A shepherd finds Princess Bertha on a beach, after she was banished from the kingdom by her brother Carlo Magno. Bertha had sailed away with her lover Milone, but the captain of the boat kidnapped her. A tempest then sank the ship and dispersed all its passengers. The shepherd took the princess in as his own daughter and became the grandfather of the child she gave birth to – Orlandino. Orlandino is an unruly child: he is always ready to hit someone with a stick. One day, he wins a tournament against the Governor’s child Oliviero. The Governor shows surprise at Orlandino’s victory, interrogates him and finds out he is Berta and Milone’s child. With the help of Duke Namo, Berta comes to Carlo Magno to ask for his forgiveness. But the king kicks her. As a consequence, Orlandino strikes the king with his stick. Carlo Magno and Berta finally reconcile. After biting him, Orlandino throws himself into his uncle’s arms. In him, his uncle sees the curse of the pagans and the champion of Christianity.

Armed rod marionette

Rod and string marionette

Not specified

Italy

Palermo

Typed or electronic text with handwritten annotations

Impossible love

Shipwreck

Disobedient child

Hidden child

Forgiveness

Comical

Dramatic

Epic

First page of Anna Cuticchio's Le avventure di Orlandino

Italian

Shepherd

Lady

Child

Orlando

Governor

Father

Oliver

Virticchio

Voice

Duke

Choir

Charlemagne (King)

Guard

Analepsis (Flash-back)

Blow-with-a-stick

Dialect as a social marker

Fight

Fight with an animal

Disguised character (false identity)

Le avventure di Orlandino

The adventures of Orlandino

Crows live in abundance on the corpses of humans who keep killing each other in war. The Fanes people, thousands of years ago, lived in peace and harmony with nature, thanks to a special bond with the marmots. Power was passed from mother to daughter, until Princess Dolasilla's mother was forced to break the old rules by abdicating and marrying the king of a foreign land who worshipped the god of war.From then on, under male control, the people of Fanes are at war.In the depths of the mountain, two little siblings, Aylan and Hudea, remain hidden. They wear a mouse costume to disguise themselves, because soldiers do not shoot mice. But the food in the cave is running out and the female ancestors of the Fanes people, their only hope of salvation, seem to be unresponsive. The king has finally decided to send his daughter Dolasilla, the rightful successor to the throne, to the battlefield: he wants to get rid of her so as not to lose his power. Aylan decides to separate from his sister and go out of the mountain to help Dolasilla in the battle, but they are both killed, along with many other Fanes. After the battle, the crows discuss the cruel nature of the human soul, while they eat the corpse of a child.