This is an English translation of Alsonso de Ercilla y Zuñiga's epic poem La Araucana . It was translated in 1945 by Walter Owen, a Scottish translator living in the Pampas of Argentina. Owen translated several epic poems from South America in his lifetime, bringing attention to literature little known in the English-speaking world.
Having served in the household of Philip II of Spain, in the 1550s Ercilla had travelled to South America to fight with Spanish forces in their conflict with the Indigenous Mapuche people (formerly known as Araucanians) of southern Chile. Despite initial Spanish successes, the conflict would continue intermittently in a series of guerilla wars and uprisings until 1662, when Spain withdrew from the area and allowed the Mapuche to govern themselves.
Erciilla returned to Spain in 1562 and began writing his epic describing the events of the war. The first part of the poem was published in 1569, the second in 1578 and the third and final part in 1589. The complete poem was first printed in Madrid in 1590 (RCIN 1122732).
Although little known today outside Chile, where it is regarded as the national epic, the poem was well received at the time of its publication. It received favourable comparisons to Ariosto's Orlando Furioso and even made an appearance in Don Quixote, a copy being found in the hero's library.