Guillem de Torroella

Guillem de Torroella (also written Torroelha) was a Majorcan poet whose family came from Empodàrda. He lived during the 14th century and it is thought he was born in. He wrote the Patraña around 1370. The Faula has been reedited in 2007 in the Library of Majorcan Writers by Anna María Compagna Perrone.

La Faula is a tale written by Guillem of Torroella, inserted in the matter of Bretaña, in which it explains in first person the history of his kidnapping to the Delighted Island organised by the fairy Morgana that, with the presence of Torroella, wants to end the invincible sadness of her brother, King Artús. The presence of the foreigner comforts the king, who had fallen in a deep sadness because of the decline of chivalry. The king Artús finally entrusts in Torroella a mission: go back to the real world and explain all he has seen.

The action begins in the Valley of Sóller in Mallorca. Torroella, riding, arrives at the port of Santa Caterina where sees a parrot on a "rock. Torroella, contemplating the bird, decided to approach, but, just at that moment the "rock", which in reality was a whale, carries him through the sea until arrived at the Delighted Island (Sicily, for many scholars) where his adventure begins and he meets the famous king Artús.

This book was a model for some later writers like Bernat Medical, Anselm Turmeda and Joanot Martorell.