The spirit of the heroic epic pervades "Daniel", in contrast to other courtly Arthurian romances: Daniel's prestige comes from his abilities as a fighter, rather than his exemplification of courtly ideals, the pre-courtly focus on the importance of vassal-monarch relations prevails throughout the story, and Arthur takes part in the hostilities, contrary to his depiction as a "roi fainéant" in other romances. Der Pleier's romance "Garel" was written as a reaction to "Daniel"; Der Pleier found Daniel too brutal and cunning to make a proper hero, and wrote his romance in the spirit of contemporary courtly attitudes. While Daniel's popularity faded, "Garel" continued to be admired, and as late as 1400 Runckelstein Castle near Bolzano in Italy was decorated with frescos of scenes from "Garel". The Prussian family von Blumenthal fancifully claimed a connection to the hero of this romance, and in the Late Middle Ages one or two of its members were christened Daniel. A character named Sir Daniel appears in other Arthurian romances as well, often as the brother of Sir Dinadan and Sir Le Cote Mal Taile. An edition of the Middle High German lines, with facing English translation, was published in 2003.