Canto VIII explained

What happens

Themes in this chapter

• Magic and the Supernatural

  Rogero uses Atlantes' magic shield; Melissa restores transformed knights; the orc and Proteus myth underscore supernatural elements.

• Betrayal and Deception

  Alcina's enchantments and the false friar's attempted assault on Angelica highlight themes of deceit.

• Fate and Free Will

  Angelica's capture and impending sacrifice seem fated, while Rogero's escape demonstrates agency.

Characters to notice

• Rogero

  Escapes Alcina's realm using the magic shield.

• Astolpho

  Restored to his true shape by Melissa.

• Melissa

  Restores Astolpho and others to their true forms.

• Rinaldo

  Levies knights and squadrons to aid Charlemagne.

• Angelica

  Captured by pirates while asleep and taken to Ebuda for sacrifice.

• Orlando

  Departs Paris after a vision warns him of Angelica's peril.

• Charlemagne

  Besieged by the Moorish army; prays for divine aid.

• Alcina

  Enraged by Rogero's escape and the loss of her guard.

Key passages

• “Rogero, still dissembling, as I said, Armed, to the gate on Rabican did ride; Found the guard unprepared, not let his blade, Amid that crowd, hang idle at his side: He passed the bridge, and broke the palisade, Some slain, some maimed; then t'wards the forest hied;”

  Rogero, pretending to be someone else, rode armed to the gate on his horse Rabican, caught the guards off guard, and fought his way through, killing and wounding many before fleeing toward the forest.

  Rogero's escape from Alcina's realm.

• “In the mean time, Alcina, who had heard How he had forced the gate, and, in the press, Slaughtered a mighty number of her guard, Remained nigh dead, o'erwhelmed with her distress: She tore her vesture, and her visage marred, And cursed her want of wit and wariness.”

  Alcina, upon learning that Rogero had broken out and killed many of her guards, was devastated, tearing her clothes and face, and blaming her own foolishness.

  Alcina's reaction to Rogero's escape.

• “Oppressed with heavy sleep upon the shore, The lovely virgin, ere awake, they chain: With her, the enchanter friar the pirates bore On board their ship, a sad, afflicted train.”

  While Angelica was deeply asleep on the beach, the pirates chained her and took her, along with the false friar, onto their ship, all of them sorrowful.

  Angelica's capture by pirates.

• “Who shall relate the anguish, the lament And outcry which against the welkin knock? I marvel that the sea-shore was not rent, When she was placed upon the rugged block, Where, chained and void of help, the punishment Of loathsome death awaits her on the rock.”

  The poet wonders who could describe the grief and cries that rose to the sky when Angelica was chained to the rock, awaiting a horrible death from the orc.

  Angelica's sacrifice to the orc.