TRADITIONAL EVENTS
| The son of a widowed mother; Brought up in the desert; Meeting with knights and departure for Arthur's court. | Chrêtien: Peredur; Sir Percyvelle. |
| Meeting with Jeschuté. 'The Lady of the Tent.' | Ibid. |
| Meeting with Siguné. | In this place only in Perceval, later meeting in the other versions. |
| Arrives at Arthur's court and demands knighthood. | All the versions. |
| Meeting with the Red Knight; slays him; and takes his armour. | Chrêtien: Peredur, and Sir Percyvelle closely agree as to the meeting. All agree as to the wearing of the red armour. In Perceval, alone, hero does not kill the knight who originally owns it. |
| Laughter of Kunnewaaré; speech of Antanor and their smiting by Kay. | Chrêtien: maiden and fool; Peredur; dwarf and companion. |
| Arrival at castle of old knight, who counsels hero. | Chrêtien: Sir Percyvelle. |
(It will be found that, from Books III. to XIII. inclusive, there is a very close parallelism between Wolfram's poem and Chrêtien's share of Li Conte del Graal.)
Introduction, lines 1-45. This introduction, like that to Book I., appears to have been written after the completion of the poem, and to have been intended by the poet as a defence of his attitude towards women; certainly the lines 12-15 presuppose certain statements which had aroused the wrath of the lady hearers of the poet. The whole passage is interesting on account of its strongly personal character. In Book VI. Wolfram refers more than once to the lady who has wronged him (pp. 163, 166, 191), and in terms that show, as here, that he bitterly resented her treatment. The line 'Born was I unto the bearing of knightly shield and spear,' is the only definite statement as to the poet's rank in life which we possess, and in the light of his lasting fame as a poet it is curious to find him holding his gift of song as of less account than his knightly deeds, which do not seem to have been more remarkable than those of his fellows.
From Book IV. p. 122, we learn that Wolfram was married, and, from the concluding lines of Books VI. and XVI., it is clear that the Parzival was composed with a view to winning, or retaining, the favour of a lady, but the only direct personal allusion throughout the entire poem is that to the Margravine of Heitstein in Book VIII. p. 232, and the passage is too vague to allow of our identifying the lady named either with Wolfram's faithless love, or with her for whose sake he composed his poem; certainly the Margravine was not his wife.
Page [67], line 61—'Soltanè's strand.' This is one of the many instances in the poem in which an adjective has been taken as a proper name. In the French source it was undoubtedly an adjective meaning 'solitary,' 'waste.' In Chrêtien we find la gaste forest soltaine; other versions speak of the woods, or the desert, none but this gives a proper name.
Page [69], line 158—'Ulterleg's Count.' Oultre-lac, 'beyond the lake,' cf. Louis D'outremer. This is again an instance of a qualifying term used as a proper name.
Page [72], line 220—'Meljakanz.' This exploit is quite in keeping with the character of the knight, cf. Book VII. p. 198. In Malory we meet with the same character, as Sir Meliagraunce; and the story of his abduction of Guinevere, and her rescue by Launcelot is there given in full.
Page [72], line 240—'For some cunning wile of woman.' It is curious to note that nothing comes of these elaborate precautions on the part of Herzeleide. Parzival's fool's dress seems to excite very little attention, nothing is said of it on his appearance at Arthur's court, nor do we hear of any one mocking him for it. The effect produced by his personal beauty is much more strongly insisted upon. There is also a decided discrepancy between the mother's anxiety to keep her son from danger and her suggestions to him to avenge the wrong Lähelein has done him.
Page [73], line 267—'Lähelein,' Cf. Appendix A, and remarks on this character. Heinzel suggests that Lähelein=Llewellwyn, a prince of South Wales who conquered North Wales in 1015. But if a parallel between the boyhood of Parzival and that of Henry Fitz-Empress be intended, as seems probable, the Welsh connection is of too early a date. The remarks in Heinzel's pamphlet, 'Ueber Wolfram von Eschenbach's Parzival,' as to Lähelein being undoubtedly an historical personage, are worthy of note. It is remarkable that we find no equivalent to this character in other versions of the story.
Page [74], line 287—'Briziljan's wood.' Most probably Broceliande, where so many of the adventures of King Arthur and his knights take place. Undoubtedly this wood was in Brittany, but the localities in the poem are much confused.
Page [74], line 297—'Duke Orilus of Lalande.' This name is again a misconception of a French original, 'Li Orgueillous de-la-lande,' which Wolfram has taken as a proper name. In other versions the lady is unnamed. (It may be noted that Wolfram almost invariably names his characters; and often goes to some trouble to connect them with each other, and the main thread of his story. This tendency to account for everything, sum motiviren, is a marked feature in Wolfram's writings.)
Page [76], line 365—'Thy brother, King Lac's son Erec.' An allusion to the Erec of Hartmann von Aue (founded upon Chrêtien's Erec and dealing with the same subject as found in the Welsh tale of Geraint and the late Laureate's Enid) where the tournament at Prurein is described.
Page [77], line 374—'Proud Galoes.' The slaying alike of Parzival's uncle Galoes, and of his kinsman Schionatulander (p. [80]) by Orilus, Lähelein's brother, is also peculiar to Wolfram, but it is curious that the Rache-motif thus introduced is not followed up, and when Parzival overthrows Orilus it is to avenge the shaming of Jeschuté, nor, though Orilus mentions his brother as having won two kingdoms, Book V. p. 150, does Parzival connect the mention with the loss of his own heritage. This seems to indicate that the special rôle assigned in this poem to the two brothers was not a part of the original story, and has not been perfectly fitted into the framework.
The name of Orilus' wife, Jeschuté, is supposed to be derived from a misunderstanding, Wolfram having interpreted the verb gisoit, lay, as a proper name.
Page [77], line 375—'The knight Plihopleheri.' A knight of the Round Table mentioned in Hartmann's Iwein (founded on Chrêtien's Chevalier au Lyon, the subject-matter of which is the same as that of the Welsh Lady of the Fountain).
Page [78], line 409—This shaming of Jeschuté will strongly recall to English readers the story of Enid and Geraint.
Page [79], line 437—'Siguné and Schionatulander.' The loves of these two are related in Wolfram's unfinished poem of Titurel, where the full account of Schionatulander's fatal chase of the hound, or brachet, is given. The adventure with the weeping damsel occurs in other versions of the Perceval legend, but in none does she play so important a part as in the Parzival, vide Book V. p. 141; Book IX. p. 252; and Book XVI. Her parentage is given in Book IX. p. 274.
Page [79], line 466—'Thou art Parzival.' The interpretation here given of the hero's name betrays clearly its French origin, Perce-val. In the Krône of Heinrich von Türlin the writer explains Val as Thal=valley, or Furch=furrow. Wolfram seems to have understood it in this second sense, and has given the name a symbolic meaning peculiar to himself. In Chrêtien's poem no derivation or interpretation of the name is given, and the hero himself guesses his name; nor do the special terms of endearment, evidently quoted by Wolfram from a French source, occur in Chrêtien's version of the story.
Page [80], line 497—''Twas a churl.' Wolfram's aristocratic contempt for peasants may be noted in other passages, cf. Book II. p. 43, and VII. p. 219.
Page [81], line 517—'Herr Hartmann von Aue.' Hartmann von Aue was a famous German poet of the twelfth century. If not absolutely the first to introduce the Arthurian legends into Germany (Eilhart's Tristan is earlier than Hartmann's works), he was the writer who first rendered them popular in that country. His principal poems are Erec, written about 1191; and Iwein 1202, both of which are frequently referred to by Wolfram. They were founded on two poems by Chrêtien de Troyes, Erec and Le Chevalier au Lyon, but Hartmann was not a mere translator; he handled his materials with considerable skill, and with an insight into the characters and motives of his dramatis personæ which is distinctly a feature of the German presentment of these legends. Enid and her mother Karnafite are characters in the Erec. The story of another of Hartmann's poems, Der arme Heinrich, is well known to English readers through Longfellow's version of it in The Golden Legend.
Page [82], line 534—'No Kurwenal was his teacher.' Kurwenal is the friend and tutor of Tristan. In Malory we find the name 'Gouvernail,' and it seems probable that here again we have a term denoting an office converted into a proper name.
Page [82], line 549—'Ither of Gaheviess.' Ither = Welsh Idêr; Gaheviess = gas-vies, old wood. Chrêtien calls him 'de la forêt de Kinkerloi.'
Page [82], line 544—'The Red Knight.' This character is evidently one of the traditional features of the story; though the circumstances of the meeting differ, there is no version without its 'Red Knight.' In those romances of the Grail-cycle in which Perceval has been deposed from his original position as hero in favour of Galahad, we find the latter wearing the armour, and bearing the title, of the Red Knight. Here again Wolfram is the only writer who names him, but it is somewhat startling to find the king of Cumberland claiming Brittany. From Book IX. pp. 273 and 285, we learn that he was Parzival's kinsman. It may be interesting here, and may help to the better understanding of the poem, if we describe the armour of a knight at the end of the twelfth century. The principal piece of defensive armour was the Hauberk (Halsberg), a coat formed of rings of steel which reached to the knee, and had sleeves ending in iron gauntlets. Attached to this, and forming one piece with the Halsberg, was the Härsenier, a cap of chain mail which was drawn over the head below the helmet. The upper part of the face was protected by the 'Nasen-band,' a band of iron provided with eye-holes; and the lower part by the 'Fintäle,' a part of the 'Härsenier' which passed round and over the chin; above this the helmet was fastened. (The use of the word 'visor' in the translation is an anachronism, as the visor proper was not introduced till later, but there was no other word which would express what was meant with equal brevity and clearness.) Foot and leg were clad in hose of iron, and the knee and elbow were specially protected by plates of iron or schinnelier. Over this harness many knights wore the Waffen-rock, a long sleeveless garment of silk on which the badge of the knight was embroidered in gold and jewels. The sword was girt above this garment. The knight would also bear his distinguishing badge on helmet, shield, and the truncheon of his spear. The shield was of wood, strengthened with bands of metal, and often decorated with precious stones, cf. the description of Feirefis' shield in Book XV. The shield was long-shaped, three-cornered, and was held in the left hand close to the body, the spear was carried in the right, so that the horse was guided by the knee, not by the hand, of the rider. The spear was a blade of steel, set into a long heft of wood, or reed, Röhr, probably Bamboo, sometimes even the rough trunk of a young tree, as in Book IV. p. 519. Shield and spear were alike painted in the same colours as the robe of the knight, and the horse had a like covering of silk beneath the saddle and over the coat of mail with which it was protected. The description given by Wolfram of the arms and accoutrement of the Red Knight of Parzival, Book IV. p. 19, and Orilus, Book V. pp. 147-148, seq., will give a very clear idea of the appearance of a knight in full battle-array.
Page [83], line 570—'To the Table Round I came.' Here we find an allusion to two methods of laying claim to a property. There seems a difference of opinion as to the first; Simrock holds that the pouring out of the wine constituted the claim; Bartsch, that the point of the action lay in carrying off some part of the property claimed. This seems the more probable interpretation, the pouring out of the wine then, as well as the sprinkling the queen, would be accidental. In Chrêtien the indignation of king and queen at the insult is far more strongly emphasised. The burning of a wisp of straw, as a declaration of rights claimed, is mentioned by Grimm in his Deutsche Rechtsalterthümer.
Page [83], line 586—'Iwanet.' The diminutive of Iwein, the well-known hero of Hartmann's poem (the Owain, son of Urien of Rheged, of Welsh tradition).
Page [83]—'Parzival at the court of King Arthur.' There are some distinctive features in Wolfram's version of this incident. Parzival's behaviour towards the King, though unconventional, is far less discourteous than that ascribed to him either by Chrêtien or by the English 'Sir Percyvelle.' In Chrêtien's poem, Perceval rides into the hall, where he finds the king and courtiers plunged in grief at the insult offered to them by the Red Knight. The king does not reply to Perceval's greeting, and the lad rides so close to him that his horse's head knocks off the king's cap. A reason for the failure of the Knights of the Round Table to avenge the insult offered by the Red Knight is suggested in the fact that they are already wounded in battle. [The student of Irish heroic saga cannot fail to recall the strange disability under which the knights of Conchobor's court suffered at times and which completely prostrated them. The province of Ulster would have lain defenceless were it not that the Cuchulainn alone was free from the disability, and single-handed defied the men of the rest of Ireland. There are many points of contrast between the enfances of Cuchulainn and those of Perceval—A.N.] The kindly feeling shown both by Arthur and Guinevere towards Ither is not paralleled in Chrêtien, where the Red Knight is represented as Arthur's deadliest foe, and Guinevere is like to die of shame and wrath at the insult offered to her. Chrêtien also places Perceval's refusal to dismount here, whereas Wolfram places it on his arrival at Gurnemanz' castle. In Chrêtien the hero tells the Red Knight of his intention to demand his armour from Arthur, and there is no trace of the courteous and poetical greeting which Ither here addresses to Parzival. The confusion of the Red Knight with the hero's own personal foe is of course due to the introduction of the Lähelein episode which is peculiar to Wolfram; but Chrêtien has a most curious passage connected with Perceval's inability to disarm his dead antagonist:
'Ains auroie par carbonées
Trestout escarbelliè le mort,
Que nule des armes enport;'
which as it stands is decidedly difficult of interpretation; while in the English Sir Percyvelle we find the hero saying:
'My moder bad me,
Whenne my dart solde brokene be
Owte of the irene brenne the tree,'
which evidently indicates the source of Chrêtien's curious remark. An examination of the different versions seems to show that, while the German is the fuller and more poetical, the French is here closer to the original form of the story.
Pages [85] and [86], lines 635, 658—'Kay the Seneschal.' The character of Kay is one of the problems of the Arthurian legends. In all the tales he is represented as filling the office of Seneschal, and in all he is represented as a man of rough manners, violent temper, and bitter tongue. The Seneschal (Senes-schalh), the oldest servant, was master of the ceremonies, one of the chief personages of a royal household, and not unfrequently the trusted confidant of the king; but such a chastisement as Kay here, and in other versions, inflicts upon Kunnewaaré, was distinctly outside his office, and, taking into consideration the standing of Kunnewaaré and Antanor, quite inconceivable. Here, as in other instances, we have traces of an original tradition dating from a time when a far rougher code of manners and customs obtained. Wolfram, while adhering closely to his source, and to the traditional representation of Kay's character, was evidently extremely puzzled by the undignified and discourteous part allotted to him, and in Book VI. (p. 169) he diverges from the story in order to explain what he feels to be a difficulty, and to defend Kay at some length. The Northern French poets apparently felt the same, and as Kay is generally represented as Arthur's foster-brother they invented the fable that the unknightly traits in his character were due to his having been committed to the care of a peasant nurse when his mother took charge of the infant Arthur.
Page [85], line 652—'The maiden Kunnewaaré.' The 'laughing damsel' seems to be an archaic and misunderstood element in the Grail romances. A common incident of folk-tales is for the hero, fool, lout, or tatterdemalion, to win to wife a princess who has not laughed or spoken for years by inducing her to do either of these things. Some such incident has apparently been woven into an heroic romance, the main outlines of which were already fixed, so that the actual conclusion, marriage of the hero with the laughing damsel, has been disturbed. Note, however, the homage paid by Parzival to Kunnewaaré, and her evident affection for him (Book VI. pp. 181-185). Her name too is suggestive, it has been derived from la pucele a la gonne vaire (the maiden with the coloured robe), but in its present form it is suspiciously like Kondwiramur, and it should be noted that it is the rejected lover of this queen whom Kunnewaaré eventually marries. Is it possible that the Perceval romance from which both Chrêtien and 'Kiot' drew contained doublets of this personage? In the one case in her original, in the other in a modified form. An instructive parallel may be adduced from the saga of Cuchulainn. He is the hero of an Andromeda episode and should by rights wed the delivered heroine, but the story being already fixed before the episode was assimilated, the heroine is passed on to a companion of the hero.—[A. N.]
Page [89], line 766—'Maestricht, or e'en Cologne.' German art, in the early Middle Ages, reached its highest level in the Rhenish provinces, especially at Cologne.
Page [91], line 828—'Gurnemanz of Graharz.' The old knight who instructs the hero in knightly duties is a traditional part of the story, and belongs to most of the versions. In Peredur, he is identified with the Fisher King, Perceval's uncle. In Chrêtien his name is given as Gonemans of Gelbort; in Gerbert, Chrêtien's continuator, he is, Gornemant (one of several points of contact between Gerbert and Wolfram's source).
Page [91], line 847—'He bade them lead the guest in.' This is one of the many passages which afford an interesting glimpse of the manners and customs of a bygone age. It may be well to summarise here what we know of the reception and treatment of a guest in the Middle Ages. If a strange knight rode into the courtyard of a castle he was received by squires and pages, who held his bridle and assisted him to dismount. The guest was then conducted to a chamber where he was disarmed and provided with suitable robes. In every important household there was a Kleider-kammer, or wardrobe, presided over by a chamberlain, whose office it was to see that all guests were provided with garments fitted to their station. The preparation of these dresses was the work of the women of the household, and it can have been no light task, as even if a whole company arrived they would all expect to be provided with the requisite dress. The guest, being robed, was then conducted to the great Hall, which was in the upper story of the castle. Half-way on the staircase leading to it, he would be met, and welcomed with the kiss of greeting, by both host and hostess (cf. Book IV. p. 107), and led by them into the Hall where he would receive the greeting of the assembled company. When all were seated the guest would say who he was, and whence he came, but, if he kept silence on this point, it was not etiquette to ask him till the next morning (cf. Book III. p. 95). The evening meal then followed, after which, on occasions of great festivity, such as that recounted in Book XIII. (marriage feast of Gawain and Orgeluse) there would be dancing, otherwise the time seems to have been spent in conversation till the appearance of the wine-cup, Nacht Trunk, gave the signal for separation. Then knights conducted the guest to his chamber, where pages disrobed him, and apparently waited with lighted tapers till he fell asleep. The account given here of Parzival's visit to Gurnemanz gives a very good idea of how the following day would be spent, indeed Wolfram's love for detailed description, and accuracy of statement render this poem peculiarly valuable to a student of the manners and customs of the Middle Ages.
From various hints in the Gawain episodes, notably Books X. and XI., it seems as if the privilege extended to a guest might on occasion be construed with a freedom decidedly repellent to modern ideas.
Page [96], lines 984, 985—'Full five shall thy senses be.' Cf. Book IX. p. 200.
Page [98], line 1055—'The prince bade his daughter hither.' The introduction of Gurnemanz' daughter, and her incipient love affair with Parzival is peculiar to this version. There is a curious discrepancy to be noted between the apparent susceptibility of the hero here and in Book IX. pp. 260, 261, and his indifference to feminine charms displayed elsewhere, notably in his rejection of Orgeluse's advances and neglect of the Château Merveil adventure. The latter presentment seems most in accordance with Parzival's character; is the susceptibility to be ascribed to the poet?
Page [99], line 1080—'I lose once more a son.' The sons of the old knight are mentioned in other versions, but Wolfram alone names them. The circumstances of Schenteflur's death are recounted in Book IV. p. 121; the account given of the other two sons is largely borrowed from Hartmann's Erec, where the strife for the hawk at Kanedig, and the venture, Schoie-de-la-kurt (which is not a person, but an expedition), is fully recounted. Brandigan is Klamidé's kingdom, cf. Book IV.; Mabonagrein, his cousin, Book IV. p. 123. Mahaut is another form of the name Matilda. From Titurel we learn that Gurzgrei and Mahaut were the parents of Schionatulander, Siguné's lover, cf. also Book VIII. p. 245 and note.
BOOK IV
TRADITIONAL EVENTS
| Arrival at besieged city; maiden of the castle beseeches the hero's aid; overthrowal of her enemies and final marriage with maiden. | Chrêtien and his continuator Gerbert; Peredur; Sir Percyvelle. |
Name of the maiden; Chrêtien, Blanche-fleur; Sir Percyvelle Lufamour; Peredur unnamed.
Page [103], line 17—'Who rideth astray, etc.' According to Simrock this passage in the original contains a play upon words which cannot be reproduced in translation: Slegel—schlegel, the word employed for axe here, signifying, in some parts of Germany, 'a fallen tree.'
Page [104], line 26—'The city of Pelrapär.' In Chrêtien the name of the city is 'Beau-repaire,' of which this is evidently the German rendering. The substitution of p for b is still a distinguishing mark of German pronunciation of French. In Sir Percyvelle it is 'the maiden land.'
Page [104], line 38—'The King Klamidé.' This character is named by Wolfram and Chrêtien only; in Peredur he is the Earl; in Sir Percyvelle, 'Sowdane.' Chrêtien calls him 'Clamadex,' and it is worthy of note that in Perceval li Gallois the son of the Red Knight slain by Perceval is called 'Clamadas,' evidently a variant of the same name.
Page [105], line 78—'My lord the Count of Wertheim.' Wertheim is in Lower Franconia. Bartsch thinks either Poppo I. or his son Poppo II. is referred to here. From the expression used, 'my lord,' it seems as if Wolfram had at one time been in his service.
Page [106], line 89—'Trühending.' There are three places of this name in the neighbourhood of Eschenbach: Hohen, Alten, and Wasser-Trühending. The latter is still famous for its krapfen, a kind of pancake.
Page [107], line 119—'Kiot of Katelangen (i.e. Catalonia) and Manfilot.' Kiot is the father of Siguné, and appears again in Book XVI. The account of his marriage with Schoisianè, her death, and his subsequent adoption of the life of a hermit will be found in Book IX. p. 274. From Wolfram's unfinished poem of Titurel we learn that Manfilot was his companion.
Page [107], line 133—'The twain Isoldé.' An allusion to Isoldé la Belle, the wife of King Mark of Cornwall, and mistress of Sir Tristan; and Isoldé of the white hand, Tristan's wife.
Page [109], line 208, seq.—'Till the cry of heart-sorrow woke him.' This nocturnal visit of the Lady of the castle to the hero's chamber seems to be part of the original tradition, and it is evident by the apologetic manner in which Wolfram tells the story that he is somewhat puzzled by Kondwiramur's conduct. From the Introduction to Book VII., and also from the blame he bestows on Chrêtien for having done a wrong to the story, Diese Märe unrecht gethan, we gather that Wolfram set a high value on fidelity to his source, and these and similar apologetic passages must be explained by the unwillingness of the poet to depart from the traditional form of the legend, while, at the same time, the story, representing as it did the manners and customs of an earlier and ruder period, was somewhat distasteful to him.
Page [110], line 243—'Kingron the Seneschal.' This character is Aguigrenons in Chrêtien, elsewhere he is unnamed. Mr. York Powell points out that Wolfram's form presupposes an Aguigrenons, which would either indicate that the existing MSS. of Chrêtien, or Chrêtien himself, misread u for n, or that Wolfram did not get his version by ear as he maintains (or that Wolfram was following a source other than Chrêtien).
Page [114], line 365, seq.—'The marriage night.' A similar account is given by Gerbert, one of the continuators of Chrêtien. (Chrêtien himself does not record the marriage, which takes place on a later visit of the hero to Beau-repaire.) In Gerbert's version we have an indication of later influence, as the motive-power is the recognition by both Perceval and his bride of the superiority of virginity to the married state. Wolfram's version seems far more in accordance with the character of the hero, and is probably closer to the original form of the story.
Page [116], line 420—'Galogandres, Duke of Gippones.' This character and Count Narant only appear here. Uckerland is probably a corruption of Oultreland, as noted in Book III.
Page [118], line 505—'Gringorz.' The French Gringoire—Gregory. All this account of Klamidé's arms, charger, etc., is peculiar to Wolfram; whose fondness for minute and descriptive detail is a noticeable characteristic.
Page [121], line 598—'Dianasdron.' Dinaderon en Gales in Chrêtien, who does not mention Karminöl. In the roll of King Arthur's knights we find such names as Sir Dinas, Sir Dinant, Sir Dinadan; all of which seem to come from the same root. The name is probably Keltic, and belongs to the original version of the story.
Page [123], line 660—'Mabonagrein.' Cf. Book III. p. 108 and note.
BOOK V
TRADITIONAL EVENTS
| Hero meets with the Fisher King; visits the Grail Castle, sees the Grail, lance, etc., but asks no question, and is therefore reproached by maiden with dead knight. | Chrêtien and continuators: Peredur; Perceval; Perceval li Gallois. (Sir Percyvelle omits everything connected with the Grail.) |
(The reader will find all this part of the legend, the varying forms of the visit to the Grail Castle, the Fisher King, the Grail, etc., fully discussed in Mr. Alfred Nutt's Studies on the Legend of the Holy Grail.)
Page [131], line 58—'Abenberg's field.' Castle and town of Abenberg, in the neighbourhood of Eschenbach.
Page [131], line 75—'Repanse de Schoie.' This name appears to signify 'Thought of joy.' The Grail maidens are not named in other versions.
Page [132], line 87—'Then one to the host would call him.' This was evidently the Court Jester, always a privileged person.
Page [132], lines 109, 110—'Lignum Aloe.' Bartsch holds this to be a mistake of the poet, who has misunderstood the old French word Aloer. Chrêtien has simply seces boises. 'Wildberg' was the home of the poet, who is here making allusion to his poverty, as in Book IV. p. 106.
Page [132], line 111—'And the host had bid them lay him.' 'The Maimed King' invariably figures in the Grail Romances, whether they deal only with the Quest, as here, or with the early history of the Grail. He is generally wounded through the thighs, either with a lance, or with a sword, but the circumstances under which he receives the wound vary greatly. In most of the versions he is met with while engaged in fishing, and is known as the Fisher King, or the 'Rich Fisher.'
Page [132], line 125—'The bleeding lance.' This is a feature in most of the Grail Romances, and seems to have been an original feature of the story, though it had not the close connection with the Grail, which the fully developed Christian legend has given to it. In the earlier versions of the story it is the weapon with which the Maimed King was wounded; finally, it became the spear with which our Lord's side was pierced on the cross. Wolfram, who never appears to connect the Grail with the Passion, gives it the first meaning. The visit to the Grail Castle is told in varying forms, but the King, the Grail, Sword, and Lance almost invariably appear, and the hero is either Perceval or his companion Gawain, but Perceval is, undoubtedly, the original hero of the Quest.
Page [133], line 137 and seq.—'The Grail Procession.' In Chrêtien this is much more simply treated. There are two squires bearing candlesticks, and two maidens, one of whom carries the Grail, the other a silver dish, tailleor. Wolfram has evidently seized the opportunity to give play to his love of detailed description, and his account of the Grail Feast and the Grail Maidens is far more elaborate than any given elsewhere.
Page [136], line 223—'The food-supplying powers of the Grail.' In other romances of the cycle we find similar powers attributed to the Grail. Malory, who borrowed largely from the Queste and Grand S. Graal, gives a like account. There is evidently a connection between this feature of the Grail, and the food-supplying talismans which figure largely in the legendary lore of most countries.
Page [137], line 247—'A squire who a sword did bear.' Cf. p. [144], lines 472 and seq. This incident also occurs in Chrêtien, and in varying form in most of the versions. In this poem the meaning and use of the sword are somewhat inexplicable. In Chrêtien that sword will break in one peril, known only to its maker, and then can be made whole by dipping it in a lake. Wolfram's account seems to be based on a misunderstanding of a French original. In some of the other versions the sword is already broken, and can only be made whole by the achiever of the Quest. In Wolfram the sword is a very puzzling feature of the story, with which indeed it seems to have little or no connection. The sword, which breaks in Parzival's deadly combat with his unknown brother, is not this sword, but the one taken from Ither of Gaheviess.
Page [137], line 267—'The fairest of old men ancient.' Titurel, cf. Book IX. p. 287.
Page [137], line 273—''Tis a symbol good, the bowstring.' Introduction to Book I., line 9, and note.
Page [139], line 325—'The garden of Paradise.' This is one of the allusions which seem to connect the Grail in Wolfram's version with an Oriental source, cf. p. [135].
Page [141], line 371—'A hidden hand drew the rope taut.' Chrêtien has the incident of the drawbridge rising, but in no other version are the reproaches addressed to the hero immediately on his leaving the castle, they are invariably put into the mouth of the maiden with the dead knight. In the Perceval the maiden's words, 'The Lord hates thee,' recall Wolfram's Ihr sult varen der sunnen has, which Bartsch says is an ancient formula of declaring a person accurst, and unworthy of the light of day.
Page [141], line 381—'Doubled the throw of sorrow.' Cf. Book III. p. 100; Book II. p. 47. Similes borrowed from games of chance are not unusual in this poem.
Page [141], line 397—'A woman's voice make moan.' This meeting with the maiden after the visit to the Grail Castle is in most versions the only one. In Chrêtien she now tells the hero his name which he learns or guesses for the first time. It was not improbably this incident which led either Wolfram, or his source, to place a first meeting earlier in the story while still retaining one in the original position. Wolfram, with characteristic love for detail, follows up the history of Siguné far more fully than other writers of the cycle.
Page [142], line 427—'Monsalväsch.' Probably 'Mont Sauvage,' in allusion to its wild and lonely position. A full account of the Grail and its keepers is given in Book IX. pp. 270, 271.
Page [143], line 463—'Lunete.' A character in Hartmann's Iwein, from which the episode is quoted. Cf. Book IX. p. 252, and opening of Book XII.
Page [144], line 475—'Trebuchet.' This name is also given in Chrêtien; he is alluded to again p. [147], and in Book IX. p. 281, in connection with the knives of silver mentioned in line 498 of this book.
Page [147], line 595—'Tenabroc.' Also p. [133], line 146. This name is borrowed from Hartmann's Erec. Chrêtien has 'Danebroc.'
Page [147], line 601—'Beàlzenan.' According to Bartsch this name is combined from Provençal, beal, fair; enan, height='the fair height,' which would suit very well with the position of Angers, the capital of Anjou.
Page [152], line 760—'Wild Taurian, Dodine's brother.' Cf. Book IX. p. 265. Taurian does not seem to have been identified, but Dodine appears, in many of the Arthurian romances, always with the title of 'Le Sauvage.' So we find him named in Malory. Wolfram seemed to have transferred the characteristic from one brother to the other.
Page [155], line 849—'Iofreit the son of Idöl.' This is the French name Geoffrey. Mentioned again in Book VI. line 168. Most critics identify this character with Chrêtien's Giflès li feus Do.
BOOK VI
TRADITIONAL EVENTS
| Blood drops on the snow and love-trance of hero. | Chrêtien: Peredur. |
| Overthrows Kay and Segramor. | (Perceval Li Gallois relates a similar incident of Gawain.) |
| Hero is cursed by Grail messenger for his failure to ask the question. | Chrêtien: Peredur. (In Perceval there is a cursing by Merlin.) |
Page [159], line 2—'From Karidöl and his kingdom.' Karidöl=Carduel or Cardoile, the Anglo-Norman form of Carlisle. This is undoubtedly Arthur's original capital, but throughout this poem Nantes seems to be regarded as the royal city. Curiously enough we find the two names combined in Gautier de Doulens, one of the continuators of Li Conte del Graal, who introduces, as one of his dramatis personæ, Carduel of Nantes.
Page [160], line 29—'Whitsuntide.' An examination of the Romances will show this statement to be correct; Pentecost and Christmas seem to have been the two feasts held in especial honour at King Arthur's court.
Page [160], line 49—'Blood-drops on the snow.' Both Wolfram and Chrêtien insist only on the two colours, red and white, and the fact that they are puzzled by, and think it necessary to explain, the presence of snow at Whitsuntide shows that they are taking over the incident from an older source. As a matter of fact it is to be found in tales unconnected with the Arthurian cycle, and of varying nationality. In Peredur (Welsh) a raven has settled upon the body of a wild goose killed by a falcon, and the hero thinks of three colours (black, for hair; white, for skin; red, for cheeks); in the Fate of the Sons of Usnech, an Irish tale written down before the middle of the twelfth century, and probably centuries older, these three colours are likewise present, but it is a calf instead of a wild goose that is slain, and it is the heroine, not the hero, who is fascinated by the colours. The incident has always been a favourite one with Celtic story-tellers (cf. Argyll Tales, M'Innes and Nutt, pp. 431-34), and curiously it is the slain-bird, instead of the slain-calf version which predominates, although the Fate of the Sons of Usnech is probably the most famous of all Irish stories, and no traceable literary influence of the Welsh tale upon Irish romance is known. Those familiar with Grimm's fairy tales will remember a similar incident in the story of Snowdrop, where the queen pricks her finger, and wishes for a daughter with hair as black as the ebony window-frame, skin as white as the snow, and cheeks as red as the blood; but here, of course, the 'fascination' element is absent. I have attempted to show ('the lai of Eliduc and the mürchen of Schneewittchen,'Folk Lore. iii. I), that the Gaelic version of the Schneewittchen type of story represents the earliest attainable form of the story.—[A. N.]
Page [162], line 87—'Segramor,' or Saigremors. This knight is a familiar figure in the Arthurian Romances, and the episode is quite in accordance with his general character. Chrêtien calls him 'Le Desreè' (uncurbed, impetuous). In Malory he is 'Le Desirous.' Cf. also Book VIII. p. 241.
Page [163], line 121—'To seek for the magic pheasant.' Simrock thinks this an allusion to a popular folk-tale, in which a magician, condemned to death, contrives to escape by setting his judges and executioner to seek for the fallen bird, by the irresistible strains of his magic pipe.
Page [166], line 235—'Heinrich of Veldeck.' A German poet who lived towards the end of the twelfth century. His translation of the Æneid, founded on a French version of the poem, was extremely popular, and Wolfram frequently refers to it in his Parzival.
Page [169], line 321—'Herman of Thuringia.' This Landgrave of Thuringia is well known to history as a generous patron of the literature of his day. His court at the Wartburg was the resort of all the leading poets, and it filled a place in the literary life of the twelfth century only comparable to that taken by the neighbouring court of Weimar six hundred years later. The terms in which Wolfram speaks of the guests at the Wartburg is quite in keeping with what is known of the Landgrave's lavish hospitality.
Simrock renders a passage from Walther von der Vogelweide which describes the tumultuous life of the court as follows:
'Wer in den Ohren siech ist oder krank im Haupt,
Der meide ja Thuringen's Hof, wenn er mir glaubt.
Käm er dahin, er würde ganz bethöret;
Ich drang so lange zu, dass ich nicht mehr vermag,
Ein Zug fährt ein, ein andrer aus, so Nacht als Tag,
Ein wunder ists, dass da noch Jemand höret.'
The Wartburg-krieg, a poem of the end of the thirteenth century, in which the principal poets of the age are represented as competing in song before the Landgrave, supposes this contest to take place in 1207, and is doubtless an echo of what was no unusual incident at that date. Wolfram's poem of Willehalm was composed at the wish of the Landgrave, and in it he speaks of the death of his patron. Herman died in 1216, and the brilliant life at the Wartburg came to an end; his successor Ludwig, the husband of S. Elizabeth, having little taste for literature.
Page [169], line 325—'And so Knight Walter singeth.' Walther von der Vogelweide, one of the most famous of German lyric poets, was of knightly birth but small means; he seems to have supported himself by his art, leading a wandering life at the principal courts of his day. Of his connection with Wolfram nothing is known, save the fact of their being together at the court of the Landgrave Herman in the early years of the thirteenth century. The line here quoted does not occur in any of Walther's extant poems.
Page [169], line 328—'Heinrich of Rispach.' Nothing seems to be known of the character here referred to. From the fact that there is a Rispach in the neighbourhood of Eschenbach, Bartsch conjectures that it was some one personally known to Wolfram.
Page [171], line 385—'The time when the knife's sharp blade.' Wolfram is here quoting from an unknown source. No such adventures are recorded in any Romance that has come down to us; but they are quite in keeping with Gawain's character.
Page [176], line 529—'The right of the Round Table.' This custom is alluded to in other Arthurian Romances, and we meet with it again in Book XIII. Here Wolfram seems to imply merely that the king did not eat in public with his knights, i.e. at the Round Table, before they had heard of some knightly venture; in Book XIII. he speaks as if no meal might be partaken of by any of the courtiers till this came to pass. The first rendering seems to be the correct one. [The whole incident is thoroughly in keeping with the conventions of early Irish romance, in which the personages are invariably subject to strict rules and obligations, geasa, to use the Irish word.—A.N.]
Page [177], line 585—'The Grail Messenger.' This incident occurs in both Chrêtien and Peredur, but the messenger is unnamed, or simply termed 'The Loathly Damsel.' Such a damsel is met with in the Perceval, but when she reaches King Arthur's Court she is transformed into a maiden of surpassing beauty. It will be noted that one of the queens imprisoned in Château Merveil also bears the name of Kondrie (p. [189]). Mr. Nutt, in his Studies on the Legend of the Holy Grail, suggests this was originally the Loathly Damsel released from the transforming spell. (It may be noted that Wagner has kept this idea, and in the first act his Kundrie is the Loathly Messenger; in the second, 'Kondrie la Belle.') Chrêtien's description of Kondrie's appearance is even more repulsive than Wolfram's. In Book X. we have a curious account of the origin of these strange people.
[The 'Loathly Damsel' is one of those personages that most clearly testify to the reliance of the romance-writers upon a traditional popular basis, and also in this instance to the specific Celtic origin of that popular basis. A commonplace of folk-tales of the 'task' class is that the hero is helped by a personage having private ends of his or her own to serve, as, until the hero achieves the Quest (which he never does unaided), the helper cannot be released from a spell, generally of transformation into an animal, but sometimes into a shape of surpassingly hideous ugliness. The oldest European variant of this latter type with which I am acquainted is to be found in an Irish folk-tale imbedded in the so-called Cormac's Glossary, a compilation of the tenth century. I have given this in full (Argyllshire Tales, M'Innes and Nutt, pp. 467, 468). In its outré horror the description of the bespelled king's son strikingly recalls that of Kundrie. Such a task story, in which the hero is helped by a transformed personage, who cannot be delivered until the Quest is achieved, is one of the main staples of the Perceval cycle, but it is only in the Welsh tale of Peredur that the incident appears in a straightforward and intelligible form. The sudden transformation from foulness to radiant beauty is met with in another connection earlier in Ireland than elsewhere in Europe: the incident of the Perilous Kiss, in which the embrace of a courteous knight frees a bespelled damsel from loathly disguise, an incident frequently associated with Gawain, is, as I have shown (Academy, April 30, 1892), of early occurrence in Ireland. Another element which goes to the complex individuality of Kundrie can be paralleled from early Irish romance. As the female messenger of the fairy dynasty of Mazadan, she corresponds to Leborcham, the female messenger of the semi-mythic King Conchobor, the head and centre of the oldest Irish cycle of heroic romance. Like Kundrie, Leborcham was of startling and unnatural hideousness, and she is brought into special connection with Cuchulainn the chief hero of the Ulster cycle, as Kundrie is with Perceval the chief hero of one group of the Arthur romances.—A.N.]
Page [181], line 697—'Château Merveil.' The adventure of this magic castle, achieved by Gawain, is related at length in Book XI.
Page [184], line 806—'Kingrimursel.' The name of this character in Chrêtien is Guigambresil, of which this is evidently the German rendering. Here, again, Wolfram either heard or read Gingambresil.
Page [185], line 839—'Tribalibot.' This is India.
Page [186], line 859—'The heathen queen of Ianfus.' The name of this queen, we find from line 1009, was Ekuba; one of the few classical names we find in this poem.
Page [189], line 977—'The Greek, Sir Klias.' This is Cligès, the hero of Chrêtien's poem of that name, son of the Greek Emperor Alexander and Surdamour, sister to Gawain, cf. Book XII. Malory has Sir Clegis, probably the same name.
Page [190], line 1002—'Twelve spears of Angram.' Angram was probably in India, and noted for its steel. Oraste-Gentesein seems to be the name of the country from which the reed, or bamboo, was brought. Cf. Book VII. pp. 218, 219.
BOOK VII
TRADITIONAL EVENTS
| Meeting with army of Meljanz of Lys; Gawain takes part in the tournament, and overthrows Meljanz. | Chrêtien: Perceval relates the same incident, with the difference that Perceval overcomes both Gawain and Melians. |
Introduction, line 1-16—This passage is somewhat obscure, but the meaning appears to be that the poet thinks he may possibly be blamed for leaving the history of Parzival, his chief hero, to follow the fortunes of Gawain; and would excuse himself for so doing by the plea of fidelity to his source. Very few of the romances of this date can be considered original works in the sense in which we would now employ that term; they were mostly a re-statement, or re-combining of traditional material, and it was a point of honour to adhere closely, in the march of incident, to the original form, though the poet was free to do as Wolfram has done, and introduce personal and contemporary allusions, or give his own interpretation of the meaning of the tale. The fact that Wolfram here so strongly blames those who depart from the traditional form of the story, and at the end of his poem specially accuses Chrêtien of having sinned in this way, seems a strong argument against the theory that Chrêtien, and Chrêtien alone, was Wolfram's source of information.
Page [195], line 2—'Gawain.' Gauvain (French), Gwchlmai (Welsh). In all the earlier versions of the Grail story this knight plays a part only secondary to that of the chief hero Perceval. Certain episodes of which he is sole hero, in Chrêtien as in Wolfram, break the course of the Perceval story, though Wolfram, with considerable skill, has brought them into close connection with the main thread of the legend. With Chrêtien's continuators, too, Gawain is an important character, he also visits the Grail Castle and fails to ask the question; and a German version of the Grail legend, Diu Krône, by Heinrich von Türlin, makes him the chief hero, it is he who achieves the Quest and heals Anfortas. It is noticeable that none of the earlier versions know anything of either Lancelot or Galahad as Grail-seekers; Wolfram does mention the former, but only incidentally, and throughout his poem he evidently looks upon Gawain as the typical Arthurian knight, the pride and glory of the Round Table. It is curious that, though he feels himself compelled to apologise for some of the characters, to make an elaborate defence for Kay, and find excuses for Kondwiramur, Wolfram never has a word of blame for Gawain, and strong as the contrast is between his morality and that of Parzival, he certainly never draws a comparison to the disadvantage of the former; as husband of Orgeluse and lord of the Château Merveil, Gawain's lot in life is brilliant enough to awaken the envy of Kay who is jealous for King Arthur's honour. The whole presentment of Gawain in the poem is an eloquent commentary on the moral teaching of the original Arthurian legend, of which he is the oldest representative. Later compilers seem to have felt this, and as the legend gradually became ecclesiasticised, and assumed the form of a religious romance, so the original heroes of the story were gradually supplanted by others, whose characters, in the opinion of monkish compilers lent themselves more to purposes of moral edification. Thus Perceval the married man was forced to yield to Galahad the celibate, and, though he was never driven out of the story, was relegated to a secondary position; and Gawain, whose character in the early romances defied any attempt at converting him into a moral example, became merely a foil to the superior virtue of his companions, while the adventures originally ascribed to him were passed over to the repentant sinner Lancelot. The order of Grail heroes seems to have been as follows: Perceval, Gawain; Perceval, Gawain, Lancelot; Galahad, Perceval, and Lancelot. It is in this last order that they have come down to us through Malory's redaction of the legends.
Page [196], line 34—'The steed from Monsalväsch came.' Cf. Book IX. p. 273, where Parzival's possession of a Grail-steed leads to his being mistaken for Lähelein.
Page [198], line 96—'Meljakanz.' Cf. Book III. p. 72 and note.
Page [198], line 105—'Meljanz of Lys.' It will be seen, from the list of traditional events given above, that this character appears in other versions of the Perceval legends. Though the context is different, the name with but little variation appears in other of the Grail romances, Malory has Melias de Lile, in every instance the name indicates a French origin.
Page [198], line 119—'Lippaut.' The name of this character in Chrêtien is Tiebaut of Tintaguel, the German is evidently a rendering of this French name. Tintaguel seems to point to a Keltic original.
Page [199], line 124—'Obie and Obilot.' Bartsch considers that both these names are derived from a French source, Obie, from the verb obier, signifying excitable, passionate; Obilot, from the French belot, a fair child. In Chrêtien the sisters are unnamed, but the younger is called La pucièle as mances petites.
Page [199], line 136—'Galoes and Annora.' Here we learn, for the first time, the name of Galoes' love, cf. Book II. p. 46 and note. Annora is the same name as Eleanor.
Page [200], line 168—'Lisavander.' The French has several variations of this name, Teudaves, Travezdates, Trahedavet.
Page [205], line 318, and p. [219], line 781—'A charger the king bestrode.' This is an allusion to the captivity of Queen Guinevere and her rescue by Lancelot. Kay was among her would-be liberators, and was smitten by Meljakanz: 'enbor ûs dem satele hin, daz in ein ast der helm gevienc, und bi der gurgelen hienc.' This incident is related in Hartmann's Iwein; but the subsequent freeing of the queen by Lancelot, referred to on p. 219, is taken from Chrêtien's Chevalier de la Charrette. The adventure is again alluded to in Book XII.
Page [210], line 493—'Gawain and Obilot.' Though Chrêtien and Wolfram agree here in the main outline of the story, yet the details differ completely, and the episode as related by the German poet is far more graceful and poetical in treatment. In Chrêtien the elder sister strikes the younger in the face, and it is in order to avenge this insult that the child begs Gawain to fight for her. It is the father, and not the child herself, who suggests presenting the knight with a token; he bids Gawain at first pay no attention to her request, and there is no trace of the pride and affection with which Lippaut evidently regards both his daughters, or of the confidence between father and child which is so charming a feature in Wolfram's poem. Gawain, according to Chrêtien, does not present his little lady with the captured monarch, but only with his steed, a compliment she shares too with his hostess and her daughters. In the French poet we have nothing of the amusing assumption of maiden dignity by the child Obilot, or of the graceful courtesy, half serious, half laughing, with which Gawain falls in with her whim, and sustains his part in the pretty play. Critics have bestowed much praise on this book, and on the character of the child Obilot, and some have thought that, in the picture of father and child, and in the words put into Lippaut's mouth, we have a glimpse of the home life of the poet, and an expression of personal feeling. In Willehalm, Wolfram refers to his daughter's dolls, and throughout his poems he frequently alludes to children, their ways, and their amusements. However that may be, nowhere else in the poem does Gawain appear to so much advantage as in this episode.
Page [211], line 522—'Parzival.' Cf. Book VI. p. 188, line 941.
Page [216], line 668—'Even now shall the Erfurt vineyards.' etc. An allusion to the siege of Erfurt by the Landgrave Herman in 1203. As the poet speaks of the traces of strife as being yet visible, this book of the Parzival must have been written not long after that date.
Page [217], line 715, and seq.—'The captive Breton knights.' It is doubtful to what romance Wolfram here makes allusion. Chrêtien, in his Chevalier la Charrette, relates the capture of some of Arthur's knights by King Bagdemagus-Poidikonjonz, when Meljakanz carried off Guinevere, but they were released by Lancelot. Wolfram seems to have known another version of the story, as he evidently did know a romance dealing with the fate of Arthur's son, Ilinot, of whom we know nothing. He refers to this at length in Book XII. Cluse seems to betoken an enclosed space, a ravine, Chrêtien calls it Le passage des pierres—The Gampilon was a fabulous beast of the dragon type, also mentioned in the Gudrun.
Page [218], line 733—'The Red Knight.' It is worth noticing that, throughout the Gawain episodes, Wolfram never loses sight of his principal hero; if Parzival does not appear personally, as he does in this book, he is always alluded to in direct connection with the development of the story, e.g., Book VIII. pp. 242, 243. This is not the case in Chrêtien, where the Gawain episodes are entirely independent. Some critics have evolved an elaborate theory to account for the importance assigned to Gawain in this and following books, and maintain that Wolfram felt that while Parzival was a prey to spiritual doubt and despair, it was more artistic to keep him in the background than to make him the hero of a series of chivalrous adventures. The more probable solution seems to be exactly the opposite, viz., that the Gawain episodes were already introduced into the legend, that Wolfram, or his source, felt it a flaw that they should have so little connection with the main thread of the story, and therefore conceived the idea of introducing the principal hero, and, by keeping him always more or less en évidence, making it possible to weave the Gawain adventures into the fabric of the legend, instead of leaving them an excrescence on its surface—a conception which was finally perfected by the connection of Orgeluse, Gawain's lady-love, with both Parzival and Anfortas, thereby bringing all the different elements of the tale into touch each with the other.
BOOK VIII
TRADITIONAL EVENTS
| Arrival of Gawain at castle; committed to care of lady to whom he makes love; is attacked by her people and defends himself with a chess-board. | Chrêtien: Peredur. |
The Perceval gives an account of an adventure with a lady and a chess-board of which Perceval is the hero, but the circumstances differ entirely, being similar to those of an episode found in Gautier de Doulens and also in Peredur.
Page [229], line 14—'Askalon.' The name of this city in Chrêtien is Escavalon, apparently a variant of Avalon. The name in Wolfram may be either a misunderstanding of the French original, or it is not impossible that Askalon, being well known to the Crusaders of that time, was purposely substituted for a similar sounding-title.
Page [230], line 26—'Æneas and Dido.' An allusion to the Æneid of Heinrich von Veldeck, to which Wolfram often refers. We learn from line 121 that the writer was already dead. Cf. note, Book VI.
Page [230], line 41—'Where Mazadan reigned as Monarch.' Cf. Book I. p. 31, and Book IX. p. 263. There is evidently a confusion here between the fairy and her kingdom. Fay-Morgan is, of course, the fairy-queen, and the name seems later to have been transferred to Arthur's sister, who is called Morgan le Fay in Malory. Terre-de-la-schoie, given in Book I. as the name of the lady, is her kingdom; the confusion probably arises from a misunderstanding of the French source. We find, on p. [240], that the mother of King Vergulacht, Fleurdamur, was sister to Gamuret, consequently Parzival and Vergulacht are first cousins, and we are meant to understand that Gawain, who, as a lad, had seen Gamuret at Kanvoleis (Book II. p. 39), was struck by the king's likeness to his uncle and cousin, though he evidently knows nothing of the relationship; cf. Appendix A for notes on the supposed origin of the Angevin race.
Page [231], line 58—'Not such as in Karidöl.' This is the longest of the many allusions to the Erec of Hartmann von Aue, and refers to the same incident as Book III. p. 81, cf. note on passage.
Page [232], line 106—'The Margravine of Heitstein.' This name varies greatly in the MSS., but both Lachmann and Bartsch give the reading in the text. The Margravine mentioned is identified with the wife of Berchtold von Chamm and Vohburg, who died in 1204.
Page [233], line 146—'Of my father's sister,' etc. This line is curious as giving a very early instance of a play upon words familiar to us in modern puzzles. Gawain, of course, simply states that he is 'his father's son,' and gives the queen no information whatever as to his birth.
Page [234], line 181, and seq.—'At length did she chance on some chess-men,' etc. It should be noted that chess-men, in the Middle Ages, were often of a very large size, and would form no despicable weapons. In Chrêtien's version of the incident he specially speaks of these as ten times larger than other chess-men, and of very hard ivory. Adventures in which a chess-board plays a part are of not infrequent occurrence in the Grail romances.
Page [234], line 190—'The Burger maids of Tollenstein.' Tollenstein is a town in the neighbourhood of Eschenbach; the allusion is evidently to some kind of Carnival sports held there. Mock Tournaments, in which women took part, are often alluded to in old French and German poems. The point of the allusion evidently is that they fought for mere sport, while Antikonie fought in defence of her guest, and her action is therefore held the more praiseworthy.
Page [235], line 221—'The knight who to battle bade him.' Cf. Book VI. p. 184 and note.
Page [236], line 257—'With a lance-thrust by Ekunât.' Ekunât has been already named in Book III. p. 99. It seems doubtful whence Wolfram derived this incident.
Page [238], line 316—'As Kiot himself hath told us.' This is the first time Wolfram names the source whence he drew his poem. It has already been noted in the Introduction that the existence of this Kiot is a matter of debate, as no poem of his has come down to us, and apparently no other writer mentions his name. This passage should be compared with Book IX. p. 262, where the nature of the MS. in which Kiot found the story of Parzival and the Grail is stated. It certainly seems clear that Wolfram had a source of information other than the poem of Chrêtien de Troyes; his other statements as to contemporary events and contemporary literature are perfectly accurate, and we do not find him inventing feigned names for other writers of the day; it therefore seems somewhat unreasonable to conclude, simply because we know nothing of Kiot's work, that Wolfram here, and in other passages, is, to put it mildly, inventing an elaborate fiction. The fact of the great popularity obtained by Chrêtien's version of the Grail legend is quite enough to account for the disappearance of a version which, for some reason or other (very probably its curious account of the Grail), had failed to attract the popular fancy.
Page [240], line 363—'If Turnus thou fain wouldst be.' An allusion to the Æneid of Heinrich von Veldeck, where Turnus reproaches Tranzes for cowardice, and is answered in much the same strain as Liddamus answers Kingrimursel.
Page [240], line 387—'Nay, why should I be a Wolfhart?' This passage to line 398 is an allusion to the great German epic, the Niebelungenlied, the various lays composing which seem to have been brought into order and welded into a literary whole about this time. Wolfram's version of the cook's appeal to Gunther varies slightly from the received text and probably represents an older form.
Page [241], line 407—'Sibech ne'er drew a sword.' This is an allusion to the story of Dietrich von Berne, parts of which were incorporated in the Niebelungenlied, where, however, this special incident is not to be found. Ermenrich was uncle to Dietrich and Emperor of Rome; Sibech, who seems to have been as faithless as he was cowardly, to avenge a personal injury, counselled the Emperor to a course which brought about the ruin of himself and his people.
Page [242], line 452—'The wood Læhtamreis.' Tamreis, as we find from Book XII., is the name of a tree, this proper name seems to be combined from Læh, old French les = near, and tamreis (tamarisk?). The knight is, of course, Parzival. Chrêtien has not this incident; which is a proof of Wolfram's superior skill in controlling the thread of his story.
Page [245], line 541—'At Schoie-de-la-Kurt.' Cf. note to Book III., where we find the account of this venture, and of the death of Gurzgrei, son of Gurnemanz. Gandelus is the brother of Schionatulander, Siguné's love.
Page [247], line 597—'To the Grail must his pathway wend.' It is a very curious feature, both in this poem and in that of Chrêtien, that the Grail Quest, undertaken by Gawain, is allowed to drop into oblivion. Wolfram only makes one more allusion to it, Book XI., and Chrêtien apparently ignores it altogether. In other versions of the story, and notably in Chrêtien's continuators, the achievement of the Grail Quest by Gawain is an important feature. It is true that Chrêtien's portion of the Conte breaks off short before the end of the Gawain episode, and that those who maintain that Wolfram had no other source than Chrêtien point to this as a proof of their theory, urging that had Chrêtien finished the poem he would undoubtedly have brought Gawain to Monsalväsch, and that Wolfram, deserted by his source at this point, carried the Gawain Quest no further. But it must be noted that Wolfram, who, according to this theory, has hitherto followed Chrêtien with remarkable fidelity, shows no embarrassment at the loss of his guide, but, by bringing Gawain promptly into touch with Parzival, finishes his poem in a thoroughly coherent and harmonious manner, his conclusion agreeing, in certain peculiar features, with his Introduction, which, also, is unknown to Chrêtien. The simplest solution appears to be that both Chrêtien and Wolfram were in possession of a common source, wherein the Gawain episodes were presented in an incomplete and abbreviated form. Mr. Nutt points out that the Gawain Quest, as related by Chrêtien's continuators, not only fails to agree with Chrêtien's commencement, but also presents features more archaic than those of the Perceval Quest.
BOOK IX
TRADITIONAL EVENTS
| Hero meets with pilgrims who reproach him for bearing arms on Good Friday, and direct him to a hermit, who points out his sins and gives him absolution. | Chrêtien: Peredur: Perceval |
Introduction to line 25. This spirited opening, with its invocation of the embodied 'Frau Aventiure,' is peculiar to Wolfram. The entire episode is much more briefly treated by Chrêtien, who brings his hero at once in contact with the pilgrims, and has neither the meeting with Siguné nor the combat with the Grail knight.
Page [251], line 5—'Frau Aventiure.' This is a personification of the 'story' and of the spirit of romantic story-telling. Grimm (Kl. Sr. i. 83-112) claims that we have here a survival of the personifying instinct which led the northern poets to make 'Saga' a daughter of Odin. The word itself is simply taken over from French romance where or dist l'Aventure is a standing initial formula, in which Aventure exactly renders the maere of the opening quatrain of the Niebelungenlied.—[A. N.]
Page [251], line 6—'Whom Kondrie, to find the Grail.' Cf. Book VI. p. 187.
Page [252], line 34—'The sword that Anfortas gave him.' Cf. Book V. pp. 137 and 144, and note.
Page [252], line 47—'Schionatulander and Siguné.' This is Parzival's third interview with his cousin, who has a much more important rôle assigned to her in this poem than in the other romances. The hero meets her at every important crisis in his life; on his first entrance into the world, Book III. p. 79; after his visit to the Grail Castle, Book V. p. 141; now, previous to his interview with the hermit; and finally, in Book XVI. after he has won the Grail kingdom and been reunited to his wife, he finds her dead, and buries her with her lover. Siguné's parentage is fully given on p. [274] of this book.
Page [257], line 204—'The Templar bold.' This identification of the knights of the Grail with the Templars (Templeisen) is a marked peculiarity of Wolfram's poem. Nothing at all answering to the Grail kingdom and its organisation, as described in the Parzival, is to be found elsewhere. The introduction of this spiritual knighthood, chosen by Heaven, and, with special exceptions, vowed to celibacy, seems intended as a contrast with, and protest against, the ideal of worldly chivalry and lax morality portrayed in Arthur's court. Are we to attribute this feature of the poem to Wolfram himself or to his source? Judging from the value Wolfram placed upon fidelity to tradition it seems scarcely probable that he would have departed so far from his model as to introduce such an entirely new and striking element into the story; nor have we any trace of the poet-knight's connection with the order of Templars; but if the writer of the admitted French source was an Angevin, who had been in the East during the Angevin rule in Jerusalem, the connection is easily explained. Certainly, to judge from the freedom with which the introduction to the story has been handled, 'Kiot' does not seem to have been hampered with an undue respect for the traditional form of the legend.
Page [258], line 223—'Nor Lähelein, nor Kingrisein, etc.' Kingrisein is the father of Vergulacht, supposed to have been slain by Gawain, cf. Book VIII. p. 240. King Gramoflanz plays an important part in the poem from Book XII. onward. Count Laskoit, cf. Book III. p. 99.
Page [258], line 230, and seq.—'One turning the ground was snow-clad.' Cf. reference to spring snow in Book VI. p. 160. The pilgrim train met by Parzival differs in the versions. The Montpellier MS. of Chrêtien has three knights and ten ladies; other MSS. one knight and twenty ladies. Wolfram's account is more natural and more poetical.
Page [259], line 263—'Dost thou mean Him, etc.' The address of the knight in Chrêtien is longer and conceived in quite a different spirit. It contains one remarkable passage; speaking of the Crucifixion the knight says: 'Li fol Juis—c'on devroit tuer comme ciens,' a speech entirely out of keeping with the spirit of love and charity characterising Wolfram's Old Knight, and Hermit. The German poem is, throughout, remarkable for the wide spirit of tolerance displayed towards those outside the Christian pale; note, e.g., Book I. and especially the character of Feirefis as depicted in the two closing books of the work. The religious teaching in this ninth book is not only fuller than in Chrêtien, but seems based on a much clearer realisation of the position of the individual soul towards its Creator. The elementary truths of Christianity are much more fully stated, and display a familiarity with the theological speculations of the day which renders them peculiarly interesting. There is no parallel, either, in Chrêtien to the fine speeches which Wolfram puts into the mouth of his hero. The whole episode in the French poem lacks the dignity and impressiveness which stamp it in the German version; it is in this book, and in the account of Parzival's boyhood, that Wolfram's poetical genius touches its highest point, and his superiority to Chrêtien is most clearly seen.
Page [261], line 337—'Towards Fontaine Sauvage,' etc. Cf. Book V. p. 151.
Page [261], line 348—'Kiot.' Cf. note to Book VIII. It is noticeable that there is no corresponding passage to this in Chrêtien; the explanation of the Grail mystery given in the Conte du Graal is due to Chrêtien's continuators, and occurs in the later part of the poem.
Page [262], line 359—'Flegetanis.' A curious contradiction will be noted here. A few lines above we read that no heathen skill could have revealed the mysteries of the Grail, and yet apparently it was a heathen who first wrote of them. The whole account of the Grail reads like a not-too-successful attempt to Christianise a purely pagan legend.
Page [263], line 383—'And in Britain, France, and Ireland, etc.' Cf. Appendix A and note on Mazadan, Book VIII. Nevertheless, the connection of the Grail race with the House of Anjou, save through Herzeleide's marriage with Gamuret, is nowhere stated, nor how Titurel was descended from Mazadan, the ancestor alike of Arthur and of Gamuret.
Page [265], line 465—'The altar and shrine.' Wolfram appears to be absolutely correct here; during the Middle Ages, a shrine, or reliquary, was generally placed on the altar, the use of a cross was of comparatively late date. It is curious that Chrêtien, otherwise more ecclesiastical in his details than Wolfram, has missed the characteristic feature of the stripped altar; on the other hand, he notes that Perceval spends Easter with the Hermit, and receives the Sacrament, while Wolfram passes Easter over without mention. (It is rather odd to find Chrêtien's Hermit saying Mass on Good Friday!)
Page [267], line 531—'Ashtaroth.' Bartsch says that these names are derived from Talmudic tradition; Belcimon being Baal-Schemen, a god of the Syrians; Belat, the Baal of the Chaldeans. Rhadamant is, of course, the Greek ruler of the under-world.
Page [267], line 533, and seq.—'When Lucifer and his angels.' The belief that the creation of man was directly connected with the fall of the rebel angels was very widespread, though the relation of the two as cause and effect was sometimes the reverse of that stated here. None of the editions of the Parzival give a direct reference to the source of the curious 'riddling' passage which follows, but the theory of the maidenhood of the earth was a favourite one with Mediæval writers.
Page [268], line 572—'Plato and the Sibyls.' A curious proof of the belief of the Mediæval Church in the Christian nature of the Sibylline prophecies is found in the first line of the Dies Iræ:
'Dies Iræ, Dies Illa,
Solvet sæclum in favilla
Teste David cum Sibylla.'
Page [270], line 615, and seq.—'The Grail.' The account of the Grail given by Wolfram is most startling, differing as it does from every other account which has come down to us. Wolfram evidently knows nothing whatever of the traditional 'vessel of the Last Supper,' though the fact that the virtue of the stone is renewed every Good Friday by a Host brought from Heaven seems to indicate that he had some idea of a connection between the Grail and the Passion of our Lord. Various theories have been suggested to account for the choice of a precious stone as the sacred talisman; Birch Hirschfeld maintains that it arose entirely from a misunderstanding of Chrêtien's text, the French poet describing the Grail as follows:
'De fin or esmeree estoit;
Pieres pressieuses avoit
El graal, de maintes manieres,
Des plus rices et des plus cieres
Qui el mont u en tiere soient.'
But how Wolfram, who, in other instances appears to have understood his French source correctly, here came to represent an object of gold, adorned with many precious stones, as a precious stone, does not appear. And it must be noted that this importance assigned to a jewel is not out of keeping with the rest of the poem. From the jewel of Anflisé, the ruby crown of Belakané, and the diamond helmet of Eisenhart in the first book, to the long list of precious stones adorning the couch of Anfortas in the last, the constant mention of jewels is a distinct feature of Wolfram's version, and cannot be paralleled by anything in Chrêtien. Moreover, in two other instances, viz. the armour of Feirefis in Book XV., and the couch of Anfortas already mentioned, mystical and strengthening powers are attributed to them. The MSS. vary in their spelling of the stone, giving Lapis, Lapsit, Jaspis, exillis, exilix or erillis; and it is impossible to identify the stone of the Grail with any known jewel. The fact that Wolfram alone of all the writers of this cycle gives this version of the legend, seems to point rather to a peculiarity in his source than to a genuine tradition of the origin of the Grail-myth. In any case it is most probable that the responsibility for the statement rests with the author of Wolfram's French source rather than with Wolfram himself.
Page [271], line 665—'They who took no part in the conflict.' This account of the neutral angels is partially contradicted by Trevrezent in Book XVI. during his last interview with Parzival, when he openly admits that he had spoken untruly in order to induce Parzival to give up his Quest for the Grail. This contradiction introduces a good deal of uncertainty as to what really is the moral aim of the poem.
Page [273], line 711—'The white dove I see on its housing.' This, the badge of the Grail knights, is peculiar to the German poem. Those familiar with Wagner's Parsifal will not need to be reminded that the dove and the swan are represented by him as the sacred birds of the Grail. The connection with the swan will be found in Book XVI.
Page [273], line 737—'O thou son of my sister.' The relationship of uncle and nephew between the hermit and the hero of the Quest obtains in most of the versions. The relationship with the wounded king varies, sometimes he is the hero's grandfather.
Page [274], line 759—'Thou wast the beast that hung,' etc. Cf. Book II. p. 58. This incident of the mother's dream is peculiar to Wolfram.
Page [274], line 771—'Repanse de Schoie.' Cf. Book V. p. 135 and Book XVI. She finally marries Feirefis, Parzival's half-brother.
Page 375, line 785—'But if love the Grail King seeketh.' This explanation of the wound of Anfortas as the punishment of unlawful love is peculiar to Wolfram, and is in accordance with the superior depth and spirituality of his treatment of the legend. In the other versions the king is wounded in battle or accidentally. The various remedies tried for the wound, related on pp. [276], [277], give a curious idea of the surgical skill of the Middle Ages, and seem drawn from a mixture of Oriental and classical sources. The names in line 830 are derived from the Greek, and signify various serpents, with the exception of Ecidemon, which we learn in Book XV. was an animal greatly feared by snakes, perhaps the Ichneumon. The reference to Æneas and the Sibyl is from the Æneid of Heinrich von Veldeck.
The legend of the pelican is well known, and the first part of the passage referring to the unicorn, its love for a spotless maiden, was a widespread fiction of the Mediæval times, but the assertion that the carbuncle is found under the unicorn's horn seems peculiar to Wolfram, and illustrates what has been said above as to his employment of precious stones.
On p. [281] we find a full account of the influence of the planets upon the wound.
Page [278], line 867—'A knight should come to the castle.' This promised healing of the king by means of a question put by the hero is a marked 'folklore' feature of the tale. Mr. Nutt points out in his Studies that in the Grail legend we have a version of the well-known visit to a magic castle influenced by two distinct formulas familiar to folklore students, (a) where the object of the hero is to avenge the death, or wounding, of a relative—the Feud-quest; (b) to release the inhabitants of the castle from an enchantment—the un-spelling quest. The bleeding lance seems to be connected with the first (perhaps also the sword, but its employment both in Wolfram and Chrêtien is so enigmatic that it is difficult to know what import to attach to it), the question with the second. The form of the question differs here; in all the other versions it is connected with the Grail: 'Whom serve they with the Grail?' Here, directly with the wounded king, 'What aileth thee, mine uncle?' Birch Hirschfeld maintains, first, that the question was a 'harmless invention' of a predecessor of Chrêtien's (thus ignoring the archaic character of the incident); secondly, that Wolfram, having misunderstood Chrêtien's account of the Grail, was naturally compelled to invent a fresh question. Of the two, Wolfram's question seems distinctly the more natural, and the more likely to occur to the mind of a simple youth like Parzival; and he has also made much better use of the incident. It is Parzival's failure in the spirit of charity, in the love due 'as a man to men,' that constitutes the sin of the omitted question. Mr. Nutt well remarks that 'It is the insistence upon charity as the herald and token of spiritual perfection that makes the grandeur of Wolfram's poem.'
Page [283], line 1038—'If a land be without a ruler.' Here we have the germ of the well-known story of Lohengrin, related in Book XVI. We learn from this passage that Lohengrin's mission was no isolated instance, but a part of the office of the Grail knights. Wolfram's whole presentment of the Grail kingdom, as won by an act of love to a fellow-man, and used for the benefit of others, offers an ideal, not only curiously modern in tone, but in striking contrast to the glorification of spiritual selfishness which we find in other Grail romances. Elsewhere, the aim of the achiever of the Quest is purely to save his own soul, and, the task accomplished, he passes away leaving the world none the better for his work. If we look at the concluding lines of the poem, Book XVI., we shall find that Wolfram had quite a different idea of a man's duty to the world of his day.
Page [283], line 1045—'King Kastis wooed Herzeleide.' Cf. Book II. p. 48.
Page [284], line 1070—The account of Trevrezent's wanderings is curious, as it mixes up fabulous places such as Agremontin, the home of the Salamanders, and Fay-Morgan, with such well-known names as Seville, Sicily, and Aquilea. Rohas has been identified with a range of mountains in Styria; Celli is also in Styria. The derivation of 'Gandein' from a Styrian town is very curious. Whether the name was in Wolfram's source or not, we cannot decide, but the connection can only have been introduced by the German poet.
Page [286], line 1127—'Two mortal sins.' It is curious that in no other version of the story is the slaying of the Red Knight regarded as a sin. Here, however, it is quite in keeping with the pronounced knightly character of the poem. Ither is Parzival's near kinsman, apparently both cousin, and uncle by marriage (lines 1108 and 1119), and to fight with one connected either by the tie of blood or of friendship is regarded throughout as a breach of knightly faith, cf Books XIV. and XV. where Parzival fights, unwittingly, with Gawain and Feirefis. In Chrêtien the hermit tells Perceval that it is his sin in causing the death of his mother which has sealed his lips before the Grail; Wolfram seems to regard his silence independently, and, as noted above, the sin, there, seems to be failure in charity and in recognising the bond of universal brotherhood; which failure, indeed, is at the root of the 'two mortal sins.'
Page [287], line 1159—'Titurel.' The father of the Fisher King is not named in Chrêtien, and indeed is only alluded to in an obscure and enigmatical passage as being nourished by the Grail. This statement is peculiar to these two writers, and seems to indicate that they were in possession of a common source.
Page [287], line 1169—'An thou wouldst that thy life be adornèd.' The passage which follows here to line 1180 should be noted, as it seems to be an interpolation; it has no connection whatever with the context, and is in quite a different tone from the knightly and unecclesiastical character of the rest of Trevrezent's teaching.
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