Irkalla's Ascent from the Underworld

Framed by Astolpho, a paladin of Charlemagne, speaking with Ereshkigal, the Sumerian goddess who oversees the underworld, Kur. The narrative aligns his account on the left, and her comments on the right. Astolpho's betrayal by Alcina is well-described; each callback to the source canon is executed smoothly, and blends in well with the interpretation of the characters. Astolpho pivots from story to story through repeated self-distraction, which shapes the larger narrative in an organic fashion. Brief interludes see their roles reversed, with Ereshkigal speaking on the events of Nergal and Ereshkigal and Inanna's Descent to the Underworld, for which the work is named. The interludes are in third person, describing their meeting, while the actual accounts are told in a first person back-and-forth, like a transcript. Well-executed as an adaptation of versions of both sets of canons; a fantastic crossover between Italian chivalric romance and Mesopotamian mythology.