Thus the two warriors begin to fight,
Their horses turning, twisting every way;
And where their armour does not fasten quite,
Or where the steel is thin, there they essay
To drive their pointed swords with all their might.
In all the world, no other pair, I'd say,
Are so well matched in daring and in strength,
And long they keep each other at arm's length.

I think, my lord, that you already know
That Ferraù invulnerable was,
Save in that place where, as our bodies show,
The infant in the womb its nurture draws.
Till he was buried in the earth below,
His armour, all his life, where he had cause
For doubt, was reinforced with plates of steel,
In layers seven-fold, and tempered well.

Orlando was invulnerable too,
Save in one portion of his mighty frame.
He could be wounded, as perhaps you knew,
In both soles of his feet and rendered lame.
As strong elsewhere as iron, through and through
(If truth is reconcilable with fame),
Like Ferraù, in arms he chose to be
For ornament more than necessity.

The battle grows more gruesome at each bout.
The sight of it alarms and terrifies.
The Saracen with every thrust and cut
Strikes home, and all Orlando's blows likewise
The metal plates, or coat of mail, without
Exception, break, unhinge, destroy or slice.
Angelica, invisible, alone,
Considering the combatants, looks on.

[... - Sacripante leaves in search of Angelica]

When she had watched some little time and seen
How horrible and fierce the battle grew,
She judged the danger to both knights was keen.
At last, desiring to see something new,
She planned to take Orlando's helmet then
And watch what the two cavaliers would do,
When they saw gone the bone of their contention;
But not to keep it long was her intention.

She means to give it to Orlando soon,
But first intends this trick on him to play.
Plucking the helmet from the branch it's on,
She puts it in her lap and leaves the fray.
Before the knights have noticed it is gone,
She has already ridden far away;
Such is the frenzied rage with which they burn,
To nothing else can they attention turn.

But Ferraù, who first perceived the theft,
From battle disengaged himself and said:
'It seems to me that knight who has just left
Has treated us like blockheads, born and bred.
Whichever of us wins will get short shrift,
For we shall both be now unhelmeted.'
Orlando to the thorn-bush turns his eyes
And sees the helmet gone, to his surprise.

With Ferraù's opinion he concurred:
The other knight had stolen it; and so
He turned, enraged; his Brigliadoro, spurred,
To leave the place of combat was not slow.

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