Pinabel, also known as Pinabello, is one of

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first Holy ...

's vassals in ''

The Song of Roland ''The Song of Roland'' (french: La Chanson de Roland) is an 11th-century ''chanson de geste'' based on the Frankish military leader Roland at the Battle of Roncevaux Pass in 778 AD, during the reign of the Carolingian king Charlemagne. It is t ...

'', ''

Orlando furioso ''Orlando furioso'' (; ''The Frenzy of Orlando'', more loosely ''Raging Roland'') is an Italian epic poem by Ludovico Ariosto which has exerted a wide influence on later culture. The earliest version appeared in 1516, although the poem was no ...

'', and other works within the corpus of writings known as the

Matter of France The Matter of France, also known as the Carolingian cycle, is a body of literature and legendary material associated with the history of France, in particular involving Charlemagne and his associates. The cycle springs from the Old French '' chan ...

. Pinabel is the nephew and friend of the knight

Ganelon In the Matter of France, Ganelon (, ) is the knight who betrayed Charlemagne's army to the Saracens, leading to the Battle of Roncevaux Pass. His name is said to derive from the Italian word ''inganno'', meaning fraud or deception.Boiardo, ''Orl ...

. Different works give different accounts Orlando furioso'', Pinabel tricks the female knight

Bradamante Bradamante (occasionally spelled Bradamant) is a fictional knight heroine in two epic poems of the Renaissance: ''Orlando Innamorato'' by Matteo Maria Boiardo and ''Orlando Furioso'' by Ludovico Ariosto. Since the poems exerted a wide influence o ...

into stepping off a cliff, but she narrowly escapes death. She later kills Pinabel for his treachery. In the

Old French Old French (, , ; Modern French: ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France from approximately the 8th to the 14th centuries. Rather than a unified language, Old French was a linkage of Romance dialects, mutually intelligib ...

chanson de geste The ''chanson de geste'' (, from Latin 'deeds, actions accomplished') is a medieval narrative, a type of epic poem that appears at the dawn of French literature. The earliest known poems of this genre date from the late 11th and early 12th cen ...

''The Song of Roland'', Pinabel represents his friend Ganelon, who has been charged with treason, in a

trial by combat Trial by combat (also wager of battle, trial by battle or judicial duel) was a method of Germanic law to settle accusations in the absence of witnesses or a confession in which two parties in dispute fought in single combat; the winner of the ...

. In the course of this duel, Pinabel is killed by Thierry, another of Charlemagne's knights.

References

*''La Chanson de Roland'', édition bilingue, traduction et présentation de Gérard Moignet (Bordas, 1989) *''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) {{France-stub Fictional characters introduced in the 11th century Characters in The Song of Roland Characters in Orlando Innamorato and Orlando Furioso Fictional knights