Rinaldo’s Return to Ferrara: Ariosto, the Prophecy and Its Reversal

Rinaldo’s journey down the Po River in canto XLIII of the Orlando Furioso encompasses a return to Ferrara that consists in a form of return for readers too, who at this point have already been taught about the future glory of the city from St. John (c. XXXV). The knight’s visit to the site where Ferrara will rise gives Ariosto the opportunity to renew his prophetic encomium. Such a repetition, however, does not lead to strengthen the eulogistic discourse, but rather to undermine its necessary teleology. This paper examines the narrative techniques Ariosto adopts to create to suggest a twofold reading – forward and backward at the same time – of the prediction, thus relativizing the ideological consistency of his poem.