Astolfo

He is the son of the king of England, his horse is Rabicano, but he has
disappeared and Astolfo is looking for him. He’s wandering around in search of
his horse, he has his book and his fairy horn with him. He is looking for
Rabicano everywhere, but unsuccessfully there is no trace of the horse, but
suddenly a big castle appears in front of him, maybe that's where Rabicante is -
"Whose castle will this be?". - the prince asks himself. It is the fairytale castle
of Atlas, his enemy, who lured him into the castle thanks to the theft of
Rabicano. When Astolfo realizes that he is in a bewitched castle, he looks up in
his book and makes the castle disappear. Now Astolfo has an important task:
he must go to the Moon in order to save his cousin Orlando who has gone mad
for love. To go to the Moon, however, you have to fly, so for this mission: - "I
will ride the Hippogriff, the swinged horse".
The Hippogriff
The Hippogriff, the horse with wings, formerly belonged to Atlas. It is an
exceptional steed because it can fly as fast as lightning. - "It has an eagle's head
and legs with claws, wings covered with feathers and a horse's body".
It is not easy, however, to ride it; it does not obey those who hold the reins
but those who learn to tame it! Astolfo, then, immediately tames the horse
and climbed on his rump, sets off for the moon. - "The Hippogriff flies beyond
the clouds, out of the earth's sphere, and reaches the top of the mountain,
which rises into the sky of the Moon".

The Moon
- "That night the Moon passed right next to the mountain... they see the lunar
horn getting huge and the Earth, down there, becoming a little ball. The Moon
is a world as big as ours, including the seas. There are rivers, lakes, plains,
cities, castles, like ours" – Moon : "Astolfo, don't stop to look at them, this is
not your mission: you are here to regain Orlando’s lost wits. Nothing in the
universe is ever lost. The things lost on earth come to me" - Astolfo arrives in a
narrow valley where everything lost on earth is miraculously collected. - If
man's reason is preserved up here, it means that there is nothing left on Earth
but madness! -
There is, in fact, a huge quantity of it and it has the appearance of an
insubstantial liquid that evaporates with ease, closed in little bottles of various
sizes: in the largest one Orlando’s lost wits is written. The Duke (Astolfo), first
sniffs the little bottle that has inside his wits and regained - at least for the
moment –his wisdom, then takes the one of the paladin, which is much heavier
than expected.

Orlando
The valiant paladin of King Charles is in a state of madness: the beautiful
Angelica, Princess of Catai, he had brought from the East and with whom he is
in love, married Medoro, a young Saracen soldier and together they left for
Catai. Orlando, now, has torn off his clothes, thrown here and there all his
weapons through the woods: the helmet, the shield, the armour. In his hand
he has only his sword, Durindana, with it he has crumbled the rock where the
names Angelica and Medoro are carved. He has cut down pines, oaks, elms,
beeches, firs, rushes, stubble, nettles and many other ancient plants, the
shepherds hearing the noise, left the flock scattered, all rushed to see what
was happening: Orlando cried out: "the one you see can’t be me any more
because Orlando’s dead, killed by Angelica. I am the ghost of myself."

Angelica
Princess of Catai, an expert in the magical arts, has a fairy ring. She comes back
to France from the East prey of Orlando. The most valiant paladins of King
Charles Orlando, Rinaldo and Ruggiero are in love with her. But she escapes
from everyone using the fairy ring and making herself invisible. She meets
Medoro, seriously injured outside Paris, picks him up and takes care of him
with her medical arts. She falls in love with Medoro and marries him. They
move to Barcelona and then to Catai. In Tarragona she meets the crazy
Orlando, but she doesn't recognize him. The latter, upset by Medoro, runs
after Angelica who saves herself by becoming invisible thanks to the fairy ring.

Conclusion
Orlando, always in the grip of madness, chasing Angelica, arrives in Biserta,
where there are Astolfo and four brave paladins. The five heroes try to grab
him in order to make him smell the wisdom in the little bottle. But it is no easy
feat. Finally, they are able to tie Orlando up and drag him into the river that
flows nearby. Astolfo dips him in the water seven times to remove all the dirt
from his face and body, then closes his mouth and forces him to sniff the
content of the little bottle with his nose. And so: "wonderful case! The great
paladin leader, regained his mind and wits, clearer and more lucid than ever.