Amadis of Gaul Book IV

Amadís de Gaula #4

by Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo, Sue Burke (Translation)

In Book IV, the story reaches its climax. Amadis of Gaul has rescued Princess Oriana from a forced marriage to the Emperor of Rome. She is secretly his wife and the mother of his son. Her father, King Lisuarte of Great Britain, and the Emperor of Rome raise armies and prepare to go to war. Amadis draws on his family and his many friendships to raise his own army.In the past, Amadis has saved King Lisuarte in battle. This time they pledge to fight to the death. Only a miracle can save them from mutual destruction.Meanwhile, the enemies of Amadis and Lisuarte see their chance to defeat them both.

322 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1508

About the author

Castilian author who arranged the modern version of the chivalric romance Amadis of Gaul, written in three books in the 13th century by an unknown author.

Montalvo added a fourth book of his own and also wrote a sequel, Las sergas de Esplandián (The Exploits of Esplandián or The Adventures of Esplandián) (oldest known printing, 1510), in which he tells the life and wandering of Amadis' eldest son.

He is also known for coining the name of California.

Reviews

[Belié Beltrán · Rating 3 out of 5]

Este cuarto libro es ya más sobre la parte de la vejez. Da comienzo con todo lo relativo a la guerra entre el rey Lisuarte y Amadís por el tema del emperador romano. En un momento, cuando Amadís rescata a Lisuarte de los ataques orquestados por Arcaláus, se termina de concertar la paz, se organiza la boda entre Amadís y Oriana, el libro da un bandazo hasta los arcos narrativos de otros personajes como Cuadrante, Florestán o Gandalín pero se abre el arco de aquel gigante, y el libro pareciera pretender extender las historias de Amadís un poco a la mala.

Con todo, el cierre de la novela es anticlimático, porque aunque no se dice, la forma en la que secuestran a Lisuarte es del estilo de Arcaláus, la orden que Urganda le da a Amadís de que se dedique a cuidarse de gobernar deja claro que Lisuarte ya no existe y el hecho de que Esplandián lleve armadura negra por la tristeza, habla del luto. Esa forma de dejar claro cómo ha cambiado el estatus del rey es un modo muy original. Quizá al libro le sobren algunas historias innecesarias, pero en general está muy bueno.

[Space Orlando · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book shows you the great depths that knight errantry went to during the 14th century. It's seen as a niche subgenre of historical literature that only literature grad students would know about, but I've been into knight errantry literature since Don Quixote [Where Amadis of Gaul is mentioned], then went to Fairie Queen, then Orlando Furioso, and then even Orlando Innamorato. Amadis was much different than all those because its written less in a epic poetry format, but reads rather almost like a modern prose book. The idea of Christ, God, Chivalry, Friendship, Kinship, The Court, Power, Knighthood, Love, Romance, Strife, Struggle, Contradiction, Its all here, there's something here for everybody and the book ends in the best way possible for works of that time period: Praise Be to God.