Illuminated manuscript page of
Parzival
Parzival is a major medieval German epic
poem attributed to the poet Wolfram von Eschenbach, written in the
Middle High German language. The poem is commonly dated circa the first quarter of
the 13th century. The poem is, in part, an adaptation of Chretien de Troyes’
Perceval, the Story of the Grail and mainly centers on the
Arthurian hero Parzival (Percival in English) and his
long quest for the Holy Grail, following his initial failure to achieve it. A long middle
section is devoted to Parzival's friend Gawan and his adventures defending himself from a false
murder charge and winning the hand of the maiden Orgeluse.
The poem continues to be read in Middle High German and translated into modern languages around the world. Among the most
striking elements of the text are the scope of its plot and its emphasis on the virtues of compassion and spiritual
questioning.
Structure
Parzival is divided into sixteen books, each composed of several thirty-line stanzas of
rhyming couplets. The stanza lengths fit perfectly onto a
manuscript page. For the subject matter, Wolfram von Eschenbach relied on the never-completed Grail romance, Perceval, the Story of the
Grail by Chrétien de Troyes. Although Wolfram claimed that a certain
Kyot the Provençal supplied an additional source, this claim is
not taken seriously by many scholars.
Plot
Parzival’s heroic traits are (eventually) his empathy and wisdom, ultimately manifested in his final attempt to heal Anfortas, the Fisher
King. His initial flaws are his youthful ignorance and selfishness: his mother dies in his absence, which he only later
discovers from his cousin Sigune.
Book I opens with the death of King Gandin, Parzival's grandfather. His oldest son, Galoes, receives the kingdom but offers
his brother Gahmuret the land of Anjou in fief. However, Gahmuret departs to gain renown. He travels to the African kingdom of Zazamanc, whose capital is
under siege from two different armies. Gahmuret offers his services to the city, and his offer is accepted by Queen
Belacane. He conquers the invaders, marries Queen Belacane, and becomes king of Zazamanc and
Azagouc. Growing bored with peace, Gahmuret steals away on a ship, abandoning his pregnant wife. Belacane later gives birth to a
son, Feirefiz, whose skin is black with white spots.
In Book II, Gahmuret returns to the West, where he meets and marries Queen Herzeloyde. Ever restless, however, he soon returns
to fight for the Baruch in the Far East, where he is later killed by a treacherous acquaintance.
Book III tells of how the pregnant Herzeloyde, grief-stricken at her husband's death, retires to a secluded forest dwelling
and vows to protect her new child, Parzival, from the ways of knighthood at all costs by raising him entirely ignorant of
chivalry and the ways of men. His seclusion is shattered one day by four knights passing through the wood who tell him of
King Arthur's great court at Camelot. Enamored, he decides to go join Arthur's court. His
mother is heartbroken at the news of his decision but allows him to depart, dressing him in fool's garments in the hopes that the
knights will refuse to take him in. Soon after his departure she dies, utterly bereft.
The first part of the journey takes place completely in the world of King Arthur and Parzival gets entangled in first guilt.
Because he does not know the meaning of the pledge of love (Minnepfand), he snatches a ring and a
brooch away from Jeschute, the wife of duke Orilus. Orilus thinks
his wife has committed adultery and treats her brutally, vowing to kill any knight he meets until he finds Parzival. Parzival
meets his cousin Sigune, whose lover has just been slain by Orilus, and she reveals to him his
true name. Before the gates of Nantes, Ither, the red knight, has
pitched his tents. Parzival goes into the town to King Arthur, and reports meeting Ither and requests to fight him so as to
obtain his beautiful red armor. The colourful and strange appearance of Parzival awakens the interest of the court. During the
fight he kills Ither with a javelin and puts on his armor. Without returning to the court of Arthur he rides away; still wearing
his rustic clothes underneath the armour. Now he meets Gurnemanz from whom he learns every
right and duty of a knight, but above all self-control and moderation, Gurnemanz gives him the advice to avoid curiosity: "ir
ensult niht vil gefragen".
In Book IV, Parzival meets and falls in love with the maiden Condwiramurs when he lends
his aid to her town, which is under siege. They marry, but he leaves soon afterward to seek news of his mother.
In Book V, he arrives at the castle of the Grail. He does not ask his host, the
Fisher King Anfortas, about his mysterious wound,
however, or about the magical object before him, remembering Gurnemanz's advice to be not too curious. The next morning Parzival
finds himself completely alone in a totally deserted castle, leading him to speculate that his experiences of the previous night
were an illusion conjured by malevolent spirits to snare him.
Parzival returns to the world of Arthur and meets again Sigune, who now explains him that his mother Herzeloyde is the sister of the dangerously ill Anfortas, king of the
grail. He also meets Jeschute again, who was unwittingly humiliated by him the last time, and he defeats Orilus in a single
combat. Eventually Parzival renews the marriage of Jeschute and Orilus.
Parzival returns in Book VI as a perfect potential member of the Round Table to King Arthur. But during a festive meal
Cundrie, messenger of the grail, appears, curses Parzival in the name of the grail and claims
that Parzival had lost his honour. Parzival immediately leaves the court, even though he is not able to understand his guilt.
For a while (Books VII-VIII) Gawan takes over as the central figure of the book, trying to clear his name of a false charge of
murder.
In Book IX, we learn that Parzival fights for the good, but he suffers from his distance to God. After nearly five years of
wandering and fighting, from combat he gains a new horse, one owned by a grail knight, and this horse leads the despairing knight
one Good Friday to Trevrizent to whom he introduces himself as a regretful sinner. He stays with
this holy man for fourteen days. From him he learns about the hidden meaning of life and the true meaning of the grail.
With that action Parzival makes the first step to a life of spiritual understanding. Through his loneliness and through his
yearning for the grail and for Condwiramurs he puts himself outside the world of Arthur. He is called to another world, that of
the grail.
Books X-XIV tell of Gawan's attempts to win the hand of the maiden Orgeluse.
In Book XV, Parzival fights with a knight who is the first to seem more adept even than he. Parzival's sword breaks, but
instead of slaying him, the other knight sees no honor in such a feat and both retire to the grass. There they learn that they
share the same father. "I was against my own self," says Parzival to Feirefiz, his brother from
afar. Again Cundrie appears and proclaims now that Parzival's name has appeared on the grail, marking him as the new grail
king.
During his journey to the grail in Book XVI Parzival reunites with his wife and takes Feirefiz as a companion. Feirefiz cannot
see the grail, but he can see the grail maiden and promptly falls in love with her.
Scholarly debates
Some details of the epic have inspired controversy, partly because the narrative is interspersed with humorous anecdotes by
Wolfram. It is no longer clear whether many of the claims he makes are intended to be taken as literal fact or as tongue-in-cheek
jests.
For example, in one passage he claims to be totally illiterate: whether the original poem was composed as part of an
oral tradition or as a written work is a subject of debate among scholars. Wolfram also
claimed that a lost Arabic manuscript by a descendant of Solomon was discovered by a certain
Kyot the Provençal, though this may have been his way of
parodying the dubious veracity of many other Grail texts.
Events in the main sequence of Parzival (excluding the narrative of Gahmuret) take place in what is now called
Great Britain. There are difficulties in more specific identification, which pose some
fundamental geographical problems; scholars both medieval and modern are divided as to whether or not many of the places visited
by Parzival are real.
Modern influence
Ludwig II of Bavaria was inspired by the poem, and Singers' Hall in his castle
Neuschwanstein is decorated with tapestries and paintings depicting the story. He was
also patron to the composer Richard Wagner, and encouraged him to create the opera
Parsifal based on the epic. He then commissioned eight private performances of the
work.
Bibliography
- Otto Springer. "Wolfram's Parzival" in Arthurian Literature in the Middle Ages, Roger S. Loomis (ed.).
Clarendon Press: Oxford University. 1959. ISBN 0-19-811588-1
Editions and translations
The standard edition of the text is Karl Lachmann's, 1926. This is the basis for all modern editions, including:
- Wolfram von Eschenbach, Parzival. De Gruyter 2003. ISBN 3-11-017859-1.
English translations:
- Wolfram von Eschenbach, Parzival with Titurel and The Love-lyrics, trans. Cyril Edwards. Boydell Press, 2004. ISBN
1-84384-005-7.
- Wolfram von Eschenbach, Parzival, trans. A.T.Hatto. Penguin 1980. ISBN 0-14-044361-4.
- Wolfram von Eschenbach, Parzival, A Romance of the Middle Ages, trans. Helen M. Mustard and Charles E. Passage.
Vintage Books, 1961. ISBN 0-394-70188-7
Modern German translations:
- Wolfram von Eschenbach, Parzival. De Gruyter 2003. ISBN 3-11-017859-1. With prose translation by Peter Knecht.
- Wolfram von Eschenbach, Parzival, (2 vols). Deutscher Klassiker Verlag 2006. ISBN 3-618-68007-4. With verse
translation by Dieter Kühn.
- Wolfram von Eschenbach, Parzival, (2 vols). Reclam 1986 ISBN 3-15-003682-8 und ISBN 3-15-003681-X. With translation by
Wolfgang Spiewok.
- Hermann Reichert: Wolfram von Eschenbach, Parzival, für Anfänger. Wien: Praesens Verlag, 2., völlig überarbeitete Aufl. 2007.
ISBN 978-3-7069-0358-5.
External links
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