Batgrl: Bookish Hooha

"I've been Shadow Reading this for a few days and am having SO much fun that I can't put it down. (No matter how much I mean to keep up with books I'm reading for challenges!)"

"If the same ardor moves both men and women
to the sweetness of love, it is unfair
that women should be punished for being human
once, while men are praised as debonair
for doing it as often as they can do. Man
and woman should be treated the same."

"Canto V, 88: ...Rinaldo's aim was to take the fellow apart
which he pretty much did, for as the two knights passed,
he skewered Polinesso with his lance,
like a shish-ka-bob. (You've had one of these, perchance?)"

"Canto VI, 6: He hauled himself out of the water and, dripping wet,
made his way inland until he arrived
at the hut of a convenient hermit. (You get
such characters when you need them.)..."

"Canto VI, 13:
"Having decided this, he took a new
suit of armor (does the hermit stock this?), a shield,
and a horse he rather liked and thought would do.
The shield had a yellow-green chevron on a field
sable (which is black)."

--I am really loving the comments in parentheses!"

"Canto VI, 54: You think it's easy? No, it's very hard
to say nice things to a tree - about how its bark
is worse than its bite? You can't even send a card,
unless it has that recycled paper mark.
Ruggiero did what he could in that regard,
and then he asked for directions from the park
to Logistilla's realm."

"Canto VII, 11: "...Her hair is blonde and hangs in nonchalant curls."

- really enjoying the word choices here."

"Canto VII, 12: "...The design
of her nose is such that Envy itself cannot
imagine how to better the one she's got."

- this is describing the enchantress Alcina btw."

"Canto VII, 14:
"Her neck? Snow! Her cupcake breasts? Cream!"

- I may have made a snorting noise while reading this line..."

"Canto VII, 22
The game is fun, but even such delight
comes to its conclusion when the guests
disperse to their various chambers for the night
led by pages bearing torches to nests
of lively bliss. And Ruggiero is quite
delirious with all that this suggests -
he has the largest room, the softest bed,
and a mirror on the ceiling overhead."

"Canto VII, 24 -25
...But the night
drags on as it can, with time's elasticity
being something of which we are all aware.
Moments are months. And you can hear your hair
growing on your head. How long can it take
for her to get from her room to this one?"

"Canto VII, 26
...To be a little coy
is not only good for him but also amusing
for her as she imagines her new boy,
his energies, his appetites, his vigor,
which, with art can be made even bigger."

"Canto VII, 41
For such a knight to waste his days and years
in sluggishness and inactivity
and then - as anyone paying attention fears -
wind up as a rock or brook, or bush, or tree,
without a body or, as it appears,
even a soul would be good cause for tears.
Or would that soul survive somehow? Our poem
can't tell if it's in the xylem or the phloem."

"Canto VII, 55
His hair is slick with pomade and it reeks
of eau de quelquechose. (It's very floral.)"

"Canto VII, 78
...But ask yourself how unhappy you'd be if
you hadn't learned to control your hippogryph."

"Canto VIII, 21
...Let us therefore leave him on that shore,
wishing him well, but turning our eyes away
to something altogether different for
the sake of the poem. We'll go back to Scotland, say,
where Rinaldo - remember Rinaldo? - has been busy,
and ought to be doing well for himself. But is he?

- this is how the poet decides to leave off with one character's story (due to boredom) and skip to another."

"Canto IX, 17
How sturdy a ship looks in port, and then
how fragile it is when it puts out to sea,
as delicate as cut crystal goblets when
lovers quarrel and scream intemperately,
and start to throw things like some tragedienne
doing her mad scene."

"Canto IX, 19
All these old guys and maidens make it tough
to keep a story running in a more
or less straight line.

--It does seem like every other page a new maiden or a new old man pops out of the woodwork. This is probably the most self aware poem/book I've ever read."

"Canto IX, 34
...for each ill I now suffer I would be willing
to suffer a hundred more, to be had at
by wild beasts, or endure some other killing
entertaining to such a kakistocrat
as he was...

--Am also finding more interesting (unknown to me) words in this translation..."

"Canto IX, 79
...He raises his sword and hacks the king's helmet in twain -
to show white bone, red blood, and pale grey brain.

80
Oddly enough, he sits on his horse upright
for a moment or two until Orlando touches
him, and he falls over, as he well might
in his condition."

"On falling in love:

Canto X, 9
...The summit
of human emotion beckons to you now,
but avoid young men who are often callow and dumb. It
is like picking fruit - neither too ripe nor too green.
You're better off with something that's in between."

"Canto X, 34
...A mind flies free
and leaves the body behind when it suffers a shock."

"Aristo is VERY anti-cannon. Total rant is 7 stanzas:

Canto XI, 26
...Many brave lords and knights will find their rest
in the wholesale carnage of this new era in fighting,
so bloody and disgusting, but not exciting.

27
...Our battlefields are lakes of gore
because of this machine of metal and fire
that the devil was the inspiration for.
Let its inventor rot in hell. ..."

"Ruggiero has now bumped into his second naked woman of the day. (Or maybe it's been two days?) The last one he tried to have sex with after saving (and no, he didn't ask her if she was interested) - let's see how he treats this one. Oh and apparently you have to strip the woman naked before you feed her to the sea monster. But I somehow doubt the monster requires this."

"Oh wait, no, that's not Ruggiero - we're back to Orlando's story, I forgot. So now it's 1 naked woman for Ruggerio (and one near rape of Angelica) and 1 naked woman for Orlando. And now we'll see how Orlando treats said naked woman post-saving. Assuming he can defeat the orc/sea monster thing."

"Aristo "oogling a heroine" (Olympia) in writing (this is not the first time, mind you) (oh dear, I've caught Aristo's parentheses problem):

Canto XI, 67
...And her breasts! Oh, there was such perfection there
that all other women would envy and be sad
that theirs were not like hers. Beyond compare!
Snowy white, like cheeses on display,
with that cleavage in between them...(Look away!
68
And yet we can't.)"

"Canto XI, 74
in the empty houses where plenty of gowns remained
behind after their wearers had been fed
to the orc. (This should not have to be explained.)"

"Canto XI, 81
...Orlando walked the walk
and left it to lesser men to talk the talk.
.....

Which reminded me of the 1970s tv show theme with the line: "Don't do the crime if you can't do the time." ...Damn earworm."

"Oh and earlier when I was wondering how Orlando would treat the naked woman he rescues? Turns out it was someone he already knew - funny how easy it is to bump into people that way. And he behaved himself. Amazing, since so few of the men in this book are able to do so around beautiful and/or naked women."

"Angelica plans to use a man as bodyguard (she's dealt with multiple attempted rapes so far) then dump him:

Canto XII, 23
...plans to return to India - and would bring
Orlando with her or Sacripant. She still
rejects them as suitors but as she is traveling
through so many cities and towns over the wide
expanse of the earth, she'd welcome a masculine guide."

"Orlando fighting, squishily:

Canto XII, 77
...Both
to left and right, he smites them, inflicting a wound
of lethal effect as he cuts a bloody swath
through their astonished ranks with a squishy sound.
Heads are lopped off, and arms, and they fly in the air
as if Death himself had come to visit there."

"Canto XII, 83
It is a vivid abattoir tableau."

"Canto XII, 87
Is he thinking what we are thinking that these
caves are good, eerie holes in the earth
and full of narrative possibilities?
Does he know he's in a story? Is it worth
asking such questions?"

"Isabella, yet another woman in the story that has to deal with near-rape, and by a man she (and her lover) had trusted:

Canto XIII, 22
"What kind of world is this, and how can it be
that a girl must always be deeply suspicious of men?""

"Canto XIII, 36-37
...It is fun
of the kind a brave youth might have if he had found
a nest of vipers sunning themselves and he
picked up a good sized rock with which to pound
them all into a disgusting pate. You see
one wriggle off in a hurry across the ground
but missing a tail..."

"Canto XIV, 16
Bavarte, Largalifa, Doriconte,
and Analardo too (great names for a cat!)
are there...
--------------

Long section listing all the new leaders in France's army (which goes on and on) - I appreciated the cat comment. Artisto also makes jokes on the length of this section."

"Canto XIV, 22
...Now Soridano passes by with the bold
soldiers of Hesperia. (All these names
are sure winners, I'd think, in Trivia games.)"

"Orlando's a man in black, though I'm vague on the precise cause of the grief (Angelica? war? something in the previous book/poem?):

Canto XIV, 36
...in his sadness thought it best
to show a black exterior that would label
him as a knight who grieved. It was to his liking,
and we can agree that it was very striking."

"Canto XIV, 44
...he will not
carry another sword (he promised then)
but the one Orlando carries that Hector fought
with long ago. It turns out, gentlemen,
that Durindana, which he is so eager for,
was used against the Greeks in the Trojan War."

"Canto XIV, 45
...there is a certain disdain in the man coming at
him without a sword, relying on blows
and jabs with a spear as against some dandiprat.
----------

Which of course, makes you wonder what a dandiprat is."

"Mandricardo falls for Doralice. Problem, she's engaged, and he's just slaughtered her guards.

Canto XIV, 52
...He is caught in the nets of love! And one of his
first thoughts is that in this very sorry case,
weeping, if this is how she appears, what is
her face like when she's smiling? ..."

"Mandricardo and Doralice

Canto XIV, 53
A curious thing: the captor has become
the captive's captive. As the two stand there,
there almost seems to be a kind of hum
of complicated forces in the air
as the power of her domination transfers from
him to her."

"Mandricardo and Doralice

Canto XIV, 60
And would you believe? She starts at last to hear
what he is saying. Her terror fades. She knows
well how the game is played, for in her sphere
at court, that's what girls learn to do, I suppose,
at a very early age."

"Mandricardo and Doralice:

Canto XIV, 63
And what do you think happened that night between
Doralice and Agrican's son? Do you
think...? (Wink wink! Nudge nudge! Know what I mean?)
I'll let you imagine what you like. But it's true
that in the morning both of them were seen
to be somewhat more cheerful. And calmer, too."

"Angel Michael bumps into Discord:

Canto XIV, 79
He can recognize her at once by her strange cloak
of multicolored tatters that pell-mell
fall open at any breeze. Her hair is a joke,
partly plaited but partly loose as well
and falling on back and bosom in baroque
multicolored swirls in a fricandel
of styles and shades. She clutches in both her hands
writs, affidavits, complaints, and legal demands."

"And because I know someone else must be wondering: fricandel on wiktionary, or see wikipedia's frikandel - "a Dutch snack, a sort of minced-meat hot dog, developed either in 1954 or in 1958/1959 in the Netherlands.""

"Where to look for Silence:

Canto XIV, 85-6
..."Once, I'd have said the hall
of any Benedictine abbey. Or reading a book
in a library in the school where Pythagoras taught.
But in those places now, he wouldn't be caught
dead. He didn't abandon them but they
abandoned him. And now he hangs out with thieves,
lovers sometimes, and even killers who may
skulk about with him at night...""

"And now for some blood and gore from our poet Aristo:

Canto XIV, 121
...he
moves along this convenient path to slay
one man after another, with zest and glee,
slicing open the top of a head to display
the brains (or else it's a monk's tonsure that could be
just a bit short). Arms and heads are flying
as what remains of their damaged trunks are dying."

"More gore!

Canto XIV, 124
"...Moschino? Stove in,
his head crushed like a grapefruit..."
A couple of stanzas listing who died and some telling specifically how. But this part made me stop to ponder whether people were regularly going around crushing grapefruit for some reason."

"Canto XIV, 126
"...They've fled, but there is more to do
at the inner wall to which the skimble-scamble
French are hurrying."

Where else you'll find skimble-skamble, which has more than one spelling. More here."

"Canto XV, 13-14
...So she gives him a book
he can keep by his side and into which he can look.
This clever volume comes with a complete
index that allows him to find at once
any particular subject, she he meet
one kind of spell or another. Only a dunce
would flip through the pages at random and in the heat
of the moment try to find the answer he hunts
for frantically."

"The wording on this one made me eyeroll, because how much more colloquial can we get:

Canto XV, 17
"They keep on keeping on until they reach
Cochin...""

"Section here about the glory of the Spanish - fairy/sorceress tells of the future - and so we suddenly hear about Hernando Cortez and New Spain. Which I definitely did not expect."

"Canto XV, 28
"...And he will have also
in his campaigns a very helpful friend,
Andrea Doria. He'll be a godsend."

You might not have heard of that 16th century captain - but the name is familiar thanks to the sinking of the Andrea Doria."

"Canto XV, 61
He uses the giant then as a kind of valet
to carry his helmet and shield and other such
cumbersome paraphernalia (or do you say
valet, sounding the final T. It's much
preferred among those people who really may
have one, and it's a very classy touch).
At any rate, he carries stuff, and the crowd
express their awe and their admiration aloud."

"Comedy in fighting Orrilo - he can heal any wound he receives. After his head is cut off:

Canto XV, 71
"...He gropes around on the ground for a moment or so
and picks it up by the hair and with a small
neat gesture claps it back where it should go
on the open neck, from which it does not fall.
Fasteners? Glue? Nails? I couldn't begin
to guess. But it's there, and secure, and can even grin.""

"Canto XVI, 1
It's just a story, but lety me explain to you
how stories are not mere inventions but
pieces of real life, some painfully true,
that we manipulate. You have to cut
and paste a little, but that doesn't mean what you do
is mere persiflage and rodomontade. It's not."

"Canto XVI, 20-21 - Rodomonte:

...This spirited
warrior leapt the ditch and, in a burst
of energy, the inner wall to land
inside the fortifications. It was grand,
unless you were inside, in which sad case
it was terrifying - a guy in a lizard suit?
The citizens flee...

No,no idea what the lizard suit part is about. It sounds hysterical though."

"Canto XVI, 50
...The blade seems not to stop
at anything - oak, leather, quilted cloth
are nothing. It is a cannical's butcher shop,
and Rinaldo is fearsome when he's extremely wroth.
Miscellaneous body parts that drop
onto the ground in such profesion are both
exhilarating and disgusting. The battle's
background music is grunts and loud death rattles.
____

It's another one of those gore moments..."

"Canto XVI, 57
The sky grows dark as if a cloud were there
but the shadow is from arrows, dense overhead.
___

An example of a descriptive scene in few words."

"Example of unexpected humor:

Canto XVI, 83
His arrival turns out to be very timely indeed,
for Zerbino's haggis surely would have been
otherwise cooked.
_____

No one expects a haggis!" 2 comments

"Canto XVII, 4
Evil rulers are worse than wolves for their
hungers are never satisfied. They feed
on flesh and treasure. Terror everywhere
flatters and delights them."

"Charlemagne telling off his nobles before he rushes into the fight himself:

Canto XVII, 15
Now there is only one of that tribe who destroys
our city. And what can he to do you that's worse
than death? Are you such frightened little boys?
Everyone dies. What's nasty and perverse
is dying badly, losing your nerve and poise
so that your names provoke contempt or a curse."

"In case you're tired of battle, never fear!:
Canto XVII, 17
But enough of this wretched violence. Let's turn away
from mayhem and killing and such depressing stuff!
Of burly wicked Saracens, I say -
and I think you will agree with me - enough!
_____

I love it when the book worries I'll get tired of the story it's telling."

"So this knight named Grifon is so stupid that the woman he's in love with has convinced him that the man Grifon found her with is her brother - when actually the guy's her lover. The poem's author/narrator is equally "can you believe this guy?!""

"Made the mistake of sending my father (former lit prof.) some quotes from this (already posted here). He's so psyched to read it he was going to buy his own copy - I've convinced him to wait for me to finish and he can read my copy. Next time will remember to wait til I've finished the book before send the amusing quotes. Meanwhile must speed up and finish this!" 2 comments

"My father called to let me know that he's checked the 1970s translation he has of this - and it's really dull in comparison. And I definitely need to start reading this faster..."

"Story of the monster Orco, which is just like the Cyclops episode in the Odyssey. But still fun in this telling. (wikipedia)"

"Canto XVII, 49
"...Remembering this
my hair horripilates and I tremble."
---

Had to look that up, great word - horripilation: The bristling of the body hair, as from fear or cold; goose bumps.
(Another example of why this translation rocks.)"

"Canto XVII, 75
"You call yourselves Most Christian and claim to be
Catholics, but what does that mean if you go on killing
your brothers in Christ?
...We should all be spilling
the blood of filthy Arabs and Turks who
occupy it and Constantinople too."
---

The Take Back Jerusalem bit plus some anti arab sentiment. The poem's not all love and bloodshed."

"Canto XVII, 130 - Spoiler!

A talented liar, he thinks up some excuse
for not lingering longer. The king regrets,
but gives him gifts and documents, the use
of which we will see later on. And then he lets
him go. But I promise you that there will be news
of him again. Do not take any bets
that he'll get away scot-free. Such evil must
be punished if the world - or poem - is just."

"Canto XVIII, 9
"...Ah but I see no
reason not to get to the point and try
to show how in that scaly suit there could be no
way for the blows of lances hurled at him by
all these men together to penetrate
or hurt him, for its magic was so great."

--That's Rodomonte again, wearing what was called a lizard suit earlier. Apparently enchanted dragon (I think) armor."

"It seems slightly unfair that in the background the angel Michael has teamed up with Discord, Pride, Jealousy, etc. to attack the enemy and help out Charlemagne and company. But since Rodomonte apparently mowed down a chunk of Parisians and the military they need the help."

"Canto XVIII, 91
"...Grifon
is much embarrassed at having caused such bother
and having been so wrong and wronged (but if on
matters of love, we were wiser and picked rather
likelier mates, then what would romancers riff on?).""

"Canto XVIII, 99
This is the maid Marfisa, a woman of great
valor who has often brought to the brow
of Orlando of Brava furrows and even sweat
and to Rinaldo as well. We should mention how
she never takes off her armor, early or late,
day or night, having taken an oath. But now
is not the time for that. She wanders here
and there, looking for knights - and for trouble, I fear."

"Canto XVIII, 109
I don't believe that I have to rehearse here
the story of what happened, for you have read
Orlando Innamorato, which makes it clear
what took place and no more need be said.
---

Why of course you've read the previous book in our series, right? (And I thought only modern authors did this.)"

"Canto XVIII, 113
"...With a swing of her sword she cuts off a head. (These details
are gory but some people like them best.)
Another head she smashes and then she performs
transradial amputations on several arms."
---

For those of you who like to read of female warriors - Marfisa is all about the bloodshed."

"Canto XVIII, 162
Maybe it was the Creator who had some pity
for his creations, for blood flowed on the field
in rivulets into pools and not very pretty
lakes in which the contents were half congealed.
There were eighty thousand corpses - a sizeable city
of dead men. In the skies the vultures wheeled;
the peasants came out to rob the bodies; and when
they left, wolves came to feed upon the men."

"Canto XIX, 2
If hearts were as easy to read as faces, we
would know of those in court who like to oppress
their underlings, and likewise we could see
the wisdom of those who wear humility's dress -
and the lord would exchange their lots so they could be
in their proper places. But pardon, I digress." 8 comments

"Canto XIX, 11 - Medoro, caught in enemy territory:

"Allow me to bury the body of my king.
I ask no quarter for myself. You may
do with my corpse what you like, but I should bring
the proper honors to my liege today.
For me? As Theban Creon, unpitying,
decreed for Polyneices.""

"So Zerbino is terribly impressed with the plea of Medoro to bury his king - because "modesty, the chivalric selflessness" are things he admires. And here I should mention that Zerbino is the son of the King of Scotland. Which always makes me pause to ponder how Scottish that name could actually be."

"Canto XIX, 20 Angelica sees Medoro:

She saw the wounded youth growing ever weaker.
When she heard the details of his story she
was smitten, she thought by pity, but the wreaker
of that pain was Love (as we know him to be).
Her haughty hardened heart was softer and meeker
as she saw the cost of his nobility
of spirit. And in addition to all of these
qualities, his looks did not fail to please."

"Canto XIX, 34
The nuptials over, they spend their honeymoon
right there in the herdman's cottage where they abide
for more than a month, and, morning, night, and noon,
they can't get enough of each other, now inside
and now outdoors by a brook they would commune.
It seems that neither can be satisfied,
nor their appetites for one another sated
in a passion that continues unabated."

"Canto XIX, 57
This part of the Syrian coast, the captain explains,
is owned by weird and murderous females whose
ancient laws put males either in chains
or else to death. For that brave soul who may choose
to escape this dismal fate, their law ordains
that he must fight ten men and never lose,
and if he succeeds at this, must show his might
by bedding ten of their maidens that same night."

Canto XIX, 65
They anchor the ship and six thousand women swarm
down to the harbor, all of them armed with bows
and spears. (For certain tastes this has some charm.)"

"Canto XIX, 73
The discussion among the knights seems to have stalled.
Which of them should attempt to perform the feats
of this biathlon? They're not quite appalled
but puzzled, say, when Marfisa says that the meets
are well within her competence. Is this a bald
lie? What has she planned for between the sheets?
If there is one who has guessed or who may think he
has the answer, hush! It's rather kinky."

"Canto XIX, 87
...She cleaves his skull lengthwise as in those cunning
figures of the head you find on stands
in doctor's office. The model explains
what the parts are from the skull inside to the brains."

"Canto XX, 2
Women have achieved in every art
and craft the highest distinction, and their fame
is great indeed. They're strong and they are smart.
Without them history couldn't have been the same.
I rather think it is envy on men's part
that keeps concealed the honor and acclaim
they have deserved. If their work is not taught in schools,
it is because men are jealous - or are fools."

"Canto XX, 3
In our own age, fair women of talent and
worth are everywhere and deserve that pen
and paper record their prowess and their grand
achievements, so that in the future, when
people study our times they will understand
the excellence of the ladies. Only then
will envious anti-feminist chatter at last
cease, as even Marfisa's fame is surpassed."

"Canto XX, 125 - Zerbino and Marfisa joust over old woman:

"Okay, okay," Marfisa agreed. "We'll trade.
The loser gets to keep her. And the winner
walks away. Your ardor for the maid
is minimal, it appears. Although her inner
beauty is great, as cannot be gainsaid,
on the outside she is rather a dog's dinner.
If you should lose to me you'll take her where -
ever she wants to go. Does that sound fair?""

"Canto XX, 134 - poet reminds us of Zerbino love life, which was many pages back:

...he was none
other than the man of whom the poor
Isabella had told her with many a moan
and sigh a while back in that cave. (And your
recollection, too, I think may need
some help, unless you remember all that you read.)"

"The old woman is Gabrina who was in love with a knight Philander (who refused her) so she falsely accused him of rape - very Joseph and Potiphar's wife - Gabrina's husband was Phil's friend. And then she triecked Phil into murdering her husband, and then escape with her. Then she had Phil poisoned. She is indeed evil, but Zerbino's stuck with her."

"Canto XXI, 60
"...With deadly poison (what other kind is there?)"
----

I love it when the poem asks the questions that I'm thinking."

"Canto XXII, 1 - apology to the reader:

You ladies, pleasant, courteous, and constant,
with but a single lover, let me say
that nothing I've written about Gabrina was meant
to apply to any of you in any way,
for few of you are like her. (One percent?)
I shouldn't like to displease you but, if I may,
I am obliged to resume my excoriation
of her as I return to our narration."

"Canto XXII, 16 - the excitement of an index in 1500s:

He sees that he's been in this room before and he
begins to understand that the palace might
somehow be enchanted. But fortunately
he remembers the book that Logistilla one night
in India had given him. There, you see,
were charms and magic spells an errant knight
might need to know about from wicked mages.
Its index sent him at once to the proper pages."

"Astolfo, a man torn between a newly found hippogryph to ride and Rabican, the horse who loves him. And whom he loves right back - and can't just leave behind with no one to look after. Multiple cantos on this dilemma. Horses get a lot of attention in this poem.

(Dore illustration of hippogryph from this book)"

"Canto XXII, 63 - back to one of the women in armor in our story (who seem to enjoy defeating pretty knights more than the rest):

Bradamante thought he was pretty and she
wanted to have the honor of knocking him off
his high horse.
...She didn't argue about this but would be
a spectator. She knew she would have enough
opportunity later, here or in town,
to display her talent for knocking strong men down."

"Canto XXIII, 20 - Bradamante sees her home in the distance:

...she sees Montalban - which would be very good
except that to go and visit her family will
delay her meeting with Ruggiero. Should
she stop to visit, they will detain her there.
She's in love, but will her family care?

---But then she meets her brother on the road and so she has to go home and not to meet Ruggiero. Poor thing."

"Canto XXIII, 52 - Gabrino falsely accuses Zerbino of a murder:

The morning dawns in particular splendor with blue
skies bedecked with yellow and roseate clouds,
but the mood of the streets is utterly black and you
can hear shouts of "Death to him" from the crowds.
---

But hey, at least it's a nice day for an execution." 3 comments

"Canto XXIII, 128 - many cantos of him upset over Angelica marrying another:

"I am not Orlando. He is dead
and buried. This is a ghost, a zombie, or
some wraith from the underworld whose heart it lead.
She did this to me, she! All you who adore
some maiden with your soul, listen instead
to my sad story of wretchedness and more
disgrace than I can describe."
--

And there's been LOTS of crying and wailing too."

"Canto XXIX, 42 - Orlando runs mad:

"...He does not look formidable for he
is going about in the nude. It would be politer
to put on pants, perhaps, but courtesy
seems not to weigh much with him. He's either tight or
out of his mind.""

"Canto XXIX, 52
"He's naked, he's crazy, his eyes are rolling, but he's still Orlando after all...
He does not deign to speak, but with his mouth shut
he gives them an answer as clear as clear can be,
kicking the donkey in the chest to send
it high in the air where it sails end over end.
----

The donkey flies about a mile away and lands on a hill."

"Canto XXIX, 57 - after Orlando rips someone in half:

"...Our Turpin heard
of his account and wrote of it - if you seek
authority for this, you have the word
of that Archbishop. (I would never sneak
fictions into this narrative but have referred
to the best and most trustworthy accounts that I
can find. Do I exaggerate? That I deny!)""

"Canto XXIX, 63 - As part of his insanity Orlando seems to be giving a lot of animals a hard time:

"...He punches Medoro's horse. It falls to the ground
instantly, dead as a stone."" 4 comments

"Canto XXIX, 71-2, Orlando and horse problem (she = the horse):

"...At length she drops and dies, but he does not
notice. He keeps on going at a trot.
What makes this strange is that he drags a dead
horse behind him.""

"Canto XXIX, 74 - an anti-Angelica bit, which is odd as she never pledged herself to Orlando, instead he and all other men assumed she belonged to them. But now it's ALL women are ungrateful:

"In or out of his mind,
he was right about their ingratitude for our
many services.
...you see this often enough so it can sour
your outlook...""

"Canto XXX,4 - except now at the beginning of the next Canto our narrator apologizes about the anti-women rant.

"I say stupid things sometimes and am in as sad
case as Orlando nearly, but with less excuse
than he had, wandering Spain, utterly mad
and dragging a dead horse behind him, the use
of which escapes me, but we know he had
a distorted frame of mind and different views.""

"Canto XXX,9
"...They never seemed to object,
but then the dead very seldom argue with you...""

"Canto XXXIV,64 - another narrator aside about a bit of the backstory:

"...(the story of this is
in Orlando Innamorato, which you ought
to read one of these days)...""

"Saint John (who folklore claims never died) and Astolfo take Elijah's chariot to the moon. To find a cure for Orlando's madness. Because everything is completely logical after Orlando can suddenly punch a mule a mile into the distance."

"Canto XXXIV,72
"On the moon there are rivers and lakes and hills and dales
like those we have but different. And also towns
with houses and public buildings, but on such scales
as we are not accustomed to. He frowns
in amazement and concentration, for earth pales
in comparison. There are also woods and downs
where nymphs and fauns are hunting fierce moon beasts
and celebrating afterwards with feasts.""

"Canto XXXIV,75 - on the moon you can find many things people have lost; money, fame, vows, time, health, etc:

"...And books of ours
that we intended to study rather than taste.
Those can often be heavier losses than
material things in the life of any man.""

"Canto XXXIV,79
"There are also many ruined cities and ghost
towns in which one can still see much treasure
that someone has hoarded up and somehow lost.
...There are snakes with the faces of ladies of pleasure,
which are representations of counterfeiters and thieves
and of card sharps with aces up their sleeves.""

"XXXIV,85 - huge amount of flasks full of lost wits:

"...who down on earth can we suppose
has all his wits or, lacking some, may still
think himself totally sane? Nobody knows,
but clearly a lot of our reason is here to fill
these flasks on the moon. We have no idea we're sick
and everyone more of less is a lunatic.""

"XXXVI,37 - Bradamante vs Ruggiero

"...here they are advancing
with dangerous hardware as if they were two foes
instead of a couple who have been romancing.""

"After Astolfo hung out with Saint John on the moon he's somehow got this uber prayer power hotline to God. First he prays, rolls rocks down hill - and bam, they turn into horses. Later he does the same thing to turn leaves into boats to transport his army."

"XXXIX,51 - after mad Orlando hits Oliver in the head, suddenly it's a helmet commercial:

"I ought not to interrupt the narrative flow
but one must observe the value of having the best
helmet one can find. There would have been no
chance for Oliver otherwise. Invest
in excellent equipment before you go
off to fight.""

"XXXIX,58 - Orlando, cured of madness, has no idea what he's been up to:

"...He regrets
that he seems to be, for whatever reason, nude,
which strikes him as both indecorous and rude.""

"XXXIX,84-5
"...while he still has his hand
on the gunwale it gets cut off. (I understand
the phrase "all hands on deck," in the light of this
grisly moment.) The rest of the body falls
into the water...""

"Canto XLVI,123
"Had the helmet not been magic, the sword would have cleft
it and the skull and the rider at one blow,
and maybe even the horse, and what would be left
would be two disgusting but matching halves but, no,
the magic worked."
---

Instead of rider I accidentally typed reader, which made the scene much more personal."