53 pages • 1 hour read
Italo CalvinoThe Nonexistent Knight
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1959A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 1-3Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 1 Summary
The Nonexistent Knight is set in France during the time of Charlemagne’s rule (the late 8th to early 9th century). Outside the walls of Paris, Charlemagne inspects his paladins (the knights of his court). Charlemagne rides his horse before the assembled paladins as they call out their names and their achievements. They have been fighting the same war for many years; everything now seems to be part of a routine. A knight named Agilulf has a set of gleaming white armor. Charlemagne tells Agilulf to “raise [his] visor and show [his] face” (4). Agilulf delays, explaining that he cannot do so because he does not, in fact, exist. When Charlemagne insists that the knight raise his visor, Agilulf does so hesitantly. He reveals a dark void: the suit of armor is completely empty. Agilulf explains that he is powered entirely by willpower and a sense of duty to Charlemagne’s cause.
The elderly Charlemagne dismisses his paladins. They ride away and, in separate groups, dismount as they strike up conversations. Their talk is filled with bold claims and boasts. Agilulf separates himself from the other knights. He listens to them talk but does not approach anyone else. The day ends and night falls. Agilulf returns to the stables, discovering that the horses have not been properly stabled. He surveys the camp and criticizes the stableboys for not doing their job. Then, he visits each paladin in turn and—“discreetly but firmly” (6)—explains why they have been negligent in their duties. He tells them how they can improve, and he issues them with commands. The other paladins agree amongst themselves that Agilulf is the ideal knight, though this does not necessarily mean that they like him.
Chapter 2 Summary
Since they are at war, Charlemagne’s army has set up a well-ordered camp, as have his enemies, the infidels from Moorish Spain. From the commanders to the sentries, everyone has their orders to follow. Every paladin has removed his armor and gone to bed, except for Agilulf, who cannot sleep. Agilulf wanders through the camp, his thoughts occupied with the many deeds he has yet to perform. He cannot envy his fellow paladins’ ability to sleep, since he cannot know what sleep is. Since he does not exist, he has never experienced sleep. Nevertheless, he feels somehow superior to the existent knights. After a sentry complains of tiredness, Agilulf feels compelled to inspect the rest of the camp. He wants to ensure that there are no signs of neglect. Though this is not his responsibility, he feels a duty to perform the inspection anyway.
Above Agilulf’s head, bats dip and swoop in the night sky. He resents their “wretched bodies” (10) and swings his sword at them. His emotional outburst is interrupted by Raimbaut, a young man from the camp, who asks to practice with the nonexistent knight to prepare for the upcoming battle. Raimbaut introduces himself to Agilulf, explaining that he is seeking revenge against Isohar the Argalif. Raimbaut explains how “that pagan dog Isohar” (12) killed his father. Now, the son hopes that he will be able to keep his composure should he meet Isohar on the battlefield. Agilulf recommends that Raimbaut seek out the respective official, the Superintendency of Duels, Feuds, and Besmirched Honor, and put in an official request to have his desire for vengeance satisfied.
Raimbaut searches for the Superintendency. Instead, he comes across two other paladins. Asking for directions to the Superintendency, the two men seem annoyed at Raimbaut’s mention of Agilulf. Abandoning the bitter paladins, Raimbaut finds the Superintendency by himself. Inside, however, the officials tell him that he can achieve revenge against his father (a Marquis and a general) by killing four captains or three majors on the battlefield. This, they recommend, would officially satisfy his desire for revenge, and Raimbaut can even be supplied with “three easy ones” (16). Another person in the Superintendency suggests instead that Raimbaut do nothing, as killing Isohar specifically is too complicated a bureaucratic issue. Instead, he describes a case of mistaken identity, in which case someone tried to claim revenge for their murdered uncles, who happened to be found alive afterward. Since two uncles are the equivalent of one father, the man says, then Raimbaut does not need to seek revenge.
Before anything comes of Raimbaut’s visit to the Superintendency, the camp is roused by the horn announcing the battle. Raimbaut rushes to Agilulf, finding him arranging a set of pinecones under a tree. This exercise, Agilulf explains, helps him to keep his focus. Raimbaut breaks down in tears. When Agilulf questions him, Raimbaut insists that he must be tired. He cannot comprehend how Agilulf can stay awake so long. If he were to fall asleep, Agilulf explains, then he would cease to exist. When he rests his gloved hand on the top of Raimbaut’s head, Raimbaut notices that the hand seems empty and lifeless.
Chapter 3 Summary
Charlemagne leads his army on the march to battle. The peasants, shepherds, and villagers cry out to their king while arguing over the identities of his paladins. The army marches along roads and through towns. Agilulf grows impatient as they march. He cannot understand why his fellow paladins lack his urgency. They seem happy to pause in every tavern to drink and enjoy themselves. At the same time, Charlemagne frequently stops the army to note interesting local features. They pass through a town where Charlemagne is intrigued by a man who acts like a duck. When the man nearly drowns, he begins instead to act like a frog. Later on, he is spotted in an orchard, acting like a pear. A knight hits him with a lance, causing him to go “rolling around and around, down the field like a pear” (25). Charlemagne quizzes a gardener about the man, who allegedly has many names and pretends to be many different things. Occasionally, he is known as Gurduloo.
Charlemagne summons Gurduloo. In the presence of Charlemagne, Gurduloo acts like a king. This amuses Charlemagne, who instructs his servants to bring soup for the strange man. After being assured that he is to eat the soup, rather than be eaten by the soup, Gurduloo then tries to pour the soup into a tree. Charlemagne is amused again. He suggests that Gurduloo could be Agilulf’s squire. Agilulf, not recognizing the irony of the suggestion, begins to act as though Gurduloo is his squire, only to realize that the strange man is asleep. Gurduloo only wakes when a passing hedgehog pricks his bare, “silly” foot. Gurduloo enters into an argument with his own unresponsive foot, showing his foot how easy it would be to avoid the hedgehog’s spines. Gurduloo then runs away into the bushes and disappears. After a brief attempt to follow him, Agilulf quickly loses sight of Gurduloo.
Chapters 1-3 Analysis
In The Nonexistent Knight, The End of Eras is thematically represented from the opening pages as Calvino paints a world aging out of its societal standards. Charlemagne inspects his troops in the opening sequence, now an aged, elderly figure, deliberately contrasted with the glorious historical legend. The man who united Western Europe, who ruled over a vast empire, and whose famed knights became similarly legendary now struggles to remember the names of the men under his command. His faltering voice barely registers interest in his men, even as he marches to war. The world of chivalry, duty, honor, and glory are also at their end, shambling off the world stage along with Charlemagne himself.
It is during this era of forgotten chivalry that Agilulf is introduced. Charlemagne seems to learn of Agilulf for the first time during the inspection at the start of the novel, despite his presence in Charlemagne’s army. The nonexistent knight is an absurdity, an empty suit of armor who claims to be acting for Charlemagne’s holy glory. The old emperor, who has seen so much change in the world, seems to accept this absurdity with a half-interested resignation. He devotes as much attention to the walking suit of armor as his other generals before retiring to his tent. Again feeding into the theme the end of eras, the most powerful figure barely seems equipped to reckon with the absurdity of the world he has built. Charlemagne accepts Agilulf’s nonexistence with less intrigue than he treats the ducks at the side of the road. To Charlemagne, Gurduloo is a far more fascinating figure, which is why he jokes about pairing them together. His decisions and his demeanor speak to his faded glory.
The opening chapters of the novel also introduce Raimbaut. The eager, vivacious youngster enters the narrative with an explicit purpose: he is seeking revenge against the man who killed his father. This is a clear, actionable goal representing Duty as an Idealistic Standard, lost amid the chaos and disinterest of Charlemagne’s court. He can find no one to help him with what, on the surface, appears to be a legitimate and valid request. The code of chivalry dictates that Raimbaut is right to seek revenge; he is dutybound to defend his family’s honor. Since no one at the court cares about this sort of thing any longer, Raimbaut is never given any real direction. Even Agilulf is barely able to help, as he is more interested in the meticulous adherence to the rules of social etiquette and warfare rather than anything as emotional or as visceral as revenge. Agilulf sends Raimbaut in the direction of the Superintendency of Duels, Feuds, and Besmirched Honor. From this point, Raimbaut’s quest becomes lost in bureaucratic absurdity. The bureaucrats ignore the passion and desire of Raimbaut’s request, offering to settle his vendetta with a simple equation. The existence of the Superintendency of Duels, Feuds, and Besmirched Honor illustrates the downfall of Charlemagne’s court. The knights who once leapt at the chance to defend their honor and assert their glory have been tied up in self-interest and bureaucracy. The administrations hold up the reputation of the court, long after any passion or glory has since faded away.
Similarly, the urgency and glorification of war is sidelined as Charlemagne’s army seems to stop in every tavern. Charlemagne himself holds up the procession whenever he spots an item of local interest. This could be something as minor as a flock of ducks or a man trying to be a frog. The supposed existential war against the Moors, the confrontation between East and West (in which, ironically, the East is represented by the Spanish Moors to the west of Charlemagne’s Franks) is put on hold so that the leader can entertain himself. As the procession passes through the countryside, the peasants argue about the identities of the knights of the court. They have heard the legends about heroic deeds, and they try to equate these supposedly legendary figures with the dull, self-interested knights who march past them. There is no longer any correspondence between the legendary figures and what they have become. The knights, like the system of chivalry itself, are now just a relic of the past, something to be argued about and debated as though they were characters in a play rather than real people with real accomplishments.
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