''Morgante'' (sometimes also called , the name given to the complete 28-canto, 30,080-line edition published in 1483See Lèbano's introduction to the Tusiani translation, p. xxii.) is an Italian romantic

epic Epic commonly refers to: * Epic poetry, a long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation * Epic film, a genre of film defined by the spectacular presentation of human drama on a grandiose scale Epic(s) ...

Luigi Pulci Luigi Pulci (; 15 August 1432 – 11 November 1484) was an Italian diplomat and poet best known for his '' Morgante'', an epic and parodistic poem about a giant who is converted to Christianity by Orlando and follows the knight in many adventu ...

which appeared in its final form in 1483; a now-lost 23-canto version likely appeared in late 1478; two other 23-canto versions were published in 1481 and 1482. The work was commissioned by

Lucrezia Tornabuoni Lucrezia Tornabuoni (22 June 1427 – 28 March 1482) was an Italian noblewoman, wife of Piero di Cosimo de' Medici, de facto Lord of Florence and his political adviser. Lucrezia had significant political influence during the rule of her husband ...

Based on popular

Matter of France The Matter of France (), also known as the Carolingian cycle, is a body of medieval literature and legendary material associated with the history of France, in particular involving Charlemagne and the Paladins. The cycle springs from the Old Fr ...

material, the poem tells the story of

Orlando Orlando commonly refers to: * Orlando, Florida, a city in the United States Orlando may also refer to: People * Orlando (given name), a masculine name, includes a list of people with the name * Orlando (surname), includes a list of people wit ...

and

Renaud de Montauban Renaud (or Renaut or Renault) de Montauban (Modern ; ; ; or ) was a legendary hero and knight which appeared in a 12th-century Old French known as ''The Four Sons of Aymon''. The four sons of Duke Aymon are Renaud, Richard, Alard and Guiscard, ...

(in Italian, ''Renaldo'' or ''Rinaldo''), the most famous of

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( ; 2 April 748 – 28 January 814) was List of Frankish kings, King of the Franks from 768, List of kings of the Lombards, King of the Lombards from 774, and Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor of what is now known as the Carolingian ...

paladin The Paladins, also called the Twelve Peers (), are twelve legendary knights, the foremost members of Charlemagne's court in the 8th century. They first appear in the medieval (12th century) ''chanson de geste'' cycle of the Matter of France, wh ...

s, in a frequently

burlesque A burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects.

fashion. The title character is a

giant In folklore, giants (from Ancient Greek: ''wiktionary:gigas, gigas'', cognate wiktionary:giga-, giga-) are beings of humanoid appearance, but are at times prodigious in size and strength or bear an otherwise notable appearance. The word ''gia ...

who becomes Orlando's loyal follower after the knight stops him from attacking the monastery of Chiaromonte and converts him to Christianity. After many strange adventures, Morgante is killed by a bite from a crab. Other characters include Morgante's friend, the gluttonous Margutte, who dies in a fit of laughter, and the philosophically inclined demon Astarotte. The poem ends with an account of Orlando's defeat and death at the

Battle of Roncesvalles The Battle of Roncevaux Pass ( French and English spelling, '' Roncesvalles'' in Spanish, ''Orreaga'' in Basque) in 778 saw a large force of Basques ambush a part of Charlemagne's army in Roncevaux Pass, a high mountain pass in the Pyrenees on ...

. The last five cantos of Pulci's work are based on ''

La Spagna ''La Spagna'' (, English: "Spain"), also called ''La Spagna in rima'',Peter Brand and Lino Pertile, eds. ''The Cambridge History of Italian Literature''. Cambridge: 1996; revised edition: 1999, p.169. is a 14th-century Italian epic attributed to t ...

'', a 14th-century Italian epic attributed to the Florentine Sostegno di Zanobi.Peter Brand and Lino Pertile, eds. ''The Cambridge History of Italian Literature'' Cambridge: 1996; revised edition: 1999, p.169.

Lord Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824) was an English poet. He is one of the major figures of the Romantic movement, and is regarded as being among the greatest poets of the United Kingdom. Among his best-kno ...

translated the first

canto The canto () is a principal form of division in medieval and modern long poetry. Etymology and equivalent terms The word ''canto'' is derived from the Italian word for "song" or "singing", which comes from the Latin ''cantus'', "song", from th ...

of ''Morgante'' in 1822. In 1983 the Italian-American poet

Joseph Tusiani Joseph Tusiani (January 14, 1924 – April 11, 2020) was an Italian-American poet, translator, and novelist. He served as a professor emeritus of languages and literature at Lehman College and was named New York State Poet Laureate Emeritus in 2 ...

translated in English all 30,080 verses of this work, subsequently published as a book in 2000 by

Indiana University Press Indiana University Press, also known as IU Press, is an academic publisher founded in 1950 at Indiana University that specializes in the humanities and social sciences. Its headquarters are located in Bloomington, Indiana. IU Press publishes ...

Notes

References

*''Morgante'' ed. Franca Ageno (Mondadori, 1994). *''Morgante: The Epic Adventures of Orlando and His Giant Friend'' a complete English translation by Joseph Tusiani. Introduction and notes by Edoardo Lèbano. (Indiana University Press, 1998) * 1483 books Epic poems in Italian Matter of France Chivalric sagas {{saga-stub