Ariosto in America

Reviews Ariosto in America JULIUS A . MOLINARO Orlando Furioso: The Ring of Angelica, volume I Translated by Richard Hodgens. Introduction by Lin Carter New York: Ballantine Books '973. 224. $1.25 (us) Ariosto 1974 in America: Aft; del Congresso Ariostesco in America, Dicembre 1974, Casa Italiana della Columbia University Edited by AIda Scaglione. Foreword by Maristella Lorch and James V. Mirollo Ravenna: Longo Editore 1976. xv, 18g. $8.00 (us) The Satires of Ludovico Ariosto: A Renaissance Autobiography Translated by Peter DeSa Wiggins Athens: Ohio University Press 1976. xlv, 187. $11.00 (us) The years around 1974, which was the five-hundredth anniversary of Ludovico Ariosto, witnessed an outpouring of publications dealing with the authorand his work, in Italy as well as in America, where he continues to receive the attention accorded a major figure of world literature. This review will look at three books: the first, an English prose version of the first thirteen cantos of the Orlando Furioso; the second, a collection of essays; the third a·translation of Ariosto's Satires into English. The most recent prose translation - by Guido Waldman, who takes the view that Ariosto is untranslatable into English verse - appeared in 1974 under the imprint of the Oxford University Press. The latest verse rendition - by Barbara Reynolds, who challenges Waldman's view, observing the original rhyme scheme of Ariosto's stanzas - came out in two volumes (from Penguin), the first in 1975, the second in 1977. Ballantine Books published Richard Hodgens's translation of the first thirteen cantos of the Orlando Furioso in 1973 in a volume entitled The Ring of Angelica. This is the first in a series of volumes designed to include all forty-six cantos. The introduction is by Lin Carter, editorof the Ballantine Adult Fantasy Series and of two collections of tales of ancient fantasy from epic saga, myth, and romance. He first became interested in a translation of the whole of the Orlando Furioso after UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO QUARTERLY, VOLUME XLVII1 , NUMBER 2 , WINTER 1978/9 0042-0247179/0200-0172 $01·50/0 © UNIVERSIlY OF TORONTO PRESS 1979 reading Chapter 12 of Hodgens's version, called 'The Palace of Illusions.' He immediately inserted Golden Cities, Far into his anthology, convinced as he was of Hodgens's ability to produce a translation in 'clear English prose.' Carter's assertion that all the other English translations known tohim represented 'dismal attempts to render the sparkling and agile ottava rima into lumbering English rhymed couplets' is an overstatement which would be difficult to prove. His opinion that the Orlando Furioso is deficient in plot structure and organic unity similarly lacks substance though no one would argue with him about Ariosto's liveliness or sense of humour. Richard Hodgens, described by Carter as a science fiction and fantasy writer, handles his task in such a way as to bring out Ariosto's talent as a story-teller. The Ring of Angelica is a free reworking of the Orlando Furioso rather than a faithful translation, but it succeeds in retaining the spirit of the original. For purposes of comparison, here is the first octave in Guido Waldman's prose version and beside it Hodgens's: WALDMAN I sing of knights and ladies, of love and arms, of courtly chivalry, of courageous deeds - all from the time when the Moors crossed the sea from Africa and wrought havoc in France. I shall tell of the anger, the fiery rage of young Agramant their king, whose boast it was that he would avenge himself on Charles, Emperor of Rome, for King Trojan's death. HODGENS I celebrate the ladies, knights, arms, affairs, ancient chivalries and brave deeds of that time when the Moors of Africa crossed the sea and ravaged France, following the wrath and youthful fury of Agramante, their king, who boasted that he would avenge the death of his father, Troiano, on Charlemagne the Roman Emperor. Hodgens has converted the first thirteen cantos of the Orlanda Furioso into thirteen chapters, and put these into the first volume of his translation, each chapter with its own title invented by the translator. He omits words or phrases when it suits him although he tries to render...