Orlando furioso: an Italian graded reader at level B1

Glossary

ampolla · vial ((sin. fiala, boccetta))

Un piccolo vaso di vetro dal collo stretto, per conservare liquidi.

A small narrow-necked glass vessel for keeping liquids.

On the Moon, in a valley, stand thousands of vials: inside each is the sense that someone lost on Earth. Orlando's is the largest of all. The image is comic and terrible at once (human reason reduced to a liquid in a bottle) and it is one of the most quoted inventions in the literature of any age.

anello · ring ((sin. cerchietto, vera))

Un piccolo cerchio di metallo che si porta al dito.

A small circle of metal worn on the finger.

Angelica's ring is the most powerful magic object in the book: on the finger it cancels every spell, in the mouth it makes you invisible. It passes from hand to hand (Brunello steals it, Bradamante wins it, Melissa carries it, Angelica takes it back) and at every passage it changes the story. It is the great-grandfather of every magic ring in modern literature.

armatura · armour ((sin. corazza, difesa))

L'insieme di piastre di metallo che protegge il corpo di un cavaliere.

The set of metal plates protecting a knight's body.

Armour in the poem is a second skin: it says who you are, protects you, represents you. That is why the scene where Orlando tears his armour off is so powerful: he is not removing clothing, he is removing his own name. A knight without armour, in the world of the Furioso, is no longer a knight: only a man.

assedio · siege ((sin. accerchiamento, blocco))

L'accerchiamento di una città per costringerla ad arrendersi.

The encirclement of a city to force it to surrender.

The siege of Paris is the backdrop of the whole poem: while the knights chase loves and enchantments, a real war is fought beneath the walls. Ariosto alternates the two planes constantly (fable and history) and the siege is there to remind us that his heroes' choices have a price: every paladin who rides away is one sword fewer on the walls.

avventura · adventure ((sin. impresa, peripezia))

Un'esperienza fuori dall'ordinario, piena di rischi e di sorprese.

An out-of-the-ordinary experience, full of risks and surprises.

The Furioso is the adventure machine: every crossroads hides one, every character chases another. Ariosto weaves them like threads of a carpet: he leaves one hero on the edge of a cliff and moves to the next. Today's readers call it suspense; he called it the art of 'leaving Orlando' at the right moment.

battesimo · baptism ((sin. rito d'ingresso, sacramento))

Il rito con cui una persona entra nella religione cristiana.

The rite by which a person enters the Christian religion.

Ruggiero's baptism is the promise running through the whole poem: the prophecy announces it, Bradamante waits for it, Atlante fears it. When it finally comes, on the hermit's island, it is no solemn scene: it is a man saved from the sea keeping his word. In the Furioso even destiny's turning points have simple manners.

The glossary contains 49 entries in all