Orlando Furioso · Chapter
Canto XXIII explained
Bradamant slays the treacherous Pinnabel and then wanders lost in the woods, lamenting her separation from Rogero.
What happens
Bradamant slays the treacherous Pinnabel and then wanders lost in the woods, lamenting her separation from Rogero. Rodomont seizes Frontino from Hippalca and challenges Rogero. Zerbino discovers Pinnabel's body and is later suspected of the murder. Astolpho prepares to depart on the Hippogryph and entrusts Rabican to Bradamant. Orlando, learning from a shepherd of Angelica's love for Medoro, is driven to madness and roams the forest in despair.
Themes in this chapter
Betrayal and Deception
Pinnabel's treachery against Bradamant is punished by her hand; Angelica's faithlessness drives Orlando to madness.
Love and Chivalry
Bradamant's sorrow for Rogero and Orlando's jealous rage highlight the destructive power of love intertwined with knightly honor.
Fate and Free Will
Bradamant's wandering and Orlando's madness suggest a fateful inevitability, while characters like Rodomont assert their will through challenges.
Characters to notice
- Bradamant
Kills Pinnabel in vengeance, then wanders lost, lamenting her separation from Rogero; later meets Astolpho and accepts Rabican.
- Rodomont
Seizes Frontino from Hippalca and boasts of his prowess, challenging Rogero.
- Zerbino
Discovers Pinnabel's body and, fearing accusation, leaves with Gabrina; later hears the mourning in Altaripa.
- Astolpho
Prepares to depart on the Hippogryph and entrusts Rabican to Bradamant.
- Orlando
Learns of Angelica's love for Medoro from a shepherd and descends into madness, wandering the forest in grief.
- Angelica
Mentioned as having healed and wed Medoro, leaving a bracelet as reward; her faithlessness triggers Orlando's madness.
Key passages
“Dead lay Sir Pinnabel, and bathed in gore; From whom such streams of blood profusely flow, As were a cause for wonderment, had more Swords than a hundred joined to lay him low.”
Pinnabel lies dead, covered in so much blood that it seems as if a hundred swords had struck him.
Describes the aftermath of Bradamant's vengeance.
“These are no longer real tears which rise, And which I scatter from so full a vein. Of tears my ceaseless sorrow lacked supplies; They stopt when to mid-height scarce rose my pain.”
Orlando declares that his tears are not ordinary sorrow but the very moisture of his life being drained by his anguish.
Orlando's lament as he descends into madness.