
The first is about a knight who is only armor. The misperception of the superego, and happens to be the omnipresent exasperation of his fellow paladins. He represents the Lacanian ultraperfect yet nonexistent Other, i.e.

Sir Agiluf is the envy of the ambitious Raimbaut, is ever-seductive to Bradamante, and is the most charming knight of the widow Lady Priscilla. Sir Agiluf is the envy of the ambitious Raimbaut, is ever-seductive to Bradamante, and is th Sir Agilulf Emo Bertrandin of the Guildivern is a nonexistent knight however, as Charlemagne puts it, 'for someone who does not exist,' he 'seems in irksomely fine form.' The story sounds nutty as so many crazy things are happening as if everything is just fine but once you keep your disbelief at the background and delve into what is really going on, the logic of the story begins to grandiosely emerge. Sir Agilulf Emo Bertrandin of the Guildivern is a nonexistent knight however, as Charlemagne puts it, 'for someone who does not exist,' he 'seems in irksomely fine form.' The story sounds nutty as so many crazy things are happening as if everything is just fine but once you keep your disbelief at the background and delve into what is really going on, the logic of the story begins to grandiosely emerge. Thus it was that Agilulf of the Guildivern had begun to act and acquire glory for himself. Maybe too there came a point when this diluted will and consciousness of self was condensed, turned to sediment, as imperceptible watery particles condense into banks of clouds and then maybe this sediment merged by chance or instinct, with some name or family or military rank or duties or regulations, above all in an empty armor, for in times when armor was necessary even for a man who existed, how much f themore was it for one who didn't. It was a period when the will and determination to exist, to leave a trace, to rub up against all that existed, was not wholly used since there were many who did nothing about it-from poverty or ignorance or simply from finding things bearable as they were-and so a certain amount was lost into the void. But at the same time the world was polluted with objects and capacities and persons who lacked any name or distinguishing mark.

It was not rare then to find names and thoughts and forms and institutions that corresponded to nothing in existence. It was a period when the will and determination to exist, to leave a trace, to rub up against all that existed, was not wholly used since there were many who did nothing about it-from World conditions were still confused in the era when this took place.

The second story involves a viscount who gets torn in half by a cannonball while fighting the Ottoman Turks. His love scenes, creaking in full, hollow armor, are quite funny. He's not afraid to be bizarre, too, as in the first story, which recounts the exploits of an animate suit of armor in Charlemagne's army-so dignified and courteous, yet ambivalent of his own nonexistence. The second story involves a viscount who gets torn in half by a cannonball while fighting the Ottoman Turk Italo Calvino is a brilliant comic writer, and I love reading his tales, which seem plucked from the Italian countryside. Italo Calvino is a brilliant comic writer, and I love reading his tales, which seem plucked from the Italian countryside. This is all part of a trilogy that is sometimes called 'Our Ancestors' which includes the equally wonderful 'The Baron In The Trees'. He hops around his homeland, administering violence, halving things with his sword so that they resemble himself.

A man's cruel side survives being separated from the rest of himself by cannonball. 'The Cloven Viscount' is a more gruesome story. Without a doubt, this story has the funniest seduction in the history of literature, involving a lusty noblewoman who lures knights to her castle via staged bear attack, who then proceeds to make love to a man who doesn't exist, a suit of armor that spends most of the time moving the bed for the right light. He sits at table with other knights, mincing his food into neat rows that he stacks and reorganizes, shifting wine from glass to glass, constantly ordering clean plates, all because he has no mouth or stomach with which to eat, and all the while correcting his knighted colleagues. Just thinking of this character's precision makes me smile.
