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Baldo, Volume 1: Books I-XII
Teofilo Folengo (1491-1544) was born in Mantua and joined the Benedictine order, but became a runaway monk and a satirist of monasticism. In 1517 he published, under the pseudonym Merlin Cocaio, the first version of his macaronic narrative poem Baldo , later enlarged and elaborated. It blended Latin with various Italian dialects in hexameter verse, inventing a deliberately droll language whose humor depends on the mixture of high and low tonalities. An important example of the mock-heroic epic, the work was a model for Rabelais and was frequently reprinted.
Baldo, the hero of these picaresque adventures, is a descendant of French royalty who starts out as something of a juvenile delinquent. The poem narrates episodes which include imprisonment; battles with local authorities, pirates, shepherds, witches, and demons; and a journey to the underworld. Throughout Baldo is accompanied by various companions, among them a giant, a centaur, a magician, and his best friend Cingar, a wickedly inventive trickster ("practicus ad beffas"). This edition provides the first English translation of this hilarious send-up of ancient epic and Renaissance chivalric romance.
Baldo, the hero of these picaresque adventures, is a descendant of French royalty who starts out as something of a juvenile delinquent. The poem narrates episodes which include imprisonment; battles with local authorities, pirates, shepherds, witches, and demons; and a journey to the underworld. Throughout Baldo is accompanied by various companions, among them a giant, a centaur, a magician, and his best friend Cingar, a wickedly inventive trickster ("practicus ad beffas"). This edition provides the first English translation of this hilarious send-up of ancient epic and Renaissance chivalric romance.
496 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1997
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February 12, 2025I am very impatiently awaiting Volume 2 right now. This book is fantastic, and I think it's my favorite read of the last couple of years. It's probably affecting the way I read other things, as my expectations have now been set infinitely high! Which is not to say that I will succeed in convincing anyone of what I believe: this book needs a revival now!
It's not quite as old as Fernando de Rojas's La Celestina, but it shares some of its cynical wit and is part of a tradition that runs through the greatest writings of renaissance Europe. Baldo was a book that Rabelais enjoyed, and its influence on Gargantua and Pantagruel is clear. It predates and prefigures many of Italy's best works of this era (think Aretino's dialogs), and its lineage passes through to Rabelais... it feels rather akin, also, to Lazarillo de Tormes... turning a few pages backwards in literary history, it skewers medieval romances, and it happened to be published within a year of an early version of Aretino's Orlando Furioso... what a time for literature!.. and thus it should be considered at least a distant cousin, or great-great-grand-cousin of Cervantes's Don Quixote, and so I say.
It's digressive, it's over-the-top, it's erudite (or its author is), it's self-consciously crude, and it's a hoot and a half. Hail, Baldo!
P.S., sorry to have produced a mangled, not-quite-chronological timeline of literature and loosely defined associations, but hopefully at least my enthusiasm is apparent.
It's not quite as old as Fernando de Rojas's La Celestina, but it shares some of its cynical wit and is part of a tradition that runs through the greatest writings of renaissance Europe. Baldo was a book that Rabelais enjoyed, and its influence on Gargantua and Pantagruel is clear. It predates and prefigures many of Italy's best works of this era (think Aretino's dialogs), and its lineage passes through to Rabelais... it feels rather akin, also, to Lazarillo de Tormes... turning a few pages backwards in literary history, it skewers medieval romances, and it happened to be published within a year of an early version of Aretino's Orlando Furioso... what a time for literature!.. and thus it should be considered at least a distant cousin, or great-great-grand-cousin of Cervantes's Don Quixote, and so I say.
It's digressive, it's over-the-top, it's erudite (or its author is), it's self-consciously crude, and it's a hoot and a half. Hail, Baldo!
P.S., sorry to have produced a mangled, not-quite-chronological timeline of literature and loosely defined associations, but hopefully at least my enthusiasm is apparent.
December 28, 2011
Baldo is a sprawling, comic epic written by a 16th-century monk. Had Baldo been written in Latin or Italian, it would be known today as a great Renaissance epic--but because it was written in macaronic Latin, a hybrid of Latin and Italian, it is almost unknown except by scholars. However, it was so popular in its time (1520-1540) that four editions were printed. No English translation was available until 2007
The book covers the exploits of Baldo, a mock-heroic figure and son of royalty who travels with rogues, including his best friend, Cingar. In the best epic style, Baldo and company travel through many adventures which make for great reading for anyone who enjoys the classic epic.
The book covers the exploits of Baldo, a mock-heroic figure and son of royalty who travels with rogues, including his best friend, Cingar. In the best epic style, Baldo and company travel through many adventures which make for great reading for anyone who enjoys the classic epic.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews