Zerbino is a fictional character of the Matter of France. He appears in '' Orlando Furioso'', the 16th-century Italian romantic epic by Ludovico Ariosto. He is the son of the King of

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

Duke of Ross The title Duke of Ross has been created twice in the Peerage of Scotland, both times for younger sons of the King of Scotland. Named for Ross in Scotland, it was first created in 1488 for James Stewart, Earl of Ross, the second son of James III ...

, and brother of Ginevra. He takes part in a joust in Galicia, where

Isabella Isabella may refer to: People and fictional characters * Isabella (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Isabella (surname), including a list of people Places United States * Isabella, Alabama, an unincorpor ...

, daughter of the King of Galicia, falls in love with him. In combat with the pagans outside

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

, he pursues Cloridano and Medoro. One of his Scottish knights stabs Medoro. Zerbino leaves Medoro for dead, but Medoro is later nursed back to health by

Angelica ''Angelica'' is a genus of about 60 species of tall biennial and perennial herbs in the family Apiaceae, native to temperate and subarctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere, reaching as far north as Iceland, Lapland, and Greenland. They gr ...

. Zerbino is betrayed by Gabrina, and is about to be executed when he is rescued by

Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures re ...

and Isabella. After Orlando goes mad, Zerbino goes in search of him. Zerbino finds Orlando's arms and armour, which he has discarded in his madness. Mandricardo does battle with Zerbino and wins the sword

Durendal Durendal, also spelled Durandal, is the sword of Roland, a legendary paladin and partially historical officer of Charlemagne in French epic literature. It is also said to have belonged to young Charlemagne at one point, and, passing through Sara ...

from him.

References

*''Orlando Furioso'', prose translation by Guido Waldman (Oxford, 1999). . *''Orlando Furioso'', verse translation by

Barbara Reynolds Eva Mary Barbara Reynolds (13 June 1914 – 29 April 2015) was an English scholar of Italian Studies, lexicographer and translator. She wrote and edited several books concerning Dorothy Sayers and was president of the Dorothy L. Sayers Soci ...

in two volumes (Penguin Classics, 1975). Part one (cantos 1-23) ; part two (cantos 24-46) . Part one has since been reprinted. *''Orlando furioso'' ed. Marcello Turchi (Garzanti, 1974) *''Orlando Furioso: A Selection'' ed. Pamela Waley (Manchester University Press, 1975) {{Orlando Furioso Fictional characters introduced in the 16th century Characters in Orlando Innamorato and Orlando Furioso