Essays and travelogues about Medieval France and Italy, focusing on the legends of Charlemagne as well as an occasional post on anything else that strikes my fancy.
Joseph Campbell
famously described the commonalities of myths and stories told throughout the
world as “the hero with a thousand faces” meaning that regardless of the name
of the particular hero or the locale in which a monster was fought - there was
an underlying mythos capturing our imaginations. That is why heroic stories
persist throughout the ages and continue to be propagated for new generations.
One method that allows readers or audiences to recognize the significance of
what role each character plays in the story whether they are hero, ally or
adversary is by using stock figures or archetypes. I use the term archetype differently
than what was described by Carl Jung, so I am not limited to his set of twelve
archetypes. My use is more in line with recognizing stock figures that become
icons in literature and drama.
From the Ariosto Room in the Il Casino Giustiani Massimo al Laterano in Rome, Italy. Picture credit to Marco Ferrara.
Bradamante is the
niece of Charlemagne and a respected warrior maiden. Ariosto praises her beauty
as well as declaring her to be equal in “courage, might and expertise” to that
of her famous brother Rinaldo, (Orlando furioso, Canto II, verse 31).
Archetypically, I feel that Bradamante’s character had
two major influences. The first was the Greek Goddess Athena.
From the Louvre Museum in Paris.
She was the
goddess of wisdom and victory and known for her cool-headed strategic planning.
No man ever captured Athena’s heart.
The second influence was of the historical figure of
Joan of Arc or Jeanne d’Arc. I find that comparison more compelling and I feel
that it was not incidental, but instead a deliberate attempt by Ariosto to
invoke the parallels between the literary heroine and the real life French martyr.
Jeanne d’Arc who was burned at the stake in 1431 at the age of 19. She had been
known for riding a white horse, carrying a banner made of white fabric, was
called “the Maid,” had cropped hair and dressed in men’s clothing.
Jeanne d'Arc, St. Étienne Cathedrale in Cahors, France
Bradamante was a young woman, most likely a teenager, and is described as
having a white shield with a white plume (Orlando furioso, Canto I, verse 60) and is often referred to as
“the Maid.” The color white is known for the symbolic virtues of purity and
innocence. Bradamante also had cropped hair, due to a blow to the
back of her head by an enemy warrior near the end of Boiardo’s poem Orlando innamorato(Book III Canto v, verse 46) and a
hermit cut her hair to tend to the wound. (Book III, Canto ix, verse 61)
Ariosto neglected to
mention the length of Bradamante’s hair until finally in Canto 25 when her twin
brother Ricciardetto relates a tale to Ruggiero of how people commonly confuse
him and his sister Bradamante since they have such great resemblance to each
other. The confusion about her sex was compounded when she lost her tresses due to the head injury. (Orlando furioso, Canto XXV, verses 22-24)
Bradamante also disguised herself as a man when she approached
the thief Brunello at an inn and sought to have him serve as her guide to find
where Ruggiero was being held captive.
“Name, sex, race, family and place of birth
She hides, watching his hands for all she’s worth.” (Orlando furioso, Canto III, verse 76)
The greatest differences between Bradamante and Jeanne d’Arc
is that the literary heroine is revered by her king, never accused of
heresy, has a love life, and a much better fate than the historical figure.
Here are more artistic renderings of Bradamante.
Illustration by Gustave Doré based on Orlando furioso, Canto III, verse 9. (Doré was inspired to begin his drawings before reading the entire poem to discover in Canto XXV that Bradamante's tresses were cut to make her resemble a boy.)
Plate 20 by Jean Honoré Fragonard of Bradamant fighting Atlante on the hippogriff.
I happen to have purchased that image when a facsimile of it was sold on eBay. The scan is from my copy.
Of all the characters in Orlando innamorato and Orlando furioso, my favorite is Bradamante. She is a strong heroine who rarely loses her temper. Twice she gave into seeking revenge. Once was going after Martisino and the second was Pinabel. Both times she suffered due to her lust for vengeance. In Fate of the Saracen Knight, Bradamante hears rumors of Ruggiero being romantically involved with another warrior maiden. Will she suffer if she sets out on another quest for vengeance?
I had a rollicking good time talking with Professor Richard Scott Nokes over Skype on December 8th, 2018.
After finishing the interview, I realized that I had forgotten to bring up a few things I wanted to mention. I gave a lot of advice on the writing process and thought hyperlinks might be helpful for those interested in following up on them.
One aspect of the interview that makes this a little out of the ordinary was the time spent getting the tech stuff working. We spent over half an hour trying to get the Skype application to record. After several failed attempts, Professor Nokes got it working. He started to record, but I didn't see the banner at the top indicating it was recording. I didn't want us to begin talking in earnest and have to start all over again.
I mention this because that mistake on my part is the first half minute of the video. After we stopped talking Professor Nokes spent about an hour editing the raw footage and uploaded the unedited raw footage. D'oh!
What you really missed was the cool introductory musical theme song that precedes his interviews. To get you in the proper mood, here is the music you should hear before his interviews:
And here is a re-posting of the interview with time stamps of my annotations.
At 2:04 I mention that my series is based on the legends of Charlemagne that were told and retold in the south of France and north of Italy for several centuries. For those interested in learning more, Fordham University has a website dedicated to those legends.
2:55 I mention one of the most famous contributions to the legends of Charlemagne, The Song of Roland or La Chanson de Roland. Here is a link to Fordham University's online translation and a link to Amazon.com's trade paperback version.
3:50 I show my copies of Barbara Reynolds' translations of Orlando furioso. Here are links to those copies on Amazon.com Part One and Part Two. Those books are my preferred version of this epic poem. They are in verse and there is a lot of white space, so I find it easier to read. Guido Waldman has a one volume version, and it is written in prose. I find it difficult to read because the font is so small, and there is little white space. Here is a link to his version on Amazon.com
A free online version by Project Gutenberg can be found at this link. A fair bit of warning though. This is the William Stewart Rose translation. I started reading this epic poem by printing out a few cantos of this version and found it utterly confusing. Later, once I read the versions by both Reynolds and Waldman, I went back and checked a few choice passages. Rose refused to translate some of the bawdier ones. Bummer.
(As a side note: I do not recommend the latest translation of Orlando furioso by David R. Slavitt. That is because his publisher heavily abridged his work and deleted numerous cantos that cover the Bradamante and Ruggiero story. I disagree with the editorial decision to cut my favorite storyline from the poem, and so I cannot recommend that version. )
5:50 Professor Awesome asks me to define Saracen. Here is a link to one online definition from the Online Etymology Dictionary.
I use Saracen in my title as one of the magic terms that helps to conjure the genre, time period and meaning of the novel in as few words as possible. Fate is reminiscent of the Oracle of Delphi and those in Greek mythology trying to change their destinies. Saracen is a term that went out of use after the Medieval period. Knight is also a Medieval term used in regard to war and chivalry.
Together the three terms should help readers know this is an epic historic fantasy set in the Medieval period.
8:50 I show my copy of Orlando innamorato by Matteo Maria Boiardo, translated by Charles Stanley Ross. This is the full unabridged version by Parlor Press. Here is a link to Amazon.com's trade paperpack.
Warning: there is a previous edition by Ross that was abridged and did not include Book III of Boiardo's tale. Bradamante and Ruggiero meet in Book III, Canto iv. I was disappointed after finishing that abridged version to realize that it did not include the scene that I most wanted to read.
10:00 Discussion about fantasy elements in realistic settings. I realize in retrospect, I didn't really answer Professor Awesome's questions about this aspect of my story.
I agree that it is difficult to strike a balance between fantasy and realism. I am retelling a story about a war that never took place between the North African Muslim army and Charlemagne's Frankish army. My goal was to make the setting feel like Medieval Europe (and North Africa) that would include historically accurate details about Roman artifacts, cultural beliefs, religious restrictions, etc. And then, there is magic, but few have the ability to cast magical spells. They are: Atallah, Melissa, and Maugis. Aistulf was given a magical book which has allowed him to cast some spells, but he is not a wizard.
For the most part, the characters live in a realistic and non-magical world, but there are times when flights of fancy come into play. The flights of the hippogriff is the most notable.
Orlando furioso included iconic visits to the Underworld and the flight to the moon by Aistulf. I had to include them, but I wanted more realism in the storyline to at least help me to "buy the premise." I feel that if I can't buy it, I can't sell it.
22:15 I mentioned writing a Master's Thesis. For anyone interested in it, here's a link to Sonoma State University's library copy of The Cultural Evolution of the Cave Man.
And here is a link to the Fifth year Harry Potter Fic that I wrote back in 2003. It won the Readers' Choice Award for novel length story on the now defunct website Portkey.org
24:30 Question about how to begin becoming a writer.
And here is where my annotation, really takes off. There are many other aspects of the craft of writing that I learned over the years from belonging to my writers club. My branch has had workshops about various topic as well as talks at our monthly meetings or sessions in writers conferences. Each one of these topics is worthy of extensive blog posts or entire books.
***One thing that I meant to bring up in my discussion with Professor Awesome, but forgot are the sheets of paper affixed with blue painters tape to the wall behind me. Those are the months of June, July, August and September of the year 802. That was one way for me to determine when different plot events took place.
The calendar was found at www.timeanddate.com
This also includes the phases of the moon. I include that information
in my story. If there's a mention of a full moon, I'm not making it up.
And, if I have my characters do something outdoors at night and I don't
want a full moon's worth of light - I will make it rain or overcast or
foggy.
Using a calendar to structure your underlying
plot will give backbone to your story. I recommend all writers have a
beginning day and year in mind. Then establish your timeline of events
accordingly to that date. It will help you to avoid continuity errors.
I had a friend whose manuscript I read as a critique group partner. Her novel had the climax of her story being on the Thanksgiving holiday. The problem was that she had not been as careful in planning the events as she should have been and she had two Wednesdays worth of chapters. There was a line where she stated it was Wednesday, but I knew it wasn't. That's because I ground myself on the days of the week and other nitpicky details. I then gave suggestions as to how she could move certain events to still make her climactic events happen on the day she wanted.
The use of a calendar to determine the dates of plot points is something I recommend every writer use.
The calendars on my office wall are hard to see, but the events in the months of July and August
are written in pencil, because those already took place in Quest of the Warrior Maiden. Fate of the Saracen Knight takes place in the months of July and August. The different color Post-It notes represent different character POVs that are being represented in chapters or are background information for me to know who was where and doing what on that day. For example: blue is for Bradamante, dark orange is for Ruggiero, yellow is either Renaud or Aistulf, light orange is for Rodomont or Akramont.
I tend to write one action/adventure sequence before switching to a different character's action/adventure sequence. Later, to balance the work I will shuffle the chapters together. To achieve balance, I may have to switch the days of different plot points. Having those plot points on color coded Post-It notes helps me visually re-organize and balance my storyline.
Once I start working on Volume III, I will update those calendars and create new months. ***
Wattpad is another global forum for writers and readers.
So if you live in a rural area and/or cannot find any writers groups in your local area you can try one of those two online websites. Go schmooze, find like minded people and engage with them.
38:30 I recommended the book Audition: Everything an Actor Needs to Know to Get the Part by Michael Shurtleff. Oops. There are twelve guideposts for actors, I misspoke and said ten. Humor is Guidepost 4. Here is a small excerpt to demonstrate why I adore Shurtleff's book and his advice.
"Humor is not jokes. It is that attitude toward being alive without which you would long ago have jumped off the Fifty-ninth Street Bridge.
Humor is not being funny. It is the coin of exchange between human beings that makes it possible for us to get through the day. Humor exists even in the humorless.
There is humor in every scene, just as there is in every situation in life. There is humor in Chekhov (too seldom found) and even in Eugene O'Neill (virtually never found). When we say about a life situation, "And it's not funny, either," we are attempting to inject humor into a situation that lacks it. We try in life to put humor everywhere; if we didn't, we couldn't bear to live." - page 53
So yes, as writers, we need humor in our writing. Even if the only humor in a scene is gallows humor.
44:30 There was a mention of Medieval Conferences. I twice attended the International Congress on Medieval Studies at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan. I delivered papers about Carolingian legends and Ariosto. I will be delivering another paper in May 2019 in a session organized by the Société Rencesvals. My paper is titled "To Die For:
Duels by knights in Orlando innamorato and Orlando
furioso over swords, horses, heraldic symbols, and women."
( I should at some point finish writing citations of the two papers I delivered at Kalamazoo and upload them to Academia.edu. One of my papers, "Ludovico Ariosto’s Legacy: Inspiring Countless Artists, Playwrights, Novelists,
Filmmakers, and Puppet Theater" was filled with images and the challenge I have is finding good online sources for those images and then go through the cumbersome process of MLA citation. That shows my work ethic that I don't want to publish a paper online without my citations being in order. That will probably wait until some rainy day when I am procrastinating from doing other writing.)
I think that's all for now.
Here's a reminder that the both Quest of the Warrior Maidenand Fate of the Saracen Knightare discounted in the month of December. If you know someone who loves reading and would like to fill their physical or digital bookshelves, please send them the gift of reading. Or give yourself a gift and be transported back to the time of Charlemagne.
In honor of Ludovico Ariosto's 539th birthday on September 8, 2013, I felt I should start blogging about my recent trip to the city of Ferrara, Italy. I visited there in June of this year.
I wanted to see as many sites associated with Ariosto, Matteo Maria Boiardo and their patrons - the noble house of d'Este - as was possible for the limited time I had available.
I had spent countless hours planning the sites to see, but alas, things do not always work out the way you hope.
I discovered there were apartments for rent in a building once owned by Ariosto. I reserved a room for three nights. My plan was to arrive in Ferrara after a day of sightseeing in Firenze, spend the next day exploring Ferrara, and the following day we would have a day trip to Ravenna.
I had wanted to sleep in a home that once belonged to Ariosto and hope I would become inspired by the experience.
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Historical marker for the current Cavallini-Sgarbi House
The Cavallini-Sgarbi House showing a covered walkway.
I was looking forward to that experience, but then Fate upended my plans.
Ferrara suffered from a large earthquake in 2012, and as luck would have it - the historical building I had reservations for wound up having maintenance scheduled to be performed during the time we were supposed to stay there.
These things happen. At least I learned about the conflict with adequate advance notice to secure a different place for us to stay. I am also grateful it was not a case of being At The Wrong Place At the Wrong Time and have something Truly Bad Happen, like the devastating earthquake that necessitated the seismic retrofitting. Instead, it was simply a disappointment and inconvenience for my family.
Here is an example of damage from the earthquake and the subsequent tremors has had in Ferrara. The picture is of a ceiling fresco in the Castello Estense.
I was surprised the first time I noticed tape on the ceiling, but then quickly understood why it was there. We asked a docent about the tape and our suspicions were confirmed as to its purpose. It is to prevent further cracking until restoration can be performed.
There was a lot of tape used throughout the castle on artwork. It serves as a sober reminder of how historical items are vulnerable to the power of Nature. They are not just pieces of art created centuries ago, but are precious items that need to be preserved for future generations.
We arrived in Ferrara on a Wednesday evening, but several hours later than we expected. Our connecting train in Bologna was late. Then again, most trains were late that day. One woman on the platform informed us that earlier in the day someone had thrown themselves upon a set of train tracks and it delayed all the trains in the region for at least an hour.
Once at the Ferrara train station, we had a taxi bring us to our B&B (bed and breakfast). It would have been a half hour walk, and dragging our luggage that far after being exhausted, and really hungry was not worth saving a few euros. Taking a taxi was a necessity and not a luxury at that point in time.
By the time we got to our room we were tired, our feet were sore from our sightseeing in Firenze and we were really hungry. The weather in Italy had been HOT for days and it added to our desire to find dinner, and go to sleep early in our air conditioned rooms.
My husband and son at that point in time were not all that interested in noticing the charms of Ferrara, but I came became revived once we left our baggage behind and started exploring the city. One aspect that I love about Ferrara is that it is a bicycle friendly city. There are cars and some Vespas, but bicycles seem to be the biggest method of transportation used by the people. They are not fine racing bikes, but instead generally old beat up bicycles with baskets on their front handle bars. They are utilitarian and get their riders from place to place over the cobblestone roads.
Rome has a frenetic energy about it which led me to the conclusion that traffic there is a blood sport. Crossing a busy street in Rome you must be wary. That sense of self-preservation extends to walking in the side streets as the drivers of cars and Vespas zoom past you with little regard to your safety. There were several occasions when I found myself hugging the walls in the back streets to avoid being hit by cars, scooters or motorcycles. Ferrara was a pleasant change of pace for me and I began to relax and appreciate the atmosphere of this historic city.
We walked past the Piazza Ariostea and I was enchanted by the sight of a statue of Ariosto and the moon.
Here is a close up of the inscription on the statue.
That night we ate at a local pizza joint. It was "okay, nothing special." At least we were served quickly and it was not expensive. Afterward, we walked back to our B&B and slept soundly.
The next day was my day to explore Ferrara. My teenaged son decided that he just wanted to relax, sleep in and not go exploring. That meant I was free to roam around the city.
My husband and I started the morning by walking down the Corso Porta Mare and passing the Piazza Ariostea again.
I enjoyed walking in the park and gathering spot for locals that was built dedicated in honor of my favorite poet. We continued on the Corso Porta Mare until we came to Corso Ercole I d'Este, named after the patron for both Boiardo and Ariosto.
On that street is the famous building Palazzo dei Diamante. There are thousands of diamond shaped marble bricks covering the outside of this building. The shadows cast by the diamonds change during the day due to angle of the sunlight making the building a large and complex sun dial. It is a spectacular sight, even if it seems a bit disorienting at first.
An up-close image of the Palazzo dei Diamante and the Renaissance street Corso Ercole I d'Este.
My husband and I walked down the Corso Ercole I d'Este until we came to the heart of the Renaissance city. I had to make a quick stop to see a Piazza named for another poet who also worked for the noble house of d'Este.
Alas, this piazza was nothing more than a parking lot.
The Piazza Torquato Tasso
We soon made it to one of the big destinations for me: seeing the castle where the Estes family lived.
It is an impressive sight.
I shall continue my travelogue about Ferrara in another post, lest this
become epic in size similar to the poems which inspire my writing.
But last week when I met him, he was just Mister Salman Rushdie. It was also his 61st birthday.
My friend Cindy Pavlinac accompanied me to the reading at the wonderful independent bookstore Book Passage in Corte Madera, California. The place was packed. By the time that we arrived the author event was just starting and they were singing "Happy Birthday" to him. Not only were all the chairs taken, but people were standing in the doorway. I had to ease my way inside and sit on the floor in the aisle.
I had started reading the novel before that night, but have not yet finished it. Some things you just do not want to rush.
The reason I was so interested in reading this novel and seeing him in person was because the story was inspired by the same epic poems which I am basing my novels upon: Orlando Innamorato and Orlando Furioso.
I have various Google alerts set to various key word terms that are of interest to me and a few months ago I started getting links to book reviews of The Last Enchantress of Florence which mentioned that Rushdie's novel was inspired Orlando Furioso and the character of Angelica.
Rushdie read a passage of his novel which detailed the meeting of Angelica and Argalia along with some bawdy references to tattoos of tulips on a man's body.
:ahem:
Suffice it to say that some of the inked petals went from a wilted state to full bloom.
As I sat there listening to him read, I found myself inwardly astounded since he was describing Angelica and Argalia as lovers whereas the poets Boiardo and Ariosto had them as siblings. Angelica was a virgin until she fell in love with Medoro, so there was not any incest between Angelica and Argalia implied by the poets.
Rushdie does not have them related, so he does not imply incest either. I just found his twist in these characters' relationships to be interesting.
The question and answer period was filled with people asking questions about India as well as U.S. and world politics. Little was asked about the craft of writing or of this book in particular.
As soon as he finished speaking a large number of people stood up and filed out the door. It appeared that many people came merely to see a celebrity in person. I hope they at least bought a book or a cup of coffee beforehand to help support the bookstore.
There was still a large queue of people who waited for their books to be signed and I dutifully waited at the end. Or at least I tried to be at the end. Because I wanted the opportunity to talk with him and thought it would be easiest at that point.
I started off telling him that in all the reviews I had read of this novel that they seemed only to mention Orlando Furioso but not its predecessor Orlando Innamorato which from his reading made it appear that his story would have been more likely to have influenced by.
(Argalia is killed early on in Orlando Innamorato and his only mentions in Orlando Furioso are done posthumously).
He smiled and said that both poems are listed in his bibliography.
I then mentioned that as a woman I did not care much for the character of Angelica, but I found myself drawn to the characters of Bradamante and Marfisa. It was then that he knew without a doubt that I was a fan of the poems.
We had a brief conversation at that point where he told me that he had wanted to write a story about a woman from India coming to Renaissance Italy. It was after he began writing that he realized that it had been done centuries before.
He then said something about women in armor (in reply to my stated preference to the women warriors Bradamante and Marfisa), but at about that point, I was ushered to the side by the store manager because there were a few more people with books to sign. One was a man with an armload of books to sign.
I think he was trying to stock up on autographed books to donate to silent auction fundraisers far into the future. Either that or he is a highly generous gift giver.
Neither Cindy nor I had a proper camera with us that night, (grumble) so here is the best that my camera phone could produce of me and Mr. Rushdie.
As of yesterday, it is officially Sir Rushdie which means I stood next to a knight.
