originally contemplated, and one which in great measure bears
directly upon the earlier Mediaeval Romance.

Before commencing these labours, I was aware, generally, that there
existed a connexion between the Welsh Mabinogion and the Romance of
the Continent; but as I advanced, I became better acquainted with the
closeness and extent of that connexion, its history, and the proofs
by which it is supported.

At the same time, indeed, I became aware, and still strongly feel,
that it is one thing to collect facts, and quite another to classify
and draw from them their legitimate conclusions; and though I am loth
that what has been collected with some pains, should be entirely
thrown away, it is unwillingly, and with diffidence, that I trespass
beyond the acknowledged province of a translator.

In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries there arose into general
notoriety in Europe, a body of "Romance," which in various forms
retained its popularity till the Reformation. In it the plot, the
incidents, the characters, were almost wholly those of Chivalry, that
bond which united the warriors of France, Spain, and Italy, with
those of pure Teutonic descent, and embraced more or less firmly all
the nations of Europe, excepting only the Slavonic races, not yet
risen to power, and the Celts, who had fallen from it. It is not
difficult to account for this latter omission. The Celts, driven
from the plains into the mountains and islands, preserved their
liberty, and hated their oppressors with fierce, and not causeless,
hatred. A proud and free people, isolated both in country and
language, were not likely to adopt customs which implied brotherhood
with their foes.