The romance is set in the late thirteenth century. Curial and Güelfa, the title characters, are a knight and his lady. Curial travels widely, performing deeds of chivalry, but a rift opens between him and Güelfa. During further travels he is shipwrecked and enslaved in a pagan land. He escapes with a fortune and, after defeating the pagans, is reunited to Güelfa.
