Introduction, lines 1-66. This introduction, which is confessedly obscure, both in style and thought, appears to have been written after the completion of the poem, and to have been intended by the writer to serve both as a key to the meaning of the poem, and as a defence of his method of treatment. That Wolfram was blamed by his contemporaries, notably by Gottfried von Strassbourg, for his lack of a polished style, and obscurity of thought, we know; and in Willehalm he speaks, in the following words, of the varying judgment passed upon his Parzival:—
'Swaz ich von Parzivâl gesprach,
des sîn aventiur mich wîste,
etzlich man daz prîste:
ir was ouch vil, diez smœthen
Und baz ir rede wæhten.
and it is evidently to these critics that the first part of the Introduction is addressed.
Lines 1-8 give the key to the whole poem: the contrast between doubt or unsteadfastness, and steadfast faith and truth, as imaged in the contrast between darkness and light, black and white. This idea runs throughout the poem, is worked out symbolically in the character and experiences of the hero, and is shown in a concrete form in the person of his brother Feirefis. The poet notes that many readers have failed, through lack of intelligence, to grasp the meaning of this parable, which is too swift and subtle for their comprehension. A parallel passage will be found in Book V. pp. 137, 138, where the figure employed is different.
The curious lines 15, 16 are explained by Bötticher as allusions to personal assaults made on the poet, which, by reason of the folly of the assailants, missed their mark, and are therefore to be treated with contempt.
Lines 29, 30 contain one of the quaint and homely similes which abound throughout the poem, and refer to the faithless man, valsch geselleclîcher muot, whose honour and steadfastness are not sufficiently strong to meet the demands made upon them.
There are three distinct divisions of the Introduction: the first, lines 1-30, is addressed to men only, and draws the contrast between the false and true knight; 31-49 does the same for women; while from 49 onwards the poet shows how the tale he is about to tell affects both sexes alike, and gives a slight sketch of the character of the hero. For the rightful understanding of this the lines 61, 62 are of great importance: 'a brave man, yet slowly wise Is he whom I hail my hero' (er küene, trâctîche wîs, den helt ich alsus grüene), and should be borne in mind by the student of the poem.
A full and minute discussion of this discussion of this Introduction will be found in Dr. Bötticher's Das Hohelied von Rittertum.
Page [5], line 67—'Now they do to-day as of old-time.' The word employed here wälsch simply means 'foreign,' but it is evident from the context that France is the country referred to. The fact was probably in the French source, the remarks upon it due to the German poet.