BOOK XV
Page [135], line 22—'His armour a knight displayed.' The riches of Feirefis and his costly raiment are dwelt upon at such length that one suspects that the aim of the poet was to exalt the importance of the House of Anjou; of which Feirefis, rather than Parzival, must here be considered the representative.
Page [136], line 31—'Agremontein.' Cf. Book IX. p. 284.
Page [136], line 42—'Thopedissimonté,' etc. This place has not been named before, and critics have not identified it with any known name. Assigarzionté may, as suggested in Note to Book XIV., be the same as Agatyrsjenté. Thasmé we already know, Book XIII. p. 74 and Note.
Page [137], line 59—'Parzival rode not lonely.' The expression of an idea which seems to be a favourite one with Wolfram, cf. Book V. p. 139 and Book VIII. 242.
Page [137], line 81—'As the lion-cub,' etc. This fable, a belief in which was general in the Middle Ages, is also mentioned by Wolfram in his Willehalm.
Page [139], line 120—'My brother and I are one body,' etc. As remarked before, Wolfram has an extremely high idea of the binding nature of family relationships, cf. Book III. p. 97 and further on p. 145.
Page [139], line 121—'Asbestos.' Cf. Book IX. p. 281.
Page [139], line 138—'Kaukasus.' It is rather curious to find Sekundillé associated with Kaukasus, as we are elsewhere told that she was queen of Tribalibot, i.e. India. In Book X. p. 11 we are told that she had golden mountains in her kingdom, which may have suggested the connection.
Page [140], line 155—'And the other, the precious jewels,' etc. It has already been remarked (Note to Book IX.) that the attribution of strengthening virtue to precious stones, and the prominence given to them throughout the poem, is a special feature of the Parzival. In the next book we meet with a remarkable instance of this peculiarity.
Page [140], line 161—'Kardeiss and Lohengrin.' This is the first intimation we have of the existence of Parzival's sons; from Kondrie's speech on p. [159], he seems himself to have been unaware of their birth. We hear of Parzival sending the knights conquered by him to yield themselves captives to Kondwiramur (Book VII. p. 220 and Book VIII. p. 243), and she, therefore, would be in some degree aware of her husband's movements during the five years of separation; but we have no indication of his having received any message from her; and from the wandering life he led during these years (cf. Introduction to Book IX.), and the fact that he had no squire in attendance who could act as go-between, it seems most probable that Parzival heard nothing of his wife throughout the entire time—a fact which makes his fidelity to her even more striking. Kardeiss was doubtless named after his mother's brother, whose death is referred to in Book VI. p. 167. Lohengrin, or as the name stands in the original, with an additional syllable, Loherangrin, has been derived from Lothringen, the German form Lorraine. If so, this may indicate the source of the story of the Swan-knight, which did not, of course, originally belong to the Grail legend.
Page [140], line 170—'Pelrapär!' seq. It is very curious that though Wolfram emphasizes the fact (p. [139]) that Parzival had regained his faith in God, yet it is not this faith which stands him in good stead in the hour of his greatest peril; neither is it his devotion to the Grail; but it is his loyal love for, and fidelity to, his wife that proves his salvation. If the aim of the poem were, as some critics contend, a purely religious one, then we should surely find that at the crucial moment of the hero's career religion, and not Love, would be the saving power. As it is, Parzival's words to Gawain, Book VI. p. 188, are abundantly borne out, and it is his wife, and no heavenly power, that acts as Guardian Angel. (The lines 170-71 are not of course to be taken literally, 'o'er kingdoms four' is used in other old German poems as equivalent for 'a great distance.' It is not to be supposed that Kondwiramur was in any sense, even mystically, aware of her husband's danger, though doubtless it is the conviction that her love for him is as steadfast as his for her that strengthens his arm.) Throughout this conflict between the two brothers it is love, in the twelfth century form of Minne-Dienst, which is regarded as the animating power on either side; though the fact that they are respectively Christian and heathen is insisted on by the poet, yet we do not find the conflict regarded as a struggle between the two religions, nor any sign given of the superiority of the God of the Christian to the heathen deities, in fact the same Divine Power is invoked to shield them both (p. [139]). It certainly seems here as if the knightly interpretation had, in a great measure, overborne the ethical. That there was an ethical signification attached to the episode seems evident, not only from the fact that this conflict with Feirefis, whose peculiar parti-coloured appearance recalls so strongly the contrast between Doubt and Faith, drawn in the Introduction, is the last stage in Parzival's long expiation; but also from the fact of the breaking of Ither of Gaheviess' sword, of which special mention is made in lines 173 and seq. The poet evidently intends us to regard this as a token that Parzival's youthful sins have been atoned for, and there seems little doubt that the incident was introduced here for that purpose. That the sword here broken was originally the Grail sword, and that the change was made by Wolfram from the difficulty of reconciling that fact with previous statements (cf. Book IX. p. 252), as Simrock suggests, is most improbable, there would have been no reason for the Grail Sword breaking in this rather than in any other combat (accepting Chrêtien's statement that the sword would break only in one peril; it had withstood considerably more than one blow), quite the contrary, as here Parzival is practically the Grail champion; but there is a deep significance in this shattering of the last token of the headstrong folly of his youth. It seems most probable that Wolfram found this incident in his source; and that the original meaning of the combat was to depict the last desperate struggle of the soul with Doubt, wherein by steadfast resistance (absolute conquest is not at once to be looked for) the sins of the past are wiped out, and the soul becomes finally worthy of reward.
Page [141], line 195—'Thro' fear shall I tell my name?' Cf. Note to Book XIV. The courteous and knightly bearing of Feirefis, both here and on p. [142], should be noted. In everything but faith he is quite the equal of his Christian brother; indeed it must be admitted that, compared with either Feirefis or Gawain, Parzival gives the impression of being a much less courtly and polished figure. His character seems stamped throughout with a rugged simplicity and directness, quite in keeping with what we are told of his wild and lonely youth. It is noticeable, too, how very little, comparatively speaking, Parzival says; though all the speeches put into his mouth have an earnestness and depth of feeling which we do not find in the much more frequent utterances of Gawain. Wolfram's tolerant treatment of heathen, generally, has often been a subject of remark by critics; and, with regard to Feirefis, the number of allusions to him which the Willehalm contains lead one to the conclusion that this character, in particular, was a favourite with the poet.
Page [141], line 202—'How shall "Angevin" be thy title?' The reader will probably by this time have noticed that, King of Anjou as Parzival is, he is never called an Angevin, but is invariably referred to as a 'Waleis,' his mother's country. It is his mother's kingdoms of which he has been deprived (cf. Book III. pp. 73, 80, 87), and this is really the first indication we have that he knows himself to be also lord of Anjou. Gamuret is alluded to, and gives his name as, Gamuret Angevin; Feirefis, is always Feirefis Angevin; but Parzival, the hero of the story and the real glory of his house, is not an Angevin but a 'Waleis.' This shows clearly that the Angevin element formed no part of the original Perceval legend, but that it has been grafted on to a previously existing Celtic basis.
Page [141], line 205—'Béalzenan.' Cf. Book V. p. 147 and Note.
Page [142], line 230—'As written parchment.' Ekuba did not say this in Wolfram's version, cf. Book VI. p. 186, possibly the simile was in the French source and has been dropped out. It is a curious idea to occur to a man who, like Wolfram, could not write; and it is also a curious speech to put into the mouth of one who, like Parzival, had been brought up in the desert, and deprived of the ordinary training due to his rank.
Page [143], line 241—'Blest be Juno,' etc. This ascription of Latin gods and goddesses to all the non-Christian races was not unusual in the Middle Ages; Apollo was the god most commonly thus transferred. It is rather curious though to find the mistake made in a poem so obviously tinged by Oriental influences as the Parzival. Wolfram, too, seems to have known that the Saracens had other gods, in Willehalm he names as such Apollo, Mahmet, and Tervigant.
Page [144], line 275—'When King Eisenhart's life was run.' Cf. Book I. p. 28.
Page [144], line 294—'Till King Ipomidon.' Cf. Book II. p. 59.
Page [146], line 353—'From Château Merveil,' etc. Cf. Book XII. p. 53.
Page [147], line 377—'Saranthasmé.' Cf. Book XIII. p. 74 and note.
Page [149], line 458—'Wizsant.' A haven on the coast of France, near Boulogne, much frequented at that time. Writers of the period frequently allude to it.
Page [153], line 583 and seq., page [154], line 615 and seq. The list of kings conquered by Feirefis and Parzival contain some very perplexing names, the originals of which have evidently been corrupted in process of transmission from one language to another. Bartsch, who has devoted considerable time to the study of the proper names in the Parzival, has endeavoured, with varying success, to identify the majority; and the following suggestions are taken from his article on the subject, already quoted in Appendix B, of vol. i.
In the first list, that of the princes conquered by Feirefis, names of Greek origin are of frequent occurrence; thus Papirus of Trogodjenté, Bartsch identifies as the king of the Troglodytæ; Liddamus of Agrippé was originally Laodamus of Agrippias; Tinodent, the island of Tenedos; Milon is, of course, a well-known Greek name, as is Kallicrates, here Killicrates, Filones of Hiberborticon is the Greek Philon; and it may be taken as a general rule that all the names ending in on, in this list, may be traced more or less directly to a Greek source. Possizonjus is a version of Poseidonios (having probably passed through a Latin medium); Atropfagenté is the land of the Androphagi, or Anthropophagi; Acheinor is the Greek Archenor.
In the list of the heroes conquered by Parzival we have, on the contrary, few classical names; Jeropleis, i.e. Hieropolis, seems to be almost the only example. The majority of the names appear to be of Romance origin, or at least to have passed through a Romance source. Thus Mirabel, the name of a place in Southern France, and Serabel, here the ending bel indicates the French origin; Villegarunz is the Prov. Villagrana; Jovedast of Arles, a Provençal, proclaims his own nationality.
It is probably no accident that this majority of classical names appear in the first list, that of Feirefis, since, as noted above, Greeks and Romans alike were classed by the mediæval writers as heathens, and they would see nothing incorrect in giving Saracens classical names, in the same way as they provided them with classical deities.
Page [154], line 608—'Olympia and Klauditté.' Here again we find the names of the three queens beloved by Feirefis of distinctly classical origin: Klauditté being a French derivation from Claudia. Sekundillé is the only queen of whom we hear elsewhere, the other two are mentioned by name only.
Page [155], line 643—'Heraclius or Hercules.' Heracles was the hero of a German poem of the twelfth century, which attributes to him a knowledge of the properties of precious stones. The Alexander here referred to is Alexander the Great; not the lover of Surdamur, mentioned in Books XII. and XIV. (cf. note to XII.)
Page [156], line 664—'Drianthasmé.' Apparently a combination of Triande and Thasmé, cf. Book XIII. p. 74.
Page [158], line 723—'With turtle-doves, all shining.' Kondrie does not seem to have borne the badge of the Grail on her first visit (Book VI. p. 177); this, her second appearance, seems to bear more of an official character.
Page [158], line 741—'Without a kiss.' A kiss was the customary sign and seal of forgiveness (cf. Book V. 151, 152; Book VI. 177; Book XIV. 129), but Kondrie is fully aware of her repulsive appearance, and would, therefore, release Parzival from the fulfilment of a distasteful duty. It must be noted that, throughout the poem, Kondrie is in no sense represented as a malicious character. Her brother, Malcréature, on the contrary, seems to have been thoroughly evil-disposed, cf. Book X. p. 12.
Page [159], line 767—'Now rejoice with a humble heart.' Kondrie's announcement to Parzival appears, in some points, to be a direct contradiction of what we have already been told with regard to the promised healing of Anfortas. In Book IX. p. 278, Trevrezent distinctly says that the question must be asked on the first night of the visit to the Castle; that no warning must be previously given; and that if the knight fulfils these conditions, then, and then only, will he become king of the Grail. Now Parzival apparently traverses all these conditions, he omits to ask the question on his first visit, he is told of the sin he has thereby committed, and on this, his second visit, is made well aware of what is expected of him (cf. lines 774 and seq.), while the Grail announces him as king before he has asked the question. It is true that no one tells him the exact words in which he is to put the query, but Parzival is well aware that he is to ask Anfortas the cause of his anguish, and it scarcely seems likely that the virtue of the question depends upon the form in which it is put. Are we to consider from Trevrezent's words, Book XVI. p. 171, that Parzival's valour and steadfastness of purpose have wrought a change in the Divine Counsels, and that the bliss which he had in his folly forfeited is to be granted to him on his fulfilment of the spirit of the Grail conditions, the fulfilment of the letter being dispensed with? The question is a perplexing one, and difficult to solve satisfactorily.
Page [160], line 779—'Seven stars did she name unto him.' The introduction of these Arabic names is decidedly curious in view of Wolfram's emphatic statement that the origin of the Parzival was an Arabic MS., though Bartsch remarks that the names in question were not necessarily derived from the source, there being still extant a German astronomical poem of the twelfth century which contains a number of Arabic names. Still it is strange that Wolfram's version should be as close as it is to the original form of the words, thus Zevâl is the Arabic Zuhal, Saturn; Almustri, El-musteri, Jupiter; Almaret, El-mirrêk, Mars; Samsi, Shams, the Sun; Alligafir and Alkamer cannot be exactly identified with the remaining two planets, Venus and Mercury, but seem to represent rather the names of two constellations, respectively called El-gafir and El-kidr. Alkamer is the moon, Arabic El-kamer.
Page [160], line 799—'If thou speakest, Lady.' The humility of this speech of Parzival's, contrasted with the indignant outbreak of wounded pride in Book VI. pp. 187, 188, is the most decisive proof which the poem affords of the spiritual change which has passed over him, and of his fitness to become king of the Grail, a blessing which Anfortas has forfeited through lack of humility (cf. Book IX. p. 272 and Book XVI. p. 182).
Page [161], line 817—'From the bright eyes of Orgelusé.' Cf. Book XII. p. 65.
Page [162], line 861—'Triant.' Cf. Book XIII. p. 74. Nouriente = von ourient, i.e. Orient.