l'assedio di Parigi è eterno come i suoi protagonisti.
Indubbiamente una lettura divertente, utilissima per meglio comprendere Ariosto, qui tutto ha origine sulla scorta sapiente di un patrimonio letterario precedente, ponderata la mistura di ciclo bretone e ciclo carolingio, bello ritrovare tanti riferimenti dal mondo classico a quello medievale, culminanti in Dante, più volte richiamato per aspetti prettamente linguistici o per scenari desunti dalla cantica infernale.
Amore e guerra, malizia e innocenza, forza e fortuna, dritto e rovescio.
Non conclude per causa di forza maggiore ma non avrebbe potuto farlo, l'assedio di Parigi è eterno come i suoi protagonisti.
November 17, 2017
Those who like listening to cruel duels,Some random things that occur in the work: disembowelment, necrophilia, cannibalism (specifically someone is tricked into eating their own children), someone gets hit in the head so hard their "nose and mouth poured brains", and "Rinaldo meets the God of Love, is whipped by three naked maidens, and told he has violated Love's law."
Gruesome assaults, and massive strokes,
Step forward
*I should note - since GR for some reason lumps all editions of a book together for rating/review purposes - that this is based on the unabridged translation by Charles Stanley Ross. Outside of a short except in a literature overview class I'd never read any of this before, though I have read Orlando Furioso in its entirety. I don't have an abridged version to compare this to, but I will point out that this book has 2 columns of stanzas per page, so even though the work itself only takes up 570 pages, that's basically like 1140 in a normal single column edition (not to mention that there are no page breaks between cantos, only between the books). So this edition is pretty damn massive, but - even if it does get a bit tedious at times - I'm not sure why an English reader would read any other edition; this should be the go to text, and I love that it exists.*
If you don’t know, Orlando Innamorato is a 15th Century Italian romance focusing on the count/heroic knight Orlando (the same as Roland from the French ~`11th century epic poem “The Song of Roland”; he also appears in the 13th century Norwegian epic “Karlamagnús saga”) and his pursuit of Angelica – it (in its unabridged form) is exceptionally long, containing over 30,000 lines. It is chronologically (in terms of Orlando’s story) the first of three major Italian works to focus on Orlando – Ariosto’s Orlando Furioso is a direct continuation of this work, and Luigi Pulci’s Morgante (which was written before Boiardo’s work) focuses on Orlando’s later life – Boiardo’s work is mostly sourced from “material largely quarried from the Carolingian and Arthurian cycles” though Boiardo has introduced much of his own invention here.
Back to my general ramblings/musings: Frame tales and digressions abound - stories and tales told by characters take up entire cantos, recounting complicated backstories and legends; and Boiardo frequently disrupts his narrative mid-events to jump to other events, typically in the middle of cantos, and in many instances even mid stanza.
A ton of stuff happens. I really want to emphasize this:a ton of stuff happens to the point that you'll be pretty fatigued by all the badass action going down. Let me provide an example. Every canto in the work has a summary preceding it (provided here by the translator; but I feel this is pretty common for the form); here's one:
Proem on Tristan and Lancelot. Under Morgana's lake, Orlando sees a picture of a labyrinth and follows dark paths, which lead to a stream. Two statutes sink a bridge. Orlando leaps across. A dangling sword imperils a wealthy king, who sits in Morgana's Treasure Field before a bright gem, guarded by an archer statue that douses the light if one reaches for it. Orlando blocks the archer’s arrows, takes the gem, and lights his way into the underworld. A sign and a woman warn Orlando to seize Morgana to get Fortunes key, which will allow him to release prisoners. Morgana sings. Orlando misses his opportunity to seize her. Penitence attacks him.That's the summary of just one canto. There are 69 cantos that make up the work. They're all basically like this.
I have to add that the work is pretty funny. Certainly in a slapstick kind of way, where the violence or description is so far over the top it tips the narrative right into farce. But some sections are just generally humorous. Such as: There's a moment fairly early in the book when Orlando overhears a weeping pilgrim. He inquiries of the pilgrim what is wrong, and the pilgrim warns him not to go farther upon the path, as a giant awaits him. And, also, the giant took the pilgrim's son and is going to eat him. Yes, that's more secondary - the pilgrim is sad about it, but is more concerned with Orlando's safety. Orlando is basically like "well I'm not stopping" and proceeds up the trail. The giant tells him to stop, that a king has set him on the path to stop travelers from proceeding further as ahead there is a creature that will answer any question, but in return one must answer her riddles or die. Orlando is again basically like "well I'm not stopping" (in part because he wants to ask where Angelica is, but mostly as he doesn't seem to ever heed any warning whatsoever) and fights the giant. The giant yields and Orlando returns the son to the pilgrim. In payment, the pilgrim gives Orlando a magical book which contains the answer to every question (you think you see where this is going). Orlando puts the book away and proceeds up the trail to the creature and asks where Angelica is - receives the answer, and gets asked a couple riddles in return. He doesn't know the answer so he fights the creature, cuts her stomach open, and throws her from a cliff. As he's walking away he realizes "oh shit, I could have just looked the answers up in this book" (paraphrasing). See? Funny.
The main issue I had with the book was that I wasn't as into the sections without Orlando or Rinaldo or Angelica; eventually Rugiero grew on me in Book 3 though, which is good as neither Orlando nor Rinaldo are present in the first 6 cantos of that book, but it's mostly all Rugiero. There are long crusade-heavy sections away from the main characters that tended to get bogged down with myriad character introductions leading to duels leading to characters that were just introduced being killed or knocked senseless. Which is kind of cool, but gets tedious.
It's interesting to consider what Boiardo had planned for the work - the third book is literally interrupted mid sentence because France is invading Italy - as (from the title) the book is supposed to be about Orlando being in love (with Angelica), but Angelica is completely absent from the narrative (I don't even think her name comes up one single time) after the 50th canto (so she's completely absent for nearly 1/3 of the book) once she is sent to stay with Duke Namo.
Which, if you've read Furioso you'd know, is basically the first thing Ariosto addresses. Now I need to re-visit that (in a different translation than the one I read first) beast of a book; though I think I've got at least a couple other books to hit first.
April 30, 2022
So I don’t think 🤔 that the version I read is actually what I was supposed to have read? But since I know nothing about this story I’m not sure what I was supposed to have read.
August 5, 2023
Second Read:
Verse translation free from PoetryinTranslation by A.S.Kline. [4/5 Stars.. so far, reading in progress]
Great stuff i don’t know why its so easy for me to read these epic poems but it is. Others however might find it as interminable as i did the prose version. There are lot of fights, this is basically several months worth of super-hero comics.
It is also genuinely funny at times, also adult, naughty, horrifying and then all the punchy punch superhero stuff.
That by the way, is an apt comparison because almost everyone in this is super strong, super invulnerable, super big (...the guy who rides a giraffe is pretty memorable.. although i can’t actually recall his name.. there are a LOT of characters in this...), or using various enchanted weapons or armour.
It’s also quite.. morally grey though, as i said in an update there are more morally upstanding people in Watchmen or Game of Thrones then there are in this, its great. It also goes the other way with many of the ‘villains’ being at least as honourable as the heros.
Book 1: [4/5 Stars] This portion culminates in the ultimate super-hero brawl, its Batman (Rinaldo) vs Superman (Orlando), both having previously fought Wonder Woman (Marfisa) but that was really just a warm-up.
No need to find out what their mothers names are, these guys are actually cousins. However mothers will be invoked! People claim Zack Snyder does ‘dark and gritty’ but i don’t recall Batman saying this to Superman
“Oh, you’re a whoreson, I’ll e’er maintain;
She cared so much for honour, your mother,
After her first sin, she but craved another!”
Now them there’s, fighting words :D .
Book 2: [3.5/5 Stars] Messier than Book 1 and the heroes feel more heroic than the anti-heros most felt like in the previous volume.
Lot of magic gardens... fair bit of Brandimarte stuff.. he’s fine... but very much a B-list character, he’s the Ant-Man of this universe :P . Nice normandy landings section (actually marseille as they were coming from the south).. if the allies were led by the Hulk or a young Thanos, the new villain Rodomonte is pretty cool.
Also first appearance of Bradimant the second female hero, no relation to Brandimarte, but is a relation to someone, being in fact Rinaldo’s sister, she’s the Bat-Woman or Supergirl of this universe.
Overall still mostly good, on to Book 3 soon, its unfinished so much shorter.
Book 3: [3/5] So we finish even if Boiardo was unable too. I didn't mention Ruggiero who was introduced last time, although a tale set in france, he's an italian hero added for the home crowd. More from him and we have Mandricardo added too a second generation badguy like Harry Osbourne, out to get Orlando for killing his father..
Although this gets messy with Fay's a plenty messing things up. Gradasso who was like the Darkside/Thanos character of the first book ends up mostly as like a sidekick almost now, and Sacripante's storyline is dropped too, he was like the Flash, at least while he had his horse, now lost.
Anyway, i'm looking forward to my reread of Furioso as some of the characters, especially the female ones seemed much different in that from what i remember. But it'll be interesting now that i can compare them properly.
Overall, this is definitely a goodtime overall, the writer even makes fun of some aspects of the tale and the free A.S. Kline translation seems really good.
First Read: [1/5 Stars]
I read a prose translation, I should have tried to find poetry version. Unfinished epic poem, knights and enchantments etc but little of interest if you've already read things like the Faerie Queen.
Verse translation free from PoetryinTranslation by A.S.Kline. [4/5 Stars.. so far, reading in progress]
Great stuff i don’t know why its so easy for me to read these epic poems but it is. Others however might find it as interminable as i did the prose version. There are lot of fights, this is basically several months worth of super-hero comics.
It is also genuinely funny at times, also adult, naughty, horrifying and then all the punchy punch superhero stuff.
That by the way, is an apt comparison because almost everyone in this is super strong, super invulnerable, super big (...the guy who rides a giraffe is pretty memorable.. although i can’t actually recall his name.. there are a LOT of characters in this...), or using various enchanted weapons or armour.
It’s also quite.. morally grey though, as i said in an update there are more morally upstanding people in Watchmen or Game of Thrones then there are in this, its great. It also goes the other way with many of the ‘villains’ being at least as honourable as the heros.
Book 1: [4/5 Stars] This portion culminates in the ultimate super-hero brawl, its Batman (Rinaldo) vs Superman (Orlando), both having previously fought Wonder Woman (Marfisa) but that was really just a warm-up.
No need to find out what their mothers names are, these guys are actually cousins. However mothers will be invoked! People claim Zack Snyder does ‘dark and gritty’ but i don’t recall Batman saying this to Superman
“Oh, you’re a whoreson, I’ll e’er maintain;
She cared so much for honour, your mother,
After her first sin, she but craved another!”
Now them there’s, fighting words :D .
Book 2: [3.5/5 Stars] Messier than Book 1 and the heroes feel more heroic than the anti-heros most felt like in the previous volume.
Lot of magic gardens... fair bit of Brandimarte stuff.. he’s fine... but very much a B-list character, he’s the Ant-Man of this universe :P . Nice normandy landings section (actually marseille as they were coming from the south).. if the allies were led by the Hulk or a young Thanos, the new villain Rodomonte is pretty cool.
Also first appearance of Bradimant the second female hero, no relation to Brandimarte, but is a relation to someone, being in fact Rinaldo’s sister, she’s the Bat-Woman or Supergirl of this universe.
Overall still mostly good, on to Book 3 soon, its unfinished so much shorter.
Book 3: [3/5] So we finish even if Boiardo was unable too. I didn't mention Ruggiero who was introduced last time, although a tale set in france, he's an italian hero added for the home crowd. More from him and we have Mandricardo added too a second generation badguy like Harry Osbourne, out to get Orlando for killing his father..
Although this gets messy with Fay's a plenty messing things up. Gradasso who was like the Darkside/Thanos character of the first book ends up mostly as like a sidekick almost now, and Sacripante's storyline is dropped too, he was like the Flash, at least while he had his horse, now lost.
Anyway, i'm looking forward to my reread of Furioso as some of the characters, especially the female ones seemed much different in that from what i remember. But it'll be interesting now that i can compare them properly.
Overall, this is definitely a goodtime overall, the writer even makes fun of some aspects of the tale and the free A.S. Kline translation seems really good.
First Read: [1/5 Stars]
I read a prose translation, I should have tried to find poetry version. Unfinished epic poem, knights and enchantments etc but little of interest if you've already read things like the Faerie Queen.
September 7, 2011
If you are considering reading this book I feel you should be warned like many of the characters are warned in this book "Beware if you are not a honorable knight-errant! Turn back now if you do not possess the abilities to follow a Renaissance ADHD author through Canto Forests of Magical Jousts, Battles and Fairies!"
Of course that should have been in tetrameter and posted on a magical tree. But I digress. Speaking of which, does Boiardo ever digress. If you've ever wondered where soap operas got the idea to leave a scene in the middle of the villian sneaking up on an innocent lady - it is probably from this medieval romance. You're getting into the scene (knights jousting, armies warring, Orlando/Ralando wandering, Fairies ferrying (yes the Fairies do a lot of ferrying - don't ask)) and the narrator just effectively says "Have you wondered what happened to ...." AAAGGGHHHH!!!! Yes, at one point I was wondering, because YOU DID THE EXACT SAME THING 20 PAGES AGO! Let's just say that editing is another invention that came with the modern age along with the busy signal, traffic lights and sliced bread of things we take for granted but boy do we miss them when they are not there.
Griping aside, this is enjoyable if you just go for the ride. In my dream edition this would have a cheat sheet in front of every canto saying whose side the knights are on (knights switch between pagans and Christians at a disturbing rate); which battle is raging; which knights are out wandering about to run into some damsel, bewitched giant, ogre or dragon, or magical fountain; how King Charlemagne is doing (it seems he is always about to be slain or sieged).
But for me the unsung hero (for there are MANY, MANY, MANY sung heroes) of this whole epic is Orlando's and Ralando's armorer and shield maker. Every joust, battle and wandering giant/ogre/dragon seems to split the shield open, crack the helm wide and break the lance. But yet in the next joust/battle/wandering the shield/helm/lance is back for the next split/crack/break! That, my friends, is the real wonder of this epic, the furious behind-the-scenes work of these armament laborers - they are the true miracles in this poem. If only someone could write their version of the epic!
Of course that should have been in tetrameter and posted on a magical tree. But I digress. Speaking of which, does Boiardo ever digress. If you've ever wondered where soap operas got the idea to leave a scene in the middle of the villian sneaking up on an innocent lady - it is probably from this medieval romance. You're getting into the scene (knights jousting, armies warring, Orlando/Ralando wandering, Fairies ferrying (yes the Fairies do a lot of ferrying - don't ask)) and the narrator just effectively says "Have you wondered what happened to ...." AAAGGGHHHH!!!! Yes, at one point I was wondering, because YOU DID THE EXACT SAME THING 20 PAGES AGO! Let's just say that editing is another invention that came with the modern age along with the busy signal, traffic lights and sliced bread of things we take for granted but boy do we miss them when they are not there.
Griping aside, this is enjoyable if you just go for the ride. In my dream edition this would have a cheat sheet in front of every canto saying whose side the knights are on (knights switch between pagans and Christians at a disturbing rate); which battle is raging; which knights are out wandering about to run into some damsel, bewitched giant, ogre or dragon, or magical fountain; how King Charlemagne is doing (it seems he is always about to be slain or sieged).
But for me the unsung hero (for there are MANY, MANY, MANY sung heroes) of this whole epic is Orlando's and Ralando's armorer and shield maker. Every joust, battle and wandering giant/ogre/dragon seems to split the shield open, crack the helm wide and break the lance. But yet in the next joust/battle/wandering the shield/helm/lance is back for the next split/crack/break! That, my friends, is the real wonder of this epic, the furious behind-the-scenes work of these armament laborers - they are the true miracles in this poem. If only someone could write their version of the epic!
October 25, 2018
2018 review: Really glad I re-read this, I definitely got more out of it this time. There's a lot left out, but that's going to happen in any translation of Boiardo or Ariosto. So much plot! But this time I made a bit more sense of it, all of the episodic stories are essentially re-tellings of the Matters of France, Britain or Rome but always with a reversal (Charlemagne the conqueror conquered, stoic warrior Orlando falls in love, ladies' man Rinaldo rebuffed and then disgusted by love, the wizard Malagigi undone by magic, etc). Meanwhile the overarching story connecting the episodes is a riff on the Siege of Troy: Angelica as Helen locked up in the citadel, but because she fled from her Paris; Roland as the great warriors Achilles and Hector, refusing service to Charlemagne in France so he can protect Angelica in the far east; Rinaldo also as both heroes, killing Truffaldino by dragging him behind as Achilles dragged Hector's corpse; Rogero as wandering Odysseus kept apart from the action and his beloved Bradamante by the wizard Atlantes; the tournament on the Steps of Merlin as a sort of rigged Judgement of Paris that catalyzes the action.
The maneuvering of the Saracen kings was more interesting and coherent this time around, though it's still funny that they go from being kings leading armies to knights errant on solitary quests as the author finds appropriate. Reminds me of that renaissance criticism of the gestes (from Aretino? Folengo?) about how the knights are made to sleep in their boots and armour, ie that their mundane parts of their lives are neglected to an absurd degree. It's a funny hangover from the gestes.
Overall, I think I can see a bit more structure in it than the Furioso, though I'm due for a re-read of that too. Certainly it feels like it retains more of a connection to the chansons de geste, where these characters feel like a continuation of the chansons and there's almost something of a canon at work, whereas in the Furioso it's much more classical and the characters feel much more divorced from the chansons.
Also big shoutout to Jo Ann Cavalo's stuff on Boiardo, she makes the allegorical side of the episodes less opaque and I'm grateful for it.
(William Stewart Rose translation.)
Earlier review: I think it's a crime that people still read and study the King Arthur mythos but the Chansons de Geste are more or less forgotten. I mean, I guess it's problematic and it encourages the wrong sort of right wingers when they fight Muslim caricatures in Chanson de Roland, but here he tames giants and travels the world. The Saracens aren't even evil so much as just on the other side, Boiardo and later Ariosto could admit that brave knights could serve either side. It just stinks that no one remembers Roland. (Charles Stanley Ross translation.)
The maneuvering of the Saracen kings was more interesting and coherent this time around, though it's still funny that they go from being kings leading armies to knights errant on solitary quests as the author finds appropriate. Reminds me of that renaissance criticism of the gestes (from Aretino? Folengo?) about how the knights are made to sleep in their boots and armour, ie that their mundane parts of their lives are neglected to an absurd degree. It's a funny hangover from the gestes.
Overall, I think I can see a bit more structure in it than the Furioso, though I'm due for a re-read of that too. Certainly it feels like it retains more of a connection to the chansons de geste, where these characters feel like a continuation of the chansons and there's almost something of a canon at work, whereas in the Furioso it's much more classical and the characters feel much more divorced from the chansons.
Also big shoutout to Jo Ann Cavalo's stuff on Boiardo, she makes the allegorical side of the episodes less opaque and I'm grateful for it.
(William Stewart Rose translation.)
Earlier review: I think it's a crime that people still read and study the King Arthur mythos but the Chansons de Geste are more or less forgotten. I mean, I guess it's problematic and it encourages the wrong sort of right wingers when they fight Muslim caricatures in Chanson de Roland, but here he tames giants and travels the world. The Saracens aren't even evil so much as just on the other side, Boiardo and later Ariosto could admit that brave knights could serve either side. It just stinks that no one remembers Roland. (Charles Stanley Ross translation.)
August 19, 2013
I like Orlando Furioso by Ludovico Ariosto better, but this book that inspired Ariosto's work is still pretty enjoyable. I would have been happy to read the whole thing except that I suddenly stopped caring about knights errant and their adventures, probably because that's almost all I've been reading for the last few months and I felt all of a sudden that I'd gotten what I needed to out of the genre. Another thing is that Orlando Furioso summarizes a lot of the events that take place in this book, so there wasn't very much in the story that I didn't already know about. And it's the kind of book you read for superficial amusement, so I didn't feel like I was losing very much by putting it down before I'd read half of it. Maybe someday I'll pick it up again, but I think I'm more likely to re-read Orlando Furioso instead, especially because I don't care for the verse translation (mostly unrhymed but in an iambic meter) that was used for Orlando Innamorato, and it is the only translation ever made available in English.
March 20, 2021
Thoroughly enjoyed Boiardo's epic romance with its characterisation of noble warriors, both Saracens and Christians, and strong women, brave and wise.
April 4, 2025
I pretty thoroughly enjoyed this poem. Yes, it is long and it can get a bit repetitious at times, but instead of sitting down and reading this like a modern novel, I read a few cantos every night and found it never got stale. It's really a great story: it has battles and magic and romance and humor and sex and tons of over-the-top action. While loosely derived from The Song of Roland, it is much livelier and interesting, lacking that earlier poem's rather overly earnest tone, and monochromatic view of the sides. It is also tons more fun than the severely allegorical and humorless epic poem, The Faerie Queene, which was in part inspired by it. Boiardo is too busy having fun to bother with allegory! (A lecture I listened to on Arthurian literature noted that if a work is an adventure, then the knights will keep encountering damsels in distress, but if it is an allegory, they'll encounter hermits instead. The only time anyone encounters a hermit in Orlando Innamorato is when they're wounded and need to be healed.)
Now on to Orlando Furioso!
Now on to Orlando Furioso!
July 5, 2017
An abridged translation of a Renaissance Italian epic with lots of knights fighting, giants and other monsters (My favorite is a donkey whose ears will cut a person in half). wizards, enchanted castles and streams, and lovely ladies, both good and evil. .....in fact, many things that modern fantasy readers would be familiar with. In a very readable poetic translation. Some of the battle scenes (which get tedious) are omitted given in prose summaries.(There's only so many ways you can say, "He bashed his opponent's head in in."). This may seem to hurt some of the action, but there are characters that are introduced and die a few lines later; so not worth bothering with. The original translation is over 800 pages; this one is about 400. The plot is very loosely based on the French "Song of Roland," except that much of it is motivated by an odd Romantic Triangle: two knights and a maiden who may or may not be evil. Unfortunately, it was left unfinished and completed in another poem, Ariosto's "Orlando Furtioso." One Note: there are two female warriors, who are just as good fighters as the men and better than most.
June 1, 2025
A Carolingian epic with more courtly characters and motifs: chivalry governs even Saracens, and our hero is on a love quest.
May 10, 2023
I don’t remember a single thing about the story except for the premise (b/c it’s related to Library of Ruina) and I think that’s a good thing. Basically a train of medieval fairytales that connect together so you can turn your brain off while reading it.
September 20, 2017
So this is William Rose's 1823 translation of Francesco Berni's 16th-century rewrite of Matteo Boiardo's 15th-century "Orlando Innamorato"-- and a somewhat abridged translation, if I understand the preface correctly. It reads very much like a (very flaggable) wikipedia summation of the plot of a fantasy anime that ran for several seasons. There are a zillion characters: I highly recommend keeping a little list of all their names with a brief note of whose offspring or vassal they are, because the narrator (infamously, and to great comic effect) jumps wildly from one character to another, usually breaking off at a climactic moment to resume the thread of some event you'd all but forgotten in the deluge of information.
So it ends up feeling more like an autistic superfan's description of a great epic than the actual epic itself. Sometimes specific details of particular adventures are glossed over so quickly that it's impossible to tell whether Rose was summarizing something that was more complete in the Italian, or if one of the Italian authors was trying to be funny, or what-- but it does successfully exploit the potential for humor in this scatterbrained style of narration that you feel in the presence of genius. For example: there's this knight Astolpho, who is not good at fighting and gets soundly wrecked in a tournament at the beginning of the story. Shortly after, he fortuitously appropriates an enchanted lance that makes him an invincible jouster, and he goes on a hilarious winning streak, which goes quite to his head, and eventually every other knight present (including some bitter rivals) have to suspend the tournament to try and get Astolpho to stop knocking people off their horses. Later on, he loses the enchanted lance, is reverted to his former state of martial incompetence, and gets imprisoned, but when he gets out, the narrator is all like, "Luckily, Astolpho happened to immediately cross paths with the knight who picked up the enchanted lance, so he took it back and started knocking dudes down left and right." There seems to be an important detail or two missing in there, right? But the Innamorato ain't got time for that.
There's no ending, the allegorical elements aren't particularly insightful, and every adventure with startlingly original-feeling elements is flanked by a few others that are basically fairy-tale-knights-errant-cliché casserole, but it's so fast and light that it's really hard not to feel charmed as hell by this thing. I definitely intend to read the other, more recent, translation that exists, if only to see whether or not Rose was holding back anything in any of the more conspicuous leaps.
So it ends up feeling more like an autistic superfan's description of a great epic than the actual epic itself. Sometimes specific details of particular adventures are glossed over so quickly that it's impossible to tell whether Rose was summarizing something that was more complete in the Italian, or if one of the Italian authors was trying to be funny, or what-- but it does successfully exploit the potential for humor in this scatterbrained style of narration that you feel in the presence of genius. For example: there's this knight Astolpho, who is not good at fighting and gets soundly wrecked in a tournament at the beginning of the story. Shortly after, he fortuitously appropriates an enchanted lance that makes him an invincible jouster, and he goes on a hilarious winning streak, which goes quite to his head, and eventually every other knight present (including some bitter rivals) have to suspend the tournament to try and get Astolpho to stop knocking people off their horses. Later on, he loses the enchanted lance, is reverted to his former state of martial incompetence, and gets imprisoned, but when he gets out, the narrator is all like, "Luckily, Astolpho happened to immediately cross paths with the knight who picked up the enchanted lance, so he took it back and started knocking dudes down left and right." There seems to be an important detail or two missing in there, right? But the Innamorato ain't got time for that.
There's no ending, the allegorical elements aren't particularly insightful, and every adventure with startlingly original-feeling elements is flanked by a few others that are basically fairy-tale-knights-errant-cliché casserole, but it's so fast and light that it's really hard not to feel charmed as hell by this thing. I definitely intend to read the other, more recent, translation that exists, if only to see whether or not Rose was holding back anything in any of the more conspicuous leaps.
February 16, 2022
So I've scoured through as much of the western canon as the last 8 years have taken me. I suddenly enter upon the genre of romance knight errantry of the 16th century, and have found Ariosto's Furioso and Boiardo's Innamorato to be unlike any of the other classics in particular. Saying that this genre of literature is similar to anything else is a discredit to the genre and the writers that wrote these great stories. These stories are like no other. And the way the story is told is where the brilliance lies. Sometimes absurd, sometimes funny, sometimes combat against the infidels, sometimes love scenes, there's something for everyone within these pages.
I started with a common free pdf translation but have found this unabridged Charles Stanley Ross translation to be a lot smoother and less clunky, a much more enjoyable reading experience. Although the Innamorato ends abruptly, everything seems to be in perfect order.
Orlando is my name!
I started with a common free pdf translation but have found this unabridged Charles Stanley Ross translation to be a lot smoother and less clunky, a much more enjoyable reading experience. Although the Innamorato ends abruptly, everything seems to be in perfect order.
Orlando is my name!
May 31, 2024
This edition is, hitherto, the singular, unabridged, official translation of Boiardo’s epic in English, but not in a form of a prosimetrum (as in Francesco Berni's translation) yet in a blank verse [although I recently discovered an (I would say) unofficial British translation by A. S. Kline is merely amended American, but rhymed]. Even this horrible translation in American English, unpoetic and as by a school-boy didn’t hinder me to dive into Boiardo’s world which is far from Ariosto’s flamboyance, yet still unique in its difference and somewhat bashful in its wooing.
I am not impressed in a manner or extent I was on my very first encounter with Ariosto’s Orlando Furioso, yet one cannot completely comprehend “Furioso” lest he previously read “Orlando Innamorato”, since Ariosto “took over” the pivotal characters from Boiardo’s epic: to some of them he changed the doom, yet kept their origin ordained by Boiardo, and for some other he just finished their stories and completed Boiardo’s unfinished episodes. However, without previous acquaintance with many details of which Boiardo is singing, the first reading of Ariosto was a bit confusing, for he continued from the spot where death hampered Boiardo to finish his stanzas, trying to bring it to the end, and created, at length, even more epochal and more famous work of art than his predecessor.
Boiardo’s Ruggiero and Ariosto’s Ruggiero are quite compatible, yet Ariosto ordained Marfisa to be his long ago abducted sister which will he met and recognise in the second half of the epic. Boiardo’s Marfisa is stark Queen of Shield. Bradamante is the same in Boiardo’s as in Ariosto’s “Orlando” – firm but feminine shield-maiden which, contrariwise Marfisa, never took her armour off. It was amusing to read about Ruggiero who is merely a youngster in Boiardo’s “Orlando”, eager to prove himself in the knight’s world and tantalises his foster father Atalante the witcher, whom will Ariosto wreath in all his glory.
Rodomont is equally stern and horrible both in Boiardo’s as in Ariosto’s epic, his origin is unique and his dragon-scale armour is his trademark as well as his dear Fioderlice who will left him for his rude temper. Brandimart’s character is more developed in Boiardo’s epic, yet Ariosto ordained him glorious death and that scene is among the most touching from the “Furioso”. Rinaldo and Orlando are equally excellent champions in chivalry and equally torment his uncle Charles the Great.
Boiardo’s epic chants more of realistic themes – war between Christians and Saracens and much more heed and details he engaged within far more stanzas to describe that warfare, singing about endless lines of the hosts, paladins and their insignias. “Innamorato” was created to be recited, and “Furioso” to be read. Thus their tone and dynamics are different – Boiardo is a bit leisure and does not pay attention to the ornaments, while Ariosto develops the entire poetic landscape in front of the reader’s eyes.
Renaissance epic will be, of course, inconceivable without the magical elements. In Boiardo’s “Innamorato” the magic is somewhat fade and of Celtic provenience, mimicking mostly Arthurian legends rather than fantasies from chivalric romances or antiquity, albeit many reflections can be recognised from Ovid’s Metamorphoses and even an homage to Apollonius’ Argonauts. Boiardo gave prevalence to enchanted gardens and castles, the keepers of the bridges with magic armoury and armour, the dragons which are keepers of the grottos and dragon-grooms which abduct the maidens, magic books and books which disenchant, clandestine otherworld of the Fays in which Morgan le Fay, Merlin’s sister, reigns, wooing and capturing the paladins, underwater underworld of Naiads and enchanted forests with shape-shifting trees. The magic ring which disenchant and makes one who puts it in the mouth invisible is the major magical device as in Boiardo’s thus in Ariosto’s “Orlando”. However, there are no such interesting adventures with Astolfo in Boiardo’s “Innamorato” as in Ariosto’s “Furioso”. Boiardo’s Astolfo is merely an insolent and rough English paladin who constantly swears and makes troubles.
It is such a bereavement that this kind of translation marred my overall impression, for I deem that it would be much stronger if I could read it in Italian. But what's important is that I finally managed to find an unabridged translation of the epic and to become acquainted with everything that remained unexplained in Ariosto’s, for Boiardo’s epic had already sung about it and their contemporaries knew well that details. Since I was reading “Innamorato” for the most part of my traversing through northern Italy, where I visited Boiardo’s hometown of Reggio Emilia and saw his bust in the Parco del Popolo, the impression was further enhanced by my presence at the place where the epic itself was created six centuries ago.
I am not impressed in a manner or extent I was on my very first encounter with Ariosto’s Orlando Furioso, yet one cannot completely comprehend “Furioso” lest he previously read “Orlando Innamorato”, since Ariosto “took over” the pivotal characters from Boiardo’s epic: to some of them he changed the doom, yet kept their origin ordained by Boiardo, and for some other he just finished their stories and completed Boiardo’s unfinished episodes. However, without previous acquaintance with many details of which Boiardo is singing, the first reading of Ariosto was a bit confusing, for he continued from the spot where death hampered Boiardo to finish his stanzas, trying to bring it to the end, and created, at length, even more epochal and more famous work of art than his predecessor.
Boiardo’s Ruggiero and Ariosto’s Ruggiero are quite compatible, yet Ariosto ordained Marfisa to be his long ago abducted sister which will he met and recognise in the second half of the epic. Boiardo’s Marfisa is stark Queen of Shield. Bradamante is the same in Boiardo’s as in Ariosto’s “Orlando” – firm but feminine shield-maiden which, contrariwise Marfisa, never took her armour off. It was amusing to read about Ruggiero who is merely a youngster in Boiardo’s “Orlando”, eager to prove himself in the knight’s world and tantalises his foster father Atalante the witcher, whom will Ariosto wreath in all his glory.
Rodomont is equally stern and horrible both in Boiardo’s as in Ariosto’s epic, his origin is unique and his dragon-scale armour is his trademark as well as his dear Fioderlice who will left him for his rude temper. Brandimart’s character is more developed in Boiardo’s epic, yet Ariosto ordained him glorious death and that scene is among the most touching from the “Furioso”. Rinaldo and Orlando are equally excellent champions in chivalry and equally torment his uncle Charles the Great.
Boiardo’s epic chants more of realistic themes – war between Christians and Saracens and much more heed and details he engaged within far more stanzas to describe that warfare, singing about endless lines of the hosts, paladins and their insignias. “Innamorato” was created to be recited, and “Furioso” to be read. Thus their tone and dynamics are different – Boiardo is a bit leisure and does not pay attention to the ornaments, while Ariosto develops the entire poetic landscape in front of the reader’s eyes.
Renaissance epic will be, of course, inconceivable without the magical elements. In Boiardo’s “Innamorato” the magic is somewhat fade and of Celtic provenience, mimicking mostly Arthurian legends rather than fantasies from chivalric romances or antiquity, albeit many reflections can be recognised from Ovid’s Metamorphoses and even an homage to Apollonius’ Argonauts. Boiardo gave prevalence to enchanted gardens and castles, the keepers of the bridges with magic armoury and armour, the dragons which are keepers of the grottos and dragon-grooms which abduct the maidens, magic books and books which disenchant, clandestine otherworld of the Fays in which Morgan le Fay, Merlin’s sister, reigns, wooing and capturing the paladins, underwater underworld of Naiads and enchanted forests with shape-shifting trees. The magic ring which disenchant and makes one who puts it in the mouth invisible is the major magical device as in Boiardo’s thus in Ariosto’s “Orlando”. However, there are no such interesting adventures with Astolfo in Boiardo’s “Innamorato” as in Ariosto’s “Furioso”. Boiardo’s Astolfo is merely an insolent and rough English paladin who constantly swears and makes troubles.
It is such a bereavement that this kind of translation marred my overall impression, for I deem that it would be much stronger if I could read it in Italian. But what's important is that I finally managed to find an unabridged translation of the epic and to become acquainted with everything that remained unexplained in Ariosto’s, for Boiardo’s epic had already sung about it and their contemporaries knew well that details. Since I was reading “Innamorato” for the most part of my traversing through northern Italy, where I visited Boiardo’s hometown of Reggio Emilia and saw his bust in the Parco del Popolo, the impression was further enhanced by my presence at the place where the epic itself was created six centuries ago.
December 31, 2018
I had only read this in the abridged version before (and gave it 4 stars). Oh my goodness, the unabridged is so much better.
Read
April 17, 20221483 (first two books) and 1495 (third book)
August 18, 2024
Another example of my regress: I was preparing to read Greene's sixteenth-century play Orlando Furioso, so I decided to read the romance by Ariosto that it was based on first; but then I realized that was a sequel to this romance by Boiardo, so here I am back to the fifteenth century (in my original eighteenth-century project). Fortunately, I had already read the Chanson de Roland, or I would be back to the twelfth century. Boiardo's premise is that he is recounting a suppressed epic by Bishop Turpin, the alleged author of the Chanson de Roland, about the history of Roland (Orlando) before the events of that epic. In fact, although Boiardo's romance uses the characters of the Chanson de Roland, and there are many battles, the style and content are completely different. Where the early chansons de geste are military epics, the Orlando romances are concerned with courtly love and full of enchantment, based more on the Arthurian romances than on the French epics.
To start with the most obvious point: the book is very long. The new translation I read by A.S. Kline (the only one available in e-book format) runs to over seventeen hundred pages in the print edition, and at that the work was left unfinished, probably due to the French invasion of Italy and Boiardo's subsequent death; it breaks off in the middle of a battle, and in the middle of several other episodes (Boiardo's technique is to interweave at least four or five stories at a time.) It was so popular that there were many continuations, of which Ariosto's is the most famous; there was also a revised version in a more standard Italian (Boiardo wrote in a dialect which later became unfashionable) by Berni, which for several centuries was the version most people read. This translation is of Boiardo's original version.
The poem has some evident flaws; many of the episodes are variants on the same ideas (was every bridge in the Middle Ages guarded by a giant? How many enchanted gardens could there have been?) and he is careless of details (in every duel the armor is cut to shreds, and the winning combatants reappear immediately with full armor to fight again with the next knight or giant or monster.) However, the story is always exciting. This is a classic of Renaissance literature and was an influence on such later works as Spencer's The Fairy Queen.
To start with the most obvious point: the book is very long. The new translation I read by A.S. Kline (the only one available in e-book format) runs to over seventeen hundred pages in the print edition, and at that the work was left unfinished, probably due to the French invasion of Italy and Boiardo's subsequent death; it breaks off in the middle of a battle, and in the middle of several other episodes (Boiardo's technique is to interweave at least four or five stories at a time.) It was so popular that there were many continuations, of which Ariosto's is the most famous; there was also a revised version in a more standard Italian (Boiardo wrote in a dialect which later became unfashionable) by Berni, which for several centuries was the version most people read. This translation is of Boiardo's original version.
The poem has some evident flaws; many of the episodes are variants on the same ideas (was every bridge in the Middle Ages guarded by a giant? How many enchanted gardens could there have been?) and he is careless of details (in every duel the armor is cut to shreds, and the winning combatants reappear immediately with full armor to fight again with the next knight or giant or monster.) However, the story is always exciting. This is a classic of Renaissance literature and was an influence on such later works as Spencer's The Fairy Queen.
November 22, 2023
It’s a Charlemagne/King Arthur cross-over fan-fic. It’s not totally awful. Boiardo knows how to tell a story and he’s got a vivid imagination. There’s a lot to enjoy. The fight scenes are expanded from the earlier French romances and this is where things fall apart. He hasn’t expanded the characterisation in line with the action so we’re just left with descriptions of rich kids hitting each other.
Thematically, it’s about competition. It’s war as sport. Even the love story is like a hunter after a quarry. It’s a little too shallow for my taste. I can see why Penguin Classics went for an abridged edition.
This translation is rather interesting. I got it from the Poetry in Translation website. It’s basically one man with a vast output in multiple languages, everything released under some sort of creative commons licence. If you want the actual book you need to pay for it, but if you don’t mind an ebook you can have it for free. I think it’s an amazing undertaking. Though a rogue translator can be a very dangerous beast. Out in the forest, operating without oversight. I have no idea if this translation is accurate, but the sometimes odd placement of subclauses makes me suspect that it is. Kline has preserved the rhyme scheme from the Italian, but lengthened the line, probably to give himself a couple of extra syllables to find a rhyme. The punctuation is heavier than required by the rules of English and unfortunately breaks up the flow of the verse. I found it easier to ignore it all and go with the flow. He written it in a faux olde English style which I personally find very annoying, but each to his own.
Thematically, it’s about competition. It’s war as sport. Even the love story is like a hunter after a quarry. It’s a little too shallow for my taste. I can see why Penguin Classics went for an abridged edition.
This translation is rather interesting. I got it from the Poetry in Translation website. It’s basically one man with a vast output in multiple languages, everything released under some sort of creative commons licence. If you want the actual book you need to pay for it, but if you don’t mind an ebook you can have it for free. I think it’s an amazing undertaking. Though a rogue translator can be a very dangerous beast. Out in the forest, operating without oversight. I have no idea if this translation is accurate, but the sometimes odd placement of subclauses makes me suspect that it is. Kline has preserved the rhyme scheme from the Italian, but lengthened the line, probably to give himself a couple of extra syllables to find a rhyme. The punctuation is heavier than required by the rules of English and unfortunately breaks up the flow of the verse. I found it easier to ignore it all and go with the flow. He written it in a faux olde English style which I personally find very annoying, but each to his own.
June 5, 2024
一台疯狂空转的叙事机器，空转本身（一种过剩的活力）就是它的意义。没有人物形象，没有谋篇结构，没有深度和“诗意”，只有无限多的故事不断滚动接续，续不上的断线在叙述的劲风中飘扬好像永远不会落下来。准确地说，前面这些都是有的，只是都不很成功；但对这样一部快乐而谦卑的骑士文学作品，也许这才是它需要的。就像诗中形容世界上最快的马：踏过花间不留痕迹。踏不出痕迹的故事之马是最快抵达读者的。就像它那缺乏规范的语言。本书对我欣赏明代长篇小说有极大的帮助（最初的印象是不如水浒传，后来觉得要求未免太高，这书大约在西游记和封神演义之间吧。），而它出自一位颇具古典文化修养的文艺复兴欧洲贵族领主之手，更足以破除认为中国古典小说的“局限”来自作者（单数或复数）文化修养/社会阶层不够高的成见。
Read
May 2, 2025Mi dispiace dirlo, ma è una palla. Poeticamente è insulso (forse anche colpa dell’adattamento in toscano di un’opera padana), la storia è un ripetersi di topoi che stufano in fretta e il commento di Anceschi una presa in giro.
June 29, 2018
La mia opera preferita.
Currently reading
June 2, 2024this is just entertaiment at its finest
October 27, 2024
First one was better
January 18, 2025
nota: libro I, canti I-II (esame di letteratura italiana)
August 7, 2025
Epico. Magico. Intrecciato.
December 7, 2018
#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#
#-#-# TO READ #-#-#
#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#
#-#-# TO READ #-#-#
#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#
July 15, 2014
The story was great
I loved it.
Rinaldo, Orlando, Brandimart, Charlemagne and so on.
But the writer is so freaking bad.
This book needs to be severely edited, there are many completely unnecessary scenes and the stories that are sub stories have nothing to do and are completely uninteresting.
But the main story and the main actions that the paladins go through are beautiful!
I will never forget it! But is it tough to read? Yes. VERY VERY TOUGH
That's why I believe it should be trimmed and edited
A thousand characters! A thousand names! Even the horses have names!
And it seems like forever until someone finally dies.
The story itself is great though, and the only reason why I read it is because it is necessary before you read Ariosto's Orlando Furioso
I loved it.
Rinaldo, Orlando, Brandimart, Charlemagne and so on.
But the writer is so freaking bad.
This book needs to be severely edited, there are many completely unnecessary scenes and the stories that are sub stories have nothing to do and are completely uninteresting.
But the main story and the main actions that the paladins go through are beautiful!
I will never forget it! But is it tough to read? Yes. VERY VERY TOUGH
That's why I believe it should be trimmed and edited
A thousand characters! A thousand names! Even the horses have names!
And it seems like forever until someone finally dies.
The story itself is great though, and the only reason why I read it is because it is necessary before you read Ariosto's Orlando Furioso
August 1, 2007
If you want a thousand pages of Renaissance comedy, you might should read it. I liked Boiardo a lot, and I think more people should read it, especially people who are going to read Orlando Furioso (its sequel, which refers to it constantly). It's kind of like professional wrestling: drama with intermittent and less interesting fights. My other theory (this was read during a directed reading class in Comp Lit this summer on Renaissance Italian epics) about it has to do with its endlessness and the relationship of infinite narrative to the putting off of death. It didn't work, though. He died with the poem unfinished.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews