Orlando Furioso

Le donne, i cavallier, l'arme, gli amori,
le cortesie, l'audaci imprese io canto,
che furo al tempo che passaro i Mori
d'Africa il mare, e in Francia nocquer tanto,
seguendo l'ire e i giovenil furori
d'Agramante lor re, che si diè vanto
di vendicar la morte di Troiano
sopra re Carlo imperator romano.

Of loves and ladies, knights and arms, I sing
Of courtesies, and many a daring feat,
And from those ancient days my story bring
When Moors from Afric passed in hostile fleet,
And ravaged France, with Agramant their king
Flushed with his youthful rage and furious heat
Who on king Charles', the Roman emperor's head
Had vowed due vengeance for Troyano dead.

Orlando Furioso (first canto, first stanza, trans. by William Stewart Rose)

A massive epic poem in 46 cantos by Ludovico Ariosto, written 1516-1532. Orlando Furioso ("Mad Orlando") continues the story begun in the unfinished epic poem, Orlando Innamorato ("Orlando in Love") by Matteo Maria Boiardo, Conte di Scandiano (1441-1494). Charlemagne (Carlo) is at war with the Saracens, and his paladin Orlando (Roland), the world's greatest knight (and hero of the French Chanson de Roland), goes mad from Unrequited Love for a pagan princess named Angelica of Cathay. Has a Beta Couple, which also consists of a pagan and a Christian: Ruggiero (Roger) of Risa and Bradamante, the mythical ancestors of Boiardo's and Ariosto's employers, the Este family, ducal house of Ferrara.


Tropes used in Orlando Furioso include:
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