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{{Other uses|Ferragus (disambiguation)|Farragut (disambiguation)}}
[[File:Rolandandferragut.jpg|200px|thumb|Combat of Roland and the giant Ferragut. Illuminated miniature from ''[[Grandes Chroniques de France]]'', c1375-1380 (BnF Français 2813, fol. 118)]]
'''Ferragut''' (also known as '''Ferragus''', '''Ferracutus''', '''Ferracute''', '''Ferrakut''', '''Ferraguto''', '''Ferraù''', '''Fernagu'''<ref>For the latter, see Crosland, 25.</ref>) was a character—a [[Saracen]] [[paladin]], sometimes depicted as a [[Gigantism|giant]]—in texts dealing with the [[Matter of France]], including the ''[[Historia Caroli Magni]]'', and Italian [[chivalric romance|epics]], such as ''[[Orlando Innamorato]]'' by [[Matteo Maria Boiardo]] and ''[[Orlando Furioso]]'' by [[Ludovico Ariosto]].  In the tales, he was portrayed as physically invulnerable except at his navel/stomach, and was eventually killed (or fated to be killed) by the paladin [[Roland]].
==Name==
"Ferracutus" was the Latin form of the name used in the ''Pseudo-Turpin Chronicle''.  [[Thomas Bulfinch]] used "Ferragus" in his English adaptation ''Legends of Charlemagne'',<ref>''Legends of Charlemagne''[http://www.classicreader.com/book/2823/86/], [http://www.gutenberg.org/files/4927/4927-h/4927-h.htm]</ref> but the form "Ferragut" appears to be the most frequent in English today.
In his ''Orlando innamorato'', Matteo Maria Boiardo used Feraguto/Feragu (Ferraguto/Ferragu).  Ferraù is a [[Syncope (phonetics)|syncopated]] form used in ''Orlando furioso'' by Ludovico Ariosto.
==Texts==
===Ferracutus in the ''"Pseudo-Turpin" Chronicle''===
The character appears in one of the main episodes of the so-called ''[[Historia Caroli Magni|Pseudo-Turpin Chronicle]]'' (''Historia Caroli Magni'',  Book IV of the [[Codex Calixtinus]]), a Latin chronicle concerning the feats of [[Charlemagne]] and the paladin [[Roland]] from the middle of the 12th century.
In a story modeled on [[David and Goliath]],<ref>Crosland, 26</ref> Roland battles the Saracen giant Ferracutus, who is holding the city of [[Nájera]] ([[Spain]]).  A descendant of [[Goliath]] who had been sent to Nájera from [[Syria]] by the [[Emir]] of [[Babylon]] to fight the [[Christians|Christian]] army of Charlemagne, the giant Ferracutus didn't fear any arrow or spear and had the strength of forty strong men, was nearly twelve [[cubit]]s tall, with a face a cubit long, a nose a [[hand (unit)|hand]] long, members nearly four cubits long and fingers the length of three hands.  Charlemagne sent several of his men to fight the giant: [[ Ogier the Dane|Ogier]] the [[Danes_(tribe)|Dane]], [[Renaud de Montauban|Reinaldos of Montalbán]], Constantine king of Rome, Count Hoel, and twenty other fighters two by two, who were defeated effortlessly by the giant and put to prison. As soon as Roland obtained permission from Charlemagne, he approached the giant alone and they fought for two days (taking truces to rest at night) using swords, wooden sticks, stones and bare fists. They accidentally killed each other's horses, but Roland could find no way of wounding the giant. During the second night, the courteous Roland placed a stone beneath the head of the giant as a pillow, and upon waking the giant revealed to Roland that he was only vulnerable in one spot: his navel.  They also had a conversation about religion discussing matters such as the [[Holy Trinity]], the [[Book of Genesis|Genesis]], the [[Immaculate Conception]] and [[Resurrection]] of [[Jesus]]. After this conversation another fight took place in which Roland used the knowledge his opponent had given him, and killed Ferragut by inserting a spear in his navel.
The Pseudo-Turpin Chronicle was a massive success throughout Europe<ref>Hasenohr and Zink, 294.</ref> and was frequently adapted or borrowed from until the Renaissance.
===Ferragus in other early modern texts===
An adaptation of the Pseudo-Turpin story of Ferraguto and his mortal duel with Orlando (Roland) occurs in the anonymous Franco-Venetian epic ''[[Entrée d'Espagne|L'Entrée d'Espagne]]'' (c. 1320; the author is thought to be from Padua).<ref name="Pulci, notes, p. 890">Pulci, notes, p. 890.</ref><ref>Crosland, 261-2.</ref>
The story also appears in the 14th-century Italian epic ''[[La Spagna]]'' (attributed to the Florentine Sostegno di Zanobi and likely composed between 1350–1360<ref>Pulci, notes, p. 765 and p. 890.</ref>).
Based in part in the Pseudo-Turpin Chronicle (probably via [[Vincent of Beauvais]]'s ''Speculum Historiale''),<ref>Hasenohr and Zink, 746.</ref> [[Jean Bagnyon|Jean or Jehan Bagnyon]]'s 15th-century ''La Conqueste du grand roy Charlemagne des Espagnes et les vaillances des douze pairs de France, et aussi celles de Fierabras'' (also called ''Fierabras'') includes the story of Ferragus (Book 3, Part 1, Chapters 10–11).  This work knew a European success and was adapted into Castilian, Portuguese, German, and English.
While the incident is not depicted in it, Ferraguto's death at the hands of Orlando is presented as a well-known fact in [[Luigi Pulci]]'s epic ''[[Morgante]]''.<ref name="Pulci, notes, p. 890"/>
===Ferraguto in ''Orlando innamorato''===
[[File:Combate entre Roldán y Ferragut (Estella).jpg|thumb|250px|Combat of [[:es:Roldán|Roldán]] and Ferragut ([[:es:Estella|Estella]])]]
In [[Matteo Maria Boiardo]]'s'' [[Orlando innamorato]]'', Ferraguto is a leading Saracen knight (and not a giant), the nephew of King Marsilio of Spain, and one of the many characters passionately in love with [[Angelica (character)|Angelica]]. At the beginning of the poem, Angelica and her brother Argalia arrive at the court of the [[Charlemagne|Emperor Charlemagne]] in [[Paris]], announcing that any knight who defeats Argalia in single combat will win Angelica's hand in marriage, but if he loses he will become Argalia's prisoner. Ferraguto is among the first knights to try and is unhorsed. However, he angrily refuses to accept his captivity and Argalia and Angelica flee in terror. Ferraguto catches Argalia, kills him and steals his helmet, but he promises the dying man only to wear it for a few days.
===Ferraù in ''Orlando furioso''===
{{main|Orlando Furioso}}
At the beginning of Ludovico Ariosto's ''Orlando Furioso'' (a continuation of ''Orlando innamorato''), Ferraù loses the helmet in a stream and is confronted by the ghost of Argalia, who tells him he must find another helmet instead. Ferraù vows to win the helmet of Almonte, which now belongs to the greatest Christian knight, [[Orlando (character)|Orlando]]. He manages to possess it for a while but Ariosto predicts his ultimate death at the hands of Orlando.  Like the character in the Pseudo-Turpin Chronicle and  the 14th-century Italian epic ''La Spagna'', Ferraù is completely invulnerable except via his [[navel]].
==Ferragus in ''Valentine and Orson''==
Ferragus is also the name of a completely different [[Saracen]] [[Gigantism|giant]] from Portugal in the medieval romance ''[[Valentine and Orson]]''. Brother of Esclarmonde, he is responsible for imprisoning Bellissant, the sister of King [[Pepin the Hunchback|Pepin]], and is eventually beheaded by the Duke of Aquitaine [https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=cKsWAAAAQAAJ&printsec=frontcover&output=reader&hl=en&pg=GBS.PA98].
==See also==
*[[Fierabras]] (or Ferumbras): a [[Saracen]] knight (son of Balan, king of Spain), (sometimes also of gigantic stature), appearing in several ''chansons de geste'' and texts relating to the Matter of France.  Unlike Ferragut, Fierabras converts to Christianity, joins Charlemagne's cause, and eventually becomes a ruler of Spain.
*[[Faraj ben Salim|Faraj ben Sālim]], also known as Farragut of Girgenti, a Sicilian-Jewish physician and translator.
==Notes==
{{Reflist}}
==References==
*Ariosto:''Orlando Furioso'', verse translation by [[Barbara Reynolds]] in two volumes (Penguin Classics, 1975). Part one (cantos 1–23) {{ISBN|0-14-044311-8}}; part two (cantos 24–46) {{ISBN|0-14-044310-X}}
*Ariosto: ''Orlando Furioso'' ed. Marcello Turchi (Garzanti, 1974)
*Boiardo: ''Orlando innamorato'' ed. Giuseppe Anceschi  (Garzanti,1978)
*[[Jessie Crosland]].  ''The Old French Epic''.  New York: Haskell House, 1951.
*{{in lang|fr}} Geneviève Hasenohr and Michel Zink, eds.  ''Dictionnaire des lettres françaises: Le Moyen Age''.  Collection: La Pochothèque.  Paris: Fayard, 1992. {{ISBN|2-2530-5662-6}}
*Luigi Pulci: ''Morgante: The Epic Adventures of Orlando and His Giant Friend'' a complete English translation by Joseph Tusiani.  Introduction and notes by Edoardo Lèbano. (Indiana University Press, 1998) {{ISBN|0-253-21407-6}}
==External links==
The character is depicted:
* as Ferracute in ''The History of Charles the Great and Orlando'', a 19th-century English adaptation of the ''Historia Caroli Magni'' by [[Thomas Rodd]]: [https://archive.org/stream/mediaevaltales00morluoft#page/28/mode/2up Archive.org] (chapter XVII), [http://www.kellscraft.com/MediaevalTales/MediaevalTales01.html#CHAPTER_XVII Kellcraft Studios Web Textures]
* as Ferragus in {{in lang|fr}} Jean Bagnyon's ''La Conqueste du grand roy Charlemagne des Espagnes'' a/k/a ''Fierabras'': [http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k111068s/f138.image Lyon, 1497], [http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b86000862/f148.image Rouen, 1640] on [[Gallica]]
** {{in lang|es}} ''Historia del emperador Carlo Magno'', the Castillan translation of the Bagnyon text: [https://books.google.com/books?id=ZgqKnX2wDEwC&pg=PA252 1765 edition] on [[Google Books]]
* as Feragu in {{in lang|fr}} ''Entrée d'Espagne'': [https://archive.org/stream/lentredespagn01thom#page/n147/mode/2up  Antoine Thomas, ed. 1913] (Feragu first appears in canto 3; the duel with Roland is depicted in verses 1630 to 4213, roughly) on Archive.org
* as Ferraù in {{in lang|it}} ''La Spagna'': [http://www.nuovorinascimento.org/n-rinasc/testi/pdf/spagna/spagna.pdf Carlotta Gradi, ed. 1996.] (Ferraù first appears in canto 2, stanza 6; his death occurs in canto 5) on Nuovo Rinascimento
* as Ferraù in [[s:Orlando Furioso/Canto I|''Orlando Furioso'' by Ariosto]] (Ferraù first appears in canto 1, stanza 14) on [[Wikisource]]
* as Ferragus in [[Thomas Bulfinch]]'s ''Legends of Charlemagne'': [http://www.classicreader.com/book/2823/86/ classicreader.com], [http://www.gutenberg.org/files/4927/4927-h/4927-h.htm Project Gutenberg]
Other references:
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=jacBvHiRUWwC&q=ferracutus Ferracutus/Ferrakut] en ''A Dictionary of Medieval Heroes''. Boydell & Brewer, 2000. {{ISBN|0851157807}}
{{Matter of France}}
{{Orlando Furioso}}
[[Category:Fictional characters introduced in the 12th century]]
[[Category:Giants]]
[[Category:Matter of France]]
[[Category:Characters in Orlando Innamorato and Orlando Furioso]]
[[Category:Fictional Muslims]]
[[Category:Culture of La Rioja]]