Page:Tirant lo Blanch; a study of its authorship, principal sources and historical setting (IA cu31924026512263).pdf/94

 But the literary world knows no English Tirant lo Blanch, nor, so far as can be discovered, has it ever seen a reference to a romance of that description except the statements in the Catalan book. Consequently no little doubt arises as to an English original. The same is the case concerning a Portuguese Tirant lo Blanch, and the doubt as to the accuracy of Martorell's and de Galba's assertions increases considerably. And then, finally, the contents of the work, its spirit, its sources, and the fact that there is a Tirant lo Blanch in the Catalan language, strongly impel the reader to conclude that the Catalan book is the original. Let us first consider the question as to an English original. After a careful study of Tirant lo Blanch, we have come to the conclusion that it is hardly possible that it ever existed as an English romance. That conclusion is based on a study of its principal sources and on the nature of its contents. A truly Catalan atmosphere pervades by far the greater part of it. The court and military life of the Catalonians and Aragonese, their political problems and aspirations, their hopes and fears,—all these are vividly reflected in this romance of chivalry. Their history and their literature are so closely interwoven with the story of Tirant lo Blanch, that we can scarcely conceive it possible that it is not a Catalan production. We believe that when Martorell says that the work is translated from the English, he means that it has been inspired by an English book. And his statement has the semblance of truth, for his composition contains a reproducton of a considerable part of the English romance, Guy of Warwick, somewhat modified however, together with an account of the institution of the Order of the Garter, of which the scenes of action are all laid in England. To the story based on the above romance has been joined material derived from other sources, and one of these is Raymond Lull's Libre del Orde