The White Knight: Tirant Lo Blanc
Page 1
Produced by Robert S. Rudder
The White Knight: Tirant lo Blancwritten and copyrighted by Robert S. Rudder
Joanot Martorell and Marti Johan d'Galba.The White Knight: Tirant lo Blanc.
Robert S. Rudder. 1556 Lafayette Rd. Claremont, CA. 91711.rrudder@lausd.k12.ca.us
THE WHITE KNIGHT: TIRANT LO BLANC
by
Johanot Martorell
and
Marti Johan d'Galba
Edited and Translated
by
Robert S. Rudder
For
Jose Rubia Barcia
Friend and colleague at UCLA
A true "caballero andante"
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER I. COUNT WILLIAM OF WARWICKCHAPTER II. THE TOURNAMENTCHAPTER III. SICILYCHAPTER IV. CONSTANTINOPLECHAPTER V. THE BATTLEFIELDCHAPTER VI. A TRUCECHAPTER VII. IN THE PRINCESS'S BEDCHAPTER VIII. THE BETROTHALCHAPTER IX. WIDOW REPOSECHAPTER X. THE BARBARY COASTCHAPTER XI. PLAERDEMAVIDACHAPTER XII. CONQUESTCHAPTER XIII. THE WEDDINGCHAPTER XIV. DEATHCHAPTER XV. AFTERMATH DEO GRATIAS
INTRODUCTION
"Tirant lo Blanc is the best European novel of the fifteenthcentury," says Damaso Alonso in his excellent study.(1) Miguelde Cervantes, writing from the 17th century, affirms: "as far asstyle is concerned, this is the best book in the world."(2) Ifthis is so, why has the novel all but disappeared from view?
Some place the blame on the language of the original: Catalan,whose literature is not widely read in the original tongue.Others say it is the fault of the erotic scenes ~~ too shamefulfor the polite society of earlier times. To my mind, a heavilycontributing factor is its rhetoric. As Joseph Vaeth says:"Within this work may be found religious and philosophicaldiscourses, speeches and disputations...; formal debates...;documents and papers...; formal challenges and replies...;dramatic lamentations; long and fervent prayers; and allusions toclassical Latin authors, to biblical characters and to figuresprominent in medieval literature." He goes on to say that if thenovelist had omitted many of these elements, "his book would inthat case have been reduced to approximately one-fourth of itspresent size, but quite probably it would now be considered amasterpiece of narration and dialogue."(3)
Such has been the aim of this translation: The story line hasbeen slightly abridged, but the most dramatic change is that mostof the rhetoric has been eliminated. If the reader's literarypalate is tickled by this version, and if he would like to readthe entire manuscript in English, he is referred to the versionby David Rosenthal or to the even more complete translation byRay La Fontaine.(4)
Who was the author of this spicy, brutally realistic novel ofkings and knights of the fifteenth century? We know that JoanotMartorell, son of the king's chamberlain, Francesc Martorell, wasborn in Valencia in about 1413. He lived in England during theyears 1438 and 1439, and also traveled to Naples. Death came tohim in 1468. During his life he wrote several letters of combat,and he began to write his novel Tirant lo Blanc in about 1460.Whether or not he actually finished the book is still a matter ofdebate, for it was not published during his lifetime. Anotherwriter, Marti Joan de Galba, adds his name as a second author,and says that he wrote the last one-fourth of the book. But hedied six months before it was published, and his contribution, ifany, is questionable.
And what was the success of this novel? Only 715 copies wereprinted on its initial run in 1490, and apparently all were sold.A second edition did not appear until 1497. An abridgedtranslation into Spanish was finally produced in 1511, and nofurther Spanish editions appeared until the 20th century.(5) Itwas translated into Italian in the 16th century, into French inthe 17th century, and finally into English late in the 20thcentury.
Of interest is the fact that soon after the appearance of Tirantlo Blanc, and throughout the 16th century, Spain was flooded withnovels of chivalry. But these were of quite a different nature.Although the major characters are also knights highly instilledwith the code of chivalry, they become involved in fantasticadventures filled with dragons, enchanters, and the like,following the lead of the French romances that were translatedinto Spanish beginning in the 13th century. These Spanish novelsof chivalry were produced in such great numbers and read sowidely that no less than Spain's great mystic, Saint Teresa ofAvila, was for a time a voracious reader of them.
While Tirant lo Blanc had no literary followers until Cervantesmore than one hundred years later, it does have the honor ofbeing "the earliest existing romance of chivalry printed in thePeninsula."(6) This being so, from where did Joanot Martorellreceive his inspiration? Although Professor Henry Thomas notesthat "the tracing of sources...(may be only) one degree higherthan the hunting of cats,"(7) we feel impelled to relate some ofthe more important discoveries of literary scholarship. Thefirst section of the book is in imitation of an English romance,"Guy of Warwick", in which England fights off a Danish invasion.When Tirant lo Blanc appears for the first time, asleep on hishorse, and stumbles upon the hermit who explains at great lengththe order of chivalry, the entire section (which this presenttranslation omits) is taken from Ramon Lull's Libre del Orded'Cauayleria.(8) Tirant himself may be an amalgamation ofseveral historical figures: Roger de Flor, Richard Beauchamp,Louis IX, Peter II of Aragon, Joan Hunyadi lo Blanch of Hungary,etc. Tirant's adventures in Africa closely parallel many people,events and place names from Ramon Muntaner's Chronica.(9)
More important than any of these "sources", however, is thisquestion: What did Martorell do with the material that came tohim from books, from life, and from his imagination?
Cervantes, writing more than one hundred years after Tirant loBlanc was published, was sufficiently impressed to talk about itin his Don Quixote not once, but on two separate occasions, infairly glowing terms.(10) Furthermore, some readers have pointedout scenes that appear to be similar in both books: both Philippeand Don Quixote find holes in their stockings, which leads oneinto great searching for a lost needle, and the other into evendeeper depression; there is a cat-howling episode in both books,etc. And there is one other way that Tirant lo Blanc points theway toward the Quixote: in the framework. Cervantes uses adevice often found in the novels of chivalry that preceded hiswork, stating that his book is no more than a "translation" fromanother language. (While, in fact, the authors of those booksare simply advertising the next novels they intend to write inthe series, much as the "Hardy Boys" or "Nancy Drew" seriesadvertise in the final pages of each novel.) But in the Quixotethe device has a far deeper purpose: Cervantes informs us thatDon Quixote is a flesh and blood figure whose real-lifeadventures appear in several Arabic histories, and one inparticular, by a certain Cide Hamete Benengeli. With the aid ofa translator, Cervantes says, he is now bringing the story of DonQuixote's life back into the Spanish tongue. What we have hereis, of course, a ploy to make the characters seem more real, andCervantes makes this assertion with a broad wink, for while weare "suspending our disbelief," we also know that it is nothingmore than his artistry.
And what of Tirant lo Blanc? According to Martorell'sdedication, his book is also a translation: from the Englishoriginal, he is translating into Portuguese, and from thePortuguese into Catalan. But where is the English original fromwhich this book is simply a translation? There is no characterin English literature or history named Tirant lo Blanc, anddiscounting the beginning pages, taken from the "Guy of Warwick"romance, there is no book in English from which this one hasbeen translated. As for the translation into Portuguese, thereis no book about Tirant in that language. So why does Martorelltell us all this? (Although, as we have noted, other novels ofchivalry speak of themselves as "translations", all were printedafter
the publication of Tirant lo Blanc.) Is this novel then,which Cervantes so admired, also presenting us with a "truehistory" which has been "translated" in a way similar to theQuixote? Within Tirant lo Blanc we also find allusions tohistorians who have "originally" set these words down. Forexample: "Here the book returns to the emperor...""Hippolytus... performed singular acts of chivalry which thisbook does not relate, but defers to the books that were writtenabout him." Is there any difference between this and thestatements of Cervantes about his characters? ("Here Cide HameteBenengeli leaves him for an instant and returns to DonQuixote..." "The history goes on to tell that when Sanchosaw...") But we are given no broad wink from Martorell. It isall true, he tells us, and there is nothing more to be said.That Martorell died before the work was published, and that MartiJoan de Galba may have made some additions before it was finallypublished, does not clarify the matter. For De Galba alsoaffirms that the book is no more than a translation from theEnglish to the Portuguese, and from that language into theValencian tongue, and that he is merely finishing what Martorellwas unable to complete.
There are no broad winks. But the characters belie the"history": They come to life as no straight-forward, factualhistory can bring its subjects to life. As Damaso Alonso soaccurately puts it: this fifteenth century work "is preciselythat whip that could excite Cervantes' imagination. Tirant wasnot yet the modern novel, but in it were many elements, andfurthermore, essential elements of what would become the modernnovel."(11)
Having read this novel, who could forget the characters thatMartorell has brought to life? Who would not feel grief at thedeath of Tirant and the princess, no less united in soul thanCalisto and Melibea in Spain (making their appearance a few shortyears later in Fernando de Rojas' masterpiece, La Celestina),than Romeo and Juliet in England, and no less tragic. And inremembering Tirant, who would not smile at the thought of himserving as a go-between for Prince Philippe and the infanta,Ricomana. Could anyone be more delightful than the forthrightPlaerdemavida (whose name translates literally as"Pleasure-of-My-Life") -- surely one of the best delineatedcharacters in any literature. Or anyone more villainous than theodious Widow Repose -- a figure stamped indelibly on our minds,wearing her ridiculous red stockings and hat in the bath.
As Cervantes says: "In (Tirant lo Blanc) knights eat and drink,sleep and die in their own beds, and make their wills before theydie..." And his praise for Tirant is also borne out by thecharacters in the Quixote. For in many of that book's mostmemorable episodes, they too eat and drink (and regurgitate),they sleep (when someone or something does not awaken them to anew adventure), Don Quixote makes out his will (to thecontentment of some of the beneficiaries), and finally he dies inhis bed (and Cervantes warns us that no one should try to revivehim: "For me alone Don Quixote was born, and I for him... We twoalone are as one." This identification of the author with hiswork was felt no less keenly by Martorell. As he says in hisdedication: "And so that no one else may be blamed if errors arefound in this work, I, Johanot Martorell, knight, alone wish tobear the responsibility, and no one else with me, for this workhas been set down by myself alone..."
If Don Quixote's Dulcinea did not exist until she took form inhis (or in Cervantes') mind, or the windmill that was a giant, orthe Cave of Montesinos, they have now come into existence in themind of every reader of that novel. So may Tirant and his men,the princess, the emperor, Plaerdemavida, also come to lifealongside the gentle and not so gentle folk of Cervantes, inevery reader's imagination. Let me leave the reader with thesewords about Tirant lo Blanc by Cervantes: "Take him home and readhim, and you will see that what I have said of him is true." (12)
Finally, a word about this English translation which bringsMartorell's work full circle, back into the English language fromwhich he says he has translated it. My work was begun in 1976,and completed in 1982. Shortly afterward, the Englishtranslation by David Rosenthal appeared, which includes most ofthe "philosophical discourses, speeches", etc. that I havepurposefully omitted. So my translation lay unmolested in a boxduring these past several years while the computer has beendeveloping at breakneck speed, now allowing this great 15thcentury novel to be read, electronically, throughout the world.(What would Joanot Martorell say...?) And more "finally",thanks to the many people who have supported me on this projectand on others in the past: To Walter Pattison who awakened me tothe excitement and beauty of Spanish literature; to my latefriend, Arturo Serrano Plaja, who made a valiant attempt torefine my taste, and who guided me throughout the years; to mymany colleagues and friends at the University of Minnesota; andalso to good memories of several of my colleagues at UCLA: mydear friend, the late Richard Reeve, John Crow, the late DonaldFogelquist, Julio Rodgriguez Puertolas, Enrique Rodriguez Cepeda,Carlos Otero, Paul Smith, and of course the incredibly fine manto whom I dedicate this translation, and who helped me in mydarkest hours: Jose Rubia Barcia. There being so many, if I haveneglected anyone in particular, I pray and know that they will bemore than understanding. Vale
Robert S. Rudder Claremont, California Nov. 1995