Self-castrating beaver
Royal 2 B VII, English psalter, between 1310 and 1320
Courtesy of British Library
In a recent blogpost I wrote about a description of beavers found in Historia Norwegie,
an anonymous Norwegian historiography from the twelfth century. This
account repeated the ancient myth that beavers castrate themselves to
escape hunters, a myth perpetuated throughout the medieval period and
still alive in the sixteenth century when Ludovico Ariosto wrote his
Orlando Furioso. In
Ariosto's epic poem we find another reference to this zoological
factoid, which I will present in this blogpost.
Seemingly a less successful beaver
Royal 2 B VII, English psalter, between 1310 and 1320
Courtesy of British Library
To
understand the employment of the beaver-myth, some background is
necessary. The context is a series of challenges that disrupt the
pagan camp during the siege of Paris, which is the dramaturgical nave
around which the episodes in the poem revolve. Four pagan warriors
are challenging each other to duels on account of various offences
that go against the chivalric code, and the pagan king Agramante has
arranged for the order of their duelling. As one of the first
combattants, the Tartar king Mandricardo is armed and prepared, aided
by Gradasso, king of Sercania (a region meant to be in modern-day
China). As Gradasso is about to conclude his office as Mandricardo's
page, he finds that the Tartar's sword is Durindana, which belonged
to Orlando. Unbeknownst to Gradasso, Orlando left his sword in the
wilderness along with his armour and his horse when he went mad after
learning that the princess Angelica whom he loves has wed the Moorish
footsoldier Medoro. The sword was found by the Scottish prince
Zerbino whom Mandricardo killed in order to get hold of it.
In
Orlando Innamorato by
Matteo Boiardo, the precursor of Ariosto's work, we are told how
Gradasso has set in many resources to acquire this sword, and Ariosto
gives a quick summary of events, as quoted below. When Gradasso sees
the sword he gets infuriated and demands to know how Mandricardo came
by it.
Somewhat more successful beaver
Sloane 3544, English bestiary, 13th century
Courtesy of British Library
Seeing the sword, Gradasso had no doubt
This was the weapon which Orlando won.
To claim it back Gradasso had set out
To claim it back Gradasso had set out
With a great fleet; and no more
splendid one
Had ever left the East; he put to rout
The kingdom of Castile; he had then
gone
To France and was victorious; and
now
The Tartar has it and he knows not how.
The Tartar has it and he knows not how.
He asked if by accord or by onslaught
He took it from the Count, and where
and when;
And Mandricard replied that he had
fought
A mighty battle for the sword and then
Orlando had feigned madness. 'Thus he
sought
To hide his apprehension, for, to gain
His weapon Durindana, he well knew
The combat I would ceaselessly pursue.'
Just as the beaver, he went on to say,
Which sees the hunter drawing near, and
knows
The reason, rips its genitals away,
A similar resource Orlando chose,
And left his swords. Gradasso did not
stay
To hear the story out. 'I don't
propose',
He said, ' to yield to you or anyone
What I by such expense have rightly won
- Orlando Furioso, Canto 27, verses
55-57 (translated by Barbara Reynolds)
Orlando's fury as depicted by Gustave Doré
Courtesy of WikiArt
As readers, or listeners, will know,
this story is not true and Mandricardo fabricates events. The
fictitious account is of course very insulting to Orlando or anyone,
since he is likened to such an unchivalrous beast who is not only a
prey for hunters, but who also commits such an unmanly deed as
self-castration in order to preserve his life. This latter point is
perhaps of greatest importance, since by leaving his sword behind Orlando has abandoned his primary chivalric attribute. Furthermore, since I hold Ariosto to be no less a shrewd metaphorician than Shakespeare, I feel safe to say that by comparing Orlando to the beaver, Mandricardo draws attention to the phallic symbolism of Durindana.
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