The Nonexistent Knight
The Nonexistent Knight (Italian: Il cavaliere inesistente) is an allegorical fantasy novel by Italian writer Italo Calvino, first published in Italian in 1959 and in English translation in 1962. The tale explores questions of identity, integration with society, and virtue through the adventures of Agilulf, a medieval knight who exemplifies chivalry, piety, and faithfulness but exists only as an empty suit of armour. Plot The protagonists of this novel are two paladins of Charlemagne: the titular non-existent knight, named Agilulf (he is in fact a lucid empty suit of armor), and an inexperienced and passionate young man, Rambaldo. The latter, having arrived at the camp of paladins at the beginning of the novel, wants to avenge his father's death, caused by the Argalif Isoarre; Agilulf instead fights for duty, convinced of his faith, with a value that is admired by all the paladins, but also with a remarkable sense of duty, of precision in controlling the progress of the duties of others and their duties, for which the fellow soldiers find it as capable as it is unpleasant. During the move that Charlemagne made with his paladins to clash with the enemies, they met Gurdulù, a vagabond who let himself be guided by instinct without thinking, and who will be assigned as a squire to Agilulf by order of Charlemagne. When the battle begins, Rambaldo tries in every way to clash with the murderer of his father, who finally dies because, deprived of his glasses by the boy himself, he is no longer able to defend himself (the Argalif Isoarre is very short-sighted, therefore without glasses he cannot see and direct the course of the battle). Later the young man falls into an ambush, but is saved by the intervention of another knight with a periwinkle armor that, after fighting, moves away without saying a word. Returning to the camp on foot (during the battle his horse died), Rambaldo accidentally discovers that the valiant knight is actually a very charming woman, Bradamante, whom he immediately falls in love with. But the young woman is not interested in him but in Agilulf, the non-existent knight. During a banquet, the young Torrismondo reveals unexpected facts about the Agilulf knight. In fact he affirms that Sophronia, daughter of the king of Scotland, the woman who Agilulf had saved from the abuse of two brigands fifteen years before, was already then mother of Torrismondo, and therefore was certainly not a virgin; consequently the assignment of the title of knight to Agilulf for having saved a virgin from violence is not valid. The revelation throws the knight into a panic, who, by honor, decides to go and find the girl to prove that she was still pure at the time. Agilulf leaves, followed by Bradamante infatuated with him, who in turn is pursued by Rambaldo, in love with her. On the same evening Torrismondo also left to find his father, or one of the knights of the "Sacred Order of the Knights of the Grail",