Western European stream·Holy Grail Romances·Parzival·Book XVI: The Holy Grail

Source context

Theme

Parzival's attainment of Grail kingship through compassionate questioning and the redemption of Anfortas

Soul-faculty

Consciousness Soul

Steiner

• GA 54, 1906-03-29Steiner identifies Parzival's failure on the first Grail visit as spiritual immaturity, and his eventual return and asking of the compassionate question as the necessary development that unlocks the Grail's redemptive power.
• GA 92, 1905-12-03Steiner treats the Grail mystery in Wolfram von Eschenbach's poem as an occult-esoteric document encoding stages of initiation, with the culminating question to Anfortas representing the awakened capacity for selfless compassion.
• GA 265a, 1912-05-09Steiner identifies the Parzival saga as enshrouding the mystery of the Grail brotherhood, in which the individual must inwardly become Parzival — developing through suffering toward the compassionate deed that redeems the wounded king.
• GA 210, 1922-02-26Steiner indicates that Parzival's entire development turns on the moment of the compassionate question, presenting this as crucial to understanding the spiritual transformation encoded in Wolfram's poem.

Cross-tradition

• Christian mysticism — Suffering Servant and redemptive compassionCross-tradition congruence exists between Parzival's healing question and the Christian mystical motif of redemptive suffering freely shared: the wounded king (Anfortas) is healed not by power but by an act of compassionate recognition.
• Vedanta — Praśna (the liberating question)Cross-tradition congruence appears between Parzival's salvific question and the Vedantic teaching that the rightly-posed question (praśna) to the guru is itself an act of spiritual readiness that precipitates liberation.
• Sufism — the wounded heart (dard) and its healing through presenceCross-tradition congruence is discernible between Anfortas's unhealable wound and the Sufi image of the dard (divine longing-wound) that can only be addressed by one who has themselves undergone the fires of inner trial.

Book XVI: The Holy Grail

LOHENGRIN

Digitized by

Googk

ARGUMENT

Book xvi. tells of the sorrow of Anfortas and his knights ; how he prayed them to kill him, and how he would fain have withheld his eyes from the sight of the Grail ; of the coming of Parzival and Feirefis, and of the healing of Anfortas.

How Parzival set forth to meet his wife on the shores of Plimizol ; and how Trevrezent confessed to having spoken falsely in order to withhold him from the Quest.

Of the joyful meeting of Parzival and Kondwiramur ; and how Kardeiss was proclaimed king of Brobarz, Waleis, Norgals, and Anjou ; and how Parzival with Kondwiramur and Lohengrin rode to Monsalvasch. How on their way they found Sigune* dead, and buried her by her lover.

Of the great feast at Monsalvasch ; and how Feirefis failed to behold the Grail, and of his love for Repanse de Schoie. How Feirefis was baptized, and wedded Repanse de Schoie ; how the twain set forth for Feirefis' kingdom, and of their son, Prester John* Of Lohengrin and the Duchess of Brabant ; how he was sent to her aid from Monsalvasch, and dwelt with her in peace till she asked the question which drove him forth.

The poet blames Chretien de Troyes for having done the tale a wrong ; it was Kiot who taught the song aright, to its very end. He, Wolfram of Eschenbach, will speak no more of it, but he prays that all good and gracious women will praise him for his song, since he sang it to pleasure a woman.

LOHENGRIN

OW Anfortas and his Templars they suffered sore grief and pain,

, And their true love in bondage held him, since he prayed them for death in vain ; And in sooth death had been his portion, save they wrought that the Grail he saw —

From the might of Its mystic virtue fresh life must he ever draw.

Then he spake to the knights of Monsalvasch, * Of a sooth, were ye true of 5 heart,

Ye had pitied ere this my sorrow, how long shall pain be my part ? If reward ye would have as deserving, then God give ye payment fair, For ever was / your servant since the days that I harness bare. Atonement in full have I made here for aught I have done of wrong To ye, e'en tho' none had known it, and my penance endureth long ! 10 If ye would not be held unfaithful, by the helmet and shield I bore, And the bond of our common knighthood, release me from bondage sore ! For this of a truth must ye grant me, if ye do not the truth disdain,

1bare both as a knight undaunted, and fame thro' my deeds did gain.
For hill and vale have I ridden, and many a joust have run, 15 And with sword-play good from my foemen much hatred methinks, I won. Yet with ye doth that count for little ! Bereft of all joy am I ; Yet, cometh the Day of Judgment, my voice would I lift on high, And in God's sight, 1, one man only, at the last will accuse ye all, If freedom ye fail to give me, and to Hell shall ye surely fall ! 20 For in sooth ye should mourn my sorrow — From the first have ye seen the ,thing, And ye know how it came upon me — Now I profit ye not as king, i66 PARZIVAL And all too soon will ye think so, when thro* me ye have lost your soul — Alas ! why thus ill-entreat me ? Ere this had I been made whole ! '

25And the knights from his grief had freed him, save they hope from the word
must draw That Trevrezent spake of aforetime, and that writ on the Grail he saw. And once more would they wait his coming whose joy there had waxen weak, And the hour that should bring them healing from the question his lips should speak. Then the king of a wile bethought him, and fast would he close his eyes,

30And four days long so he held them, when the knights, in their 'customed
wise, Before the Grail would bear him, if he said them or yea, or nay ; But his weakness so wrought upon him, as before the shrine he lay, That his eyelids he needs must open, and against his will must live, For the Grail held death far from him and fresh life must Its vision give.

35And so was it with Anfortas till the day when Parzival
And Feirefis his brother, rode swift to Monsalvasch' hall ; And the time was near when the planet, its course in high heaven run, Mars or Jupiter, glowing wrathful, its station had well-nigh won, And the spot whence it took its journey — Ah ! then was an evil day

40That wrought ill to the wound of Anfortas, and the torment would have*its
way ; And maiden and knight must hearken as the palace rang with his cries, And the help that no man might give him he besought with despairing eyes, For past all aid was he wounded, and his knights could but share his grief — Yet the tale saith he drew ever nearer who should bring him alone relief.

45Then oft as the bitter anguish in its bondage the hero held,
The taint of the wound to banish, the hall was with sweetness filled, For before him they spread on the carpet Tere^nth, and odours fair Of aromatic spices and sweet woods filled the scented air. Teriak and precious Ambra, and methinks that their smell was sweet —

50CarcTamom, Jeroffel, Muscat, lay broken beneath the feet
Where'er one set foot on the carpet ; and e'en as each footstep fell • Their perfume arose, and their freshness, of the venom o'ercame the smell. \ LOHENGRIN 167 And his fire was of Lignum aloe, as methinks ye have heard afore — Of the horny skin of the viper had they fashioned the pillars four That stood 'neath his couch— 'Gainst the venom must his knights on the 55 cushions strew Powder of roots so precious, whose healing scent they knew. Well stuffed, but unsewed, was the covering against which the monarch leant, And the silk and the mattress 'neath it were of Palmat of Nouriente. And the couch itself was yet richer, with many a precious stone Was it decked, nor were others found there save the rarest of jewels alone ; 60 And by Salamanders woven were the cords which the bed did bind, Yea even the fastening 'neath it — Yet no joy might Anfortas find. The couch on all sides was costly, (no man shall contend I ween That he in the days of his lifetime a richer shall e'er have seen,) 'Twas precious alone from the virtue of the jewels and their magic power, 65 Would ye learn their names, then hearken, for we know them unto this hour. Carbuncle and Balas ruby, Silenite, and Chalcedony, Gagatromeus, Onyx, Coral, and Bestion, fair to see. And there too were Pearl and Opal, Ceraunius and Epistites, Jerachites, Heliotropia, Panterus, Agate, and Emathites. Antrodragma, Praseme, and Saddae, Dionisia and Celidon, Sardonyx and red Cornelian, Jasper and Calcofon. ' Echites, Iris, Gagates, and Lyncurium, with many more, Asbestos and Cecolithus, and Jacinth, that rich couch bore. Galactida, Orites, Enydrus, and Emerald, glowing green, Absist and Alabanda, and Chrysolect had ye seen. Hiennia, Sapphire, Pyrites, and beside them, here and there, Turquoise, and Lipparea, Chrysolite, and Ruby fair — Paleisen, Sardius, Diamond, Chrysoprasis, and Malachite, Diadoch, Peanite, and Medus with Beryl and Topaze bright. And many they taught high courage, and others such virtue knew That healing skill they taught men, and fresh life from their power they drew. And many their strength won from them, if aright they might use their art, And therewith would they tend Anfortas whom they loved with a faithful heart — And great grief had he brought his people, yet joy soon his lot shall be — 85 To Terre de Salvasch from Ioflanz he rideth to speak him free, Digitized by

168PARZIVAL
Parzival, with the maid and his brother, nor in truth did I ever hear The distance these three had journeyed ere they drew to the Burg anear ; But conflict had been their portion had Kondrie not been their guide, - 9° But afar from all strife did she hold them, and in peace on their way they ride. So came they at length to an outpost — Then swiftly towards them sped Many Templars well armed and mounted, and right soon they the truth had read, And they knew by the guide that succour at last to their walls should draw, And the Captain he spake out gladly as the Turtle-doves he saw

95Gleam fair on Kondrie's vesture, 'Now an end hath it found, our grief,
With the sign of the Grail he cometh who shall bring to our king relief, The knight we have looked and have longed for since the dawn of our sorrow's day — Stand ye still, for great gladness cometh, and our mourning is past away ! ' Feirefis Angevin would urge him, his brother, to joust to ride, ioo But Kondrie, she grasped his bridle, lest conflict should there betide, And the maiden, true but unlovely, spake thus unto Parzival, ' Shield and banner, thou sure shouldst know them, of the Grail are these heroes all, And ready to do thee service.' Then out spake the heathen bold, ' If so it shall be, from battle mine hand may I well withhold.'

105Then Parzival prayed that Kondrie would ride forward, the knights to meet,
And she rode, and she spake of the gladness that neared them with flying feet. And, one and all, the Templars sprang straightway unto the ground, And from off their head the helmet in the self-same hour unbound, And Parzival they greeted, and they were in his greeting blest,

110And Feirefis they welcomed as befitted a noble guest.
And then with the twain to Monsalvasch the Templars they took their way ; Though they wept, yet methinks that gladness was the fount of their tears that day. And a countless folk they found there, many grey-haired knights and old, And pages of noble bearing, and of servants, a host untold. LOHENGRIN And sad were the folk and mournful, whom their coming might well rejoice, 115 And Parzival and his brother they welcomed with friendly voice, And kindly did they receive them, without, in the palace court, At the foot of the noble stairway, and the knights to the hall they brought. And, e'en as was there the custom, a hundred carpets round, Each one with a couch upon it, were spread there upon the ground ; 120 And each couch bare a velvet covering, and methinks, if the twain had wit, The while that the squires disarmed them 'twould pleasure them there to sit. And a chamberlain came towards them, and he brought to them vesture fair, And each should be clad as the other, and many a knight sat there. And they bare many precious vessels of gold, (none I ween was glass,) I25 And the twain they drank, and upstood them to get them to Anfortas. And this have ye heard of aforetime, how he lay, for he scarce might sit, And the couch and its goodly decking, forsooth have ye read of it. And the twain did Anfortas welcome with gladness, and yet with grief, And he spake, ' O'er-long have I waited tho' I win from thine hand relief ; I3° But a while ago didst thou leave me in such wise, art thou true of heart, And thinkest to aid my sorrow, thou must have in repentance part. If e'er men have praised thy valour, then be thou to my woe a friend, And pray of these knights and maidens that death may my torment end ; If Parzival men shall call thee, then forbid me the Grail to see *35 Seven nights and eight days, and I wot well my wailing shall silenced be ! Nor further I dare to warn thee — Well for thee if thou help canst bring ! A stranger shall be thy comrade, and I think it an evil thing That thus he doth stand before me, say wherefore no thought dost take For his comfort, and bid him seat him ?' Then Parzival, weeping, spake : 140

4Now say where the Grail It lieth ? If God's mercy He think to show,
And it be o'er His wrath the victor, this folk, they shall surely know ! ' Then three times on his knee he bowed him in the Name of the Trinity, And three times he prayed that the sorrow of Anfortas should ended be, Then he stood upright, and he turned him to the monarch, and thus he 145 spake : ' What aileth thee here> mine uncle ? ' He who Lazarus from death did wake, PARZIVAL And by the mouth of His saint, Sylvester, a dead beast to life did bring, ^Wrought healing and strength on Anfortas — and all men beheld the king, And what French folk shall know as i Florie ' it shone on his face so fair,

150And Parzival's manly beauty was but as the empty air !
Yea, Vergulacht, Askalon's monarch, and Absalom, Davids son, And all who the dower of beauty as their birthright shall e'er have won — E'en Gamuret, as men saw him draw near unto Kanvoleis, So wondrous fair to look on — they were naught unto all men's eyes

155When matched with the radiant beauty that forth from his bitter woe
He bare, the King Anfortas — such skill God doth surely know ! No choice was there for the Templars since the writing upon the Grail Had named unto them their ruler, and Parzival did they hail Their king and their lord henceforward ; and I ween ye in vain would

160Would ye find two men as wealthy, if of riches I here may speak,
— As Parzival and his brother, Feirefis Angevin — And many a proffered service the host and his guest did win. I know not how many stages queen Kondwiramur had made On her journey towards Monsalvasch, nor, joyful, her steps delayed,

165For already the truth had been told her, and a messenger tidings bare,
And she knew that her grief was ended and her gladness had blossomed fair. And led by her uncle, Kiot, and by many a hero bold, « Had she come unto Terre de Salvasch and the wood where they fought of old ; Where in joust Segramor had fallen, and her lord did her likeness know

170In the threefold blood-drops mystic, on the white of the drifted snow.^
And there should Parzival seek her, and tho' toilsome and rough the way Yet never a gladder journey had he ridden than he rode that day ! Then a Templar tidings brought him, * E'en as doth her rank beseem Full many a knight so courteous rideth hither beside the queen.'

175Then Parzival bethought him, with the knights of the Holy Grail
To Trevrezent did he ride first, and he told him the wondrous tale ; From his heart was the hermit joyful that it thus with Anfortas stood, Nor death was his lot, but the question brought rest to the hero good. seek LOHENGRIN And he quoth, * Yea, God's power is mighty— Who doth at His Council sit ? Who hath known of His strength the limit ? What Angel hath fathomed it ? 180 * God is Man, and the Word of His Father ; God is Father at once and Son, And I wot thro' His Spirit's working may succour and aid be won ! ' Then Trevrezent quoth to his nephew, * Greater marvel I ne'er may see Than that thou by thy wrath hast won blessing, and th' Eternal Trinity Hath given thee thy desiring ! Yet aforetime in sooth I lied, l8S For I thought from the Grail to bring thee, and the truth I from thee would hide. Do thou for my sin give me pardon, henceforth I thy hand obey,

0my king, and son of my sister ! — Methinks that I once did say
That the spirits cast forth from Heaven thereafter the Grail did tend By God's will, and besought His favour, till their penance at last did end. x9o But God to Himself is faithful, and ne'er doth He changing know, Nor to them whom I named as forgiven did He ever forgiveness show. For they who refuse His service, He Himself will, I ween, refuse, And I wot they are lost for ever, and that fate they themselves did choose. And I mourned for thy fruitless labour, for ne'er did the story stand *95 That the Grail might by man be conquered, and I fain had withheld thine hand ; But with thee hath the chance been other, and thy prize shall the highest be, But since God's Hand doth give It to thee, turn thine heart to humility.' Quoth Parzival to his uncle, * I would see her I ne'er might see For well-nigh five years — When together we dwelt she was dear to me, 2CX> And no whit less dear shall she now be ! Yet thy counsel I fain would hear So long as death fail to part us, thou didst help me in need so drear! Now I ride to my wife, since she cometh to meet me upon my way, By Plimizol's banks doth she wait me, and leave I from thee would pray.' And the good man bade 4 God speed him,' and he rode thro' the dusky 205 night, And his men knew the woodland pathways — In the early morning light He found that which brought him gladness ; full many a tent stood fair, From out the kingdom of Brobarz many banners were planted there, With many a shield beneath them— there lay princes from out his land, And Parzival fain would ask them where the tent of the queen might stand ? 210 PARZIVAL If her camp lay apart from the others ? Then they showed him where she should be, And a goodly ring around her of tents did the hero see. And Duke Kiot of Katelangen, he had risen ere dawn of day, And he looked on the band of riders who came by the woodland way.

215And tho' grey was the light of the morning, yet, as the host nearer drew,
Kiot saw the Dove on their armour, and the arms of the Grail he knew ; And the old man sighed as he thought him of Schoysiane', his lovely bride, How he won her in bliss at Monsalvasch, and how she untimely died. Towards Parzival he stepped him, and he bade him a greeting fair ;

220By a page he bade the queen's Marshal a lodging meet prepare
For the knights who had there drawn bridle — in sooth 'twas a gallant band — Then to the queen's dressing-chamber he led Parzival by the hand, ('Twas a small tent made of buckram,) and there, in the waxing light, His harness they take from off him ere he pass to his lady's sight.

225And the queen she knew naught of his coming — her twin sons beside her lay,
Lohengrin and Kardeiss ; and their father, methinks he was glad that day ! There he found them slumbering sweetly, in a tent both high and wide, And many a lovely lady lay sleeping on either side. Then Kiot, he drew the covering from the queen, and he bade her wake,

230And look, and laugh, and be joyful, and her love to her arms to take ;
And she looked up and saw her husband ; and naught but her smock she bare, The covering she wrapt around her, and sprang swift on the carpet fair, Kondwiramur, the lovely lady — and Parzival ^eld her tight, And they say that they kissed each other^tfie queen and her faithful knight. 23s ' Thou joy of my heart ! Good Fortune hath sent thee again to me,' She quoth, and she bade him welcome, ' Now in sooth I should wrathful be, Yet have I no heart for anger ! Ah ! blest be the dawn and the day That this dear embrace hath brought me, which all sorrow must drive away. For now at last have I found thee, whom my heart hath desired so long,

240And grief in my heart is vanquished, and sighing is turned to song.'
And now from their sleep they wakened, both Lohengrin and Kardeiss, Naked they lay on their pillows, and fair in their father's eyes, J . — d*^ LOHENGRIN And, joyful, Parzival kissed them whom he never had seen before — Then at Kiot's courteous bidding the babes from the tent they bore, And Kiot, he bade the maidens to get them from out the tent, 245 And they greeted their lord, long absent, ere yet on their way they went. Then he bade the queen care for her husband, and the maidens from thence he led, And the curtains they drew together, for as yet was the night scarce sped. } Now if blood and snow had robbed him of his senses and wit of yore, (In this self-same spot its message the snow to his true heart bore,) 25° For such sorrow she well repaid him, Kondwiramur, his wife — Nor elsewhere had he sought love's solace in payment for love's fierce strife, Tho' many their love had proffered — I ween that in bliss he lay, j And converse sweet, till morning drew nigh to the middle day. And the army, they rode together, on the Templars had they gazed, 255 And their shields in jousts were pierced, and with many a sword-blow grazed ; And each knight he wore a surcoat of silk or of velvet rare, And their feet were shod with iron, nor harness beside they bare. Nor longer they cared to slumber — Then the queen alike and king Arose, and e'en as they bade him, a priest the Mass would sing ; 260 And closely they thronged together, that army, brave and good, Who in their queen's day of peril her shield 'gainst Klamide stood. Then, the benediction given, his men greeted Parzival, Many gallant knights and worthy, their true words from true lips must fall. From the tent they take the hangings, and the king spake, 4 Say which is he, 265 Of my boys, who henceforward ruler of your folk and your land shall be ? ' And further he spake to the princes, * Both Waleis and Norgal's land, And their towns, Kingrivals and Kanvoleis, by his birthright shall serve his hand, With Be'alzenan and Anjou, should he grow unto man's estate ; And thither shall ye fare with him, and shall there on his bidding wait. 270 Gamuret was he called, my father, and he left them to me, his heir, But I, by God's grace, have won me an heritage yet more fair ! Since the Grail shall be mine, I bid ye your fealty to swear anew To my child, ere this hour be ended, if your hearts shall to me be true ! ' Digitized by PARZIVAL

275And of right goodwill they did this — Ye saw many proud banners wave,
And two little hands the tenure of many a wide land gave. And there did they crown Kardeiss king ; and, when many a year had flown, Kanvoleis, and Gamuret's kingdom they needs must his lordship own — And then by Plimizol's water did they measure a circle wide

280That there a feast might be holden ere again on their way they ride.
Nor long at the board they tarried ; no longer the host might stay, The tents were struck, with their child-king they wended their homeward And many a maid and vassal must bid to their queen Farewell In such wise that they made loud mourning, and many a teardrop fell.

285And Lohengrin and his mother did the Templars take in their care,
And with them to the Burg of Monsalvasch again on their journey fare. Quoth Parzival, ' Once in this woodland an hermitage did I see, And thro' it a rippling brooklet flowed swift on its way so free ; If ye know where it stands ye shall show me.' His comrades swift answer

290They knew one ; ' There dwells a maiden, and she weeps o'er her true
love's grave ; A shrine of all goodness is she — Our road it doth lead that way, And her heart is ne'er free from sorrow.' ' That maid will we see to-day,' Quoth Parzival, and the others, as he willed, so they thought it good, And onward they spurred their chargers, and rode thro' the lonely wood.

295And they found, in the dusk of the evening, on her knees Sigunjg dead,
And the queen wept for bitter sorrow — Then they brake thro' unto the maid ; Parzival, for the sake of his cousin, bade them raise of the tomb the stone, There, embalmed lay Schionatulander, nor long should he lie alone, For beside him they laid the maiden, who in life to him true love gave

300In such wise as beseemed a maiden, and they closed o'er the twain the grave.
And she wept for her uncle's daughter, the queen, with a faithful heart ; Schoysiane, the dead maid's mother, had shown her a mother's part, And had cared for her in her childhood, and therefore she sorrow knew : And Parzival's aunt, too, was she, if the tale Kiot read be true.

305Kiot knew not the death of his daughter, he was guardian to King Kardeiss—
(Nor my tale like the bow shall be bended, but straight as an arrow flies,) way. gave, LOHENGRIN They delayed not upon their journey, to Monsalvasch they came by night, And the hours Feirefis must wait them sped swift in their joyful flight. And they lighted many a taper, 'twas as flamed all the woodland wide, And a Templar of Patrigalt, armed, by the queen's bridle rein did ride ; 3IQ And broad and wide was the courtyard, and many a host stood there, And they welcomed the queen, and a greeting to their lord and his son they bare ; And they bore Lohengrin to his uncle, Fejiefis, who was black and white, And the babe turnecl aside nor would kiss him — as children oft do from fright ! But gaily he laughed, the heathen — Then they gat them from out the court, 315 When first the queen had dismounted, who joy with her coming brought — And they led the guests so noble, where, with many a lady fair, Both Feirefis and Anfortas awaited them on the stair. R^panse de Schoie, and from Greenland, Garschiloie, the fair of face, Florie of Liinel, the bright-eyed, rich were they in maiden grace. 320 There she stood, than a reed more graceful, to whom beauty nor truth should fail, The daughter of Reil's lord, Jernis, as Anflise* the maid they hail ; And of Tenabroc, maid Clarischanz, sweet was she, and bright to see, And so slender her shape, I think me, an ant's scarce might slighter be. Feirefis stepped toward his hostess, and he kissed her e'en as she bade, 325 And a kiss did she give Anfortas, for she joyed that his woe was stayed. Feirefis by the hand must lead her where her husband's aunt she found, Re'panse de Schoie, and she kissed her, and the maidens who stood around, And her lips that were red aforetime thro' kissing grew yet more red, (And sorely I ween* doth it grieve me, that this labour, I, in her stead, 33° Might not here have taken on me, for weary in sooth was she ;) Then her maids by the hand they take her, and they lead her in courteously. And the knights, in the hall they waited, that with countless tapers bright Was decked, on the walls they sparkled, and burnt with a steady light, For a solemn feast they made ready, when the Grail should be shown 335 to all ; For it was not on every feast-day, that they bare It thro' the hall, But on high festivals only — When nearer their aid should draw, On that even when joy forsook them, and the bleeding spear they saw, Digitized by PARZIVAL 'Twas thenj that the Grail might help them, that It thus thro' the hall was

340Yet Parzival asked no question, and left them of joy forlorn —
But now, in joy and gladness, might they look on the Grail again, For at last was their mourning ended, and their sorrow was pierced and When the queen her riding garment had put off, and decked her hair, She came in such garb as beseemed her, in the light of the tapers fair ;

345And Feirefis stepped to meet her, and he took her by the hand,
And no man gainsaid his fellow, that in this, or in other land, None might speak of a fairer woman ! And rich was the garb she wore, A silk by a skilled hand woven, such as Sarant had wrought of yore, And with cunning and skill had fashioned in Thasme*, the paynim town —

350Feirefis Angevin, he led her thro' the palace hall adown,
And the three great fires they burnt there with Lignum aloe sweet ; And more there were by forty, both carpets alike and seats, Than the time when Parzival sat there and looked on the wondrous Grail, But one seat above all was costly, nor the host to his place should fail.

355And Feirefis, and Anfortas, they should sit there beside the king —
And, courteous, they did them service, who the Grail to the hall should Aforetime methinks ye heard it, how they to Anfortas bare The Grail, even so would they do now 'fore the child of King Tampentare, And Gamuret's son — The maidens, no longer they make delay,

360Five-and-twenty in rightful order they wend thro' the hall their way.
And Feirefis gazed on the first maid, with her sweet face andjwaving hair, And she pleased him well, yet the others who followed were yet more fair ; And costly and rich their garments, and lovely each maiden's face, But Re'panse de Schoie, who followed, was first in her maiden grace,

365And the Grail, so men have told me, might be borne by her hands alone ;
Pure was her heart, and radiant as sunlight her fair face shone. Did I tell ye of all the service — how many did water pour, And the tables they bare, (I wot well far more than they had of yore,) How discord fled from the palace ; how the cars on their circuit rolled,

370With their freight of golden vessels, 'twere long ere the tale were told.
borne — slain ! bring. LOHENGRIN For the sake of speed would I hasten — with reverence from the Grail Each took of the fowl of the forest, wild or tame, nor their drink should fail ; Each took wine or mead as it pleased him, Claret, Morass, or Sinopel ; At Pelrapar 'twas far other, as Gamuret's son might tell ! ^* Then the heathen would know the wonder — What hands did these gold cups 375 fill That stood empty here before him ? The wonder, it pleased him still ! Then answered the fair Anfortas, who sat by the heathen's side, * Seest thou not the Grail beTore thee ? ' But Feirefis replied,

4Naught I see but a green Achmardi, that my Lady but now did bear,

1mean her who stands before us with the crown on her flowing hair, 380
And her look to mine heart hath pierced — I deemed I so strong should be That never a wife nor a maiden my gladness should take from me ; But now doth it sore displease me, the love I may call mine own — Discourteous indeed I think me to make unto thee my moan When I never have done thee service ! What profits my wealth, I trow, 385 Or the deeds I have done for fair women, or the gifts that I gave but now, Since here I must live in anguish ! Nay, Jupiter, thou wast fain I should ride here, didst hither send me to torment of grief and pain?' And the strength of his love, and his sorrow, turned him pale where he erst was light — Kondwiramur, she had found a rival in this maiden's beauty bright — 390 In her love-meshes did she hold him, Feirefis, the noble guest, And the love that he erst had cherished he cast it from out his breast. What recked he of Sekundille, her love, and her land so fair, Since she wrought on him woe so bitter, this maiden beyond compare ? Klauditte', and Sekundille, Olympia, and many more, 395 Who in distant lands had repaid him with love for his deeds of yore, What cared he now for their kindness ? It seemed but a worthless thing To Gamuret's son, the heathen, great Zassamank's noble king ! Then he saw, the fair Anfortas, his comrade in pain so sore, (For the spots in his skin waxed pallid, and heavy the heart he bore,) And he spake, * Sir Knight, it doth grieve me if thou dost for my Sister mourn, No man for her sake hath sorrowed since the day that [the maid was born. VOL. II. M Digitized by PARZIVAL No knight for her joust hath ridden ; to none doth she favou. r show ; But with me did she dwell at Monsalvasch, and hath shared in mny bitter woe,

405And it somewhat hath dimmed her beauty, since she seldom hath jc\yful been —
Thy brother is son to her sister, he may help thee in this I ween.' ' If that maiden shall be thy sister,' quoth Feirefis Angevin,

4Who the crown on her loose locks weareth, then help me her love to win.
'Tis she that my heart desireth— What honour mine hand hath won

410With shield and spear in Tourney, for her sake hath it all been done,
And I would she might now reward me ! The Tourney hath fashions five, And well known unto me is each one, nor against knightly rule I strive. Spear in rest 'gainst the foe have I ridden ; I have smitten him from the side ; His onslaught have I avoided ; nor to fair joust have failed to ride

415In gallop, as should beseem me ; I have followed the flying foe —
Since the shield, it hath been my safeguard, such sorrow I ne'er may know As that which to-day besets me — I have fought with a fiery knight At Agremontein, I bare then a shield of Asbestos bright, And a surcoat of Salamander, else sure had I there been burned ;

420And in sooth my life have I perilled, and my fame have I dearly earned.
Ah ! would but thy sister send me to battle for love's reward, In strife would I do her bidding, and her fame and mine own would guard. And ever my heart fierce hatred to my god Jupiter shall bear, If he make not an end of my sorrow, and give me this maiden fair! ' "425 Of the twain, Frimutel was the father, and therefore Anfortas bore E'en such face and such form as his sister — Then the heathen, he looked once more On the maiden and then on her brother— What they bare him of drink or meat No morsel he ate, yet he sat there as one who made feint to eat. Then to Parzival spake Anfortas, 4 Sir King, it doth seem to me 43° That thy brother, who sitteth by me, he faileth the Grail to see ! ' And Feirefis spake that he saw naught, nor knew what It was 4 the Grail' ; And they hearkened his words, the Templars, and a marvel they deemed the tale. And Titurel needs must hear it, in his chamber the old king lay, And he quoth, ' If he be a heathen, then such thought shall he put away Digitized by Googk LOHENGRIN As that eyes unbaptized may win them the power to behold the Grail ! 435 Such barriers are built around It, his sight to the task shall fail.' Then they bare to the hall these tidings, and the host and Anfortas told How that which the folk did nourish, Feirefis, he might ne'er behold, Since from heathen eyes It was hidden, and they prayed him to seek the grace Of Baptism, by its virtue he should win him in Heaven a place. 440 * If I, for your sake, be baptized, will that help me to win my love ? ' Spake Gamuret's son, the heathen — 4 As a wind shall all sorrows prove, That wooing or war shall have brought me, to the grief that I now must feel ! If long or short the time be since I first felt the touch of steel, And fought 'neath a shield, such anguish ne'er hath fallen unto my share, 445 And tho' love should, I ween, be hidden, yet my heart would its grief 'Of whom dost thou speak?' quoth the Waleis, 4 Of none but that lady bright, Who is sister to this, thy comrade — If thou, as a faithful knight, Wilt help me to win the maiden, I will give her with kingly hand Great riches, and men shall hail her as queen over many a land ! ' 450 ' If to Baptism thou wilt yield thee,' spake the host, ' then her love is thine, (And as thou I right well may hail thee, since the Grail and Its realm are mine, And our riches methinks are equal) ' — Quoth Feirefis Angevin, 'Then help me to bliss, my brother, that the love of thine aunt I win. And, if Baptism be won by battle, then help me to strife I pray, 455 That I, for sweet love's rewarding, may do service without delay. And mine ear well doth love the music when the spear-shafts in splinters break, And the helmet rings clear 'neath the sword-thrust, and the war-cry the echo wakes.' Then Parzival laughed out gaily, and Anfortas, he laughed yet more, ' Nay, nay,' quoth the host, ' such blessing is no guerdon for deeds of war. 460 I will give unto thee the maiden, by true Baptism's grace and power, But the god and the love of a heathen shalt thou leave in the self-same hour ; And to-morrow, at early dawning, will I give to thee counsel true, Whose fruit shall be seen in the crowning of thy life with a blessing new ! ' declare ! ' i8o PARZIVAL

465Now Anfortas, before his sickness, in many a distant land
Had won him fair fame, for Love's sake, by the deeds of his knightly hand. And the thoughts of his heart were gentle, and generous he was and free, And his right hand had won full often the guerdon of victory ; So they sat in the wondrous presence of the Grail, three heroes true,

470The best of their day, and the bravest that sword-blade in battle drew.
An ye will, they enough had eaten — They, courteous, the tables bare From the hall, and as serving-maidens, low bent they, those maidens fair. And Feirefis Angevin saw them as forth from the hall they passed, And in sorrow and deeper anguish i ween was the hero cast.

475And she who his heart held captive, she bare from the hall the Grail,
And leave did they crave of their monarch, nor his will to their will should How the queen, herself, she passed hence ; how men did their task begin ; Of the bedding soft they brought him who for love's pain no rest might win ; How one and all, the Templars, with kindness would put away

480His grief, 'twere too long to tell ye — speak we now of the dawning day.
In the light of the early morning came his brother, Parzival, With the noble knight Anfortas, and in this wise the tale they tell ; This knight who to love was captive, proud Zassamank's lord and king, They prayed, of true heart, to follow, and they would to the Temple bring,

485And before the Grail they led him — And there had they bidden stand
The wisest men of the Templars — knights and servants, a goodly band, Were there ere the heathen entered : the Font was a ruby rare, And it stood on a rounded pillar that of Jasper was fashioned fair, And of old Titurel, he gave it, and the cost was great 1 ween —

490Then Parzival spake to his brother, 1 This maid wouldst thou have for
queen, Then the gods thou hast served henceforward thou shalt for her sake for- swear, And ever thine arms, as a true knight, 'gainst the foes of the true God bear, And, faithful, still do His bidding '— ' Yea, aught that may win my love,' Quoth the heathen, ' I'll do right gladly, and my deeds shall my truth fail. approve.' LOHENGRIN Now the Font, toward the Grail had they turned it, filled with water, nor hot 495 nor cold, And a priest by its side did wait them, and grey-haired he was, and old ; He had plunged 'neath baptismal waters full many a paynim child, And he spake to the noble heathen, and gentle his speech and mild —

4If thy soul thou wouldst wrest from the Devil, thou shalt serve Him who
reigns on high, And Threefold is He, yet but One God for aye is the Trinity. 5°° God is Man, and the Word of His Father, God is Father at once and Son, And alike shall the twain be honoured, and the Spirit with them is One ! In the Threefold Name shall it cleanse thee, this water, with Threefold might, And from shadow of heathen darkness shalt thou pass into Christian light. In water was He baptized, in Whose likeness was Adam made, 505 And each tree from the water draweth its sap, and its leafy shade. By water all flesh is nourished, and all that on earth doth live, And the eyes of man are quickened, such virtue doth water give ; And many a soul it cleanseth, till it shineth so pure and white That the angels themselves in heaven methinks shall be scarce so bright ! ' 510 To the priest then he spake, the heathen, * If it bringeth me ease for woe I will swear whatsoe'er thou biddest — If reward in her love I know, Then gladly I'll do His bidding — Yea, brother, I here believe In the God of my love, and for her sake all other gods I'll leave, (For such sorrow as she hath brought me I never have known before,) S15 And it profiteth naught Sekundille the love that to me she bore, And the honour that she hath done me — All that shall have passed away — In the Name of the God of my father would I fain be baptized to-day ! ' Then the priest laid his hands upon him, and the blessing baptismal gave, And he did on the chrisom vesture, and he won what his soul did crave, 520 For e'en as he was baptized they made ready the maiden mild, And for christening gift they gave him King Frimutel's lovely child. From his eyes had the Grail been hidden ere baptismal waters bright Had passed o'er his head, but henceforward, 'twas unveiled to his wondering sight, PARZ1VAL

525And, e'en as the rite was over, on the Grail they this writing read ;
' The Templar whom God henceforward to a strange folk should send as head, Must forbid all word or question of his country, or name, or race, If they willed he aright should help them, and they would in his sight find grace. For the day that they ask the question that folk must he leave straightway ' — 53° Since the time that their king, Anfortas, so long in his anguish lay, And the question o'er-long awaited, all questions but please them ill, The knights of the Grail, and no man doth question them with their will. Then, baptized, Feirefis the Christian to Anfortas made urgent prayer, He should ride with him to his kingdom, and his riches with him should

535But, with courtesy, Anfortas to the knight and his prayer said ' Nay,
Naught shall hinder the willing service that to God I would give alway ; 'Tis a goodly crown, the Grail crown, thro' pride was it lost to me, Henceforth do I choose as my portion a life of humility, And riches and love of women shall be strangers unto my heart —

540Thou leadest with thee a fair wife, henceforth shall it be her part
With true love to reward thy service, as to women is fit and fair, But I for the love of mine Order henceforward mine arms will bear ; For the Grail and Its service only I many a joust will ride, But I fight never more for women — thro' a woman did ill betide !

545Yet no hatred I bear to women, high courage and joy they give
Unto men, tho* / won but sorrow while I did in their service live.' But yet, for the sake of his sister, Feirefis rested not to pray That Anfortas should journey with them, but ever he said them nay. Then he prayed Lohengrin should fare with him, but the mother, she willed 55o And King Parzival spake, * In the service of the Grail hath he part and lot, And my son, he is pledged to the Order, and a faithful heart and true Must he bear in the holy service — God grant him the will thereto ! ' Then in joy and in fair diversion, till eleven days were o'er, Feirefis abode at Monsalvasch, on the twelfth would he ride once more, share ; it not ; LOHENGRIN He would lead his wife, this rich man, to his army that yet did wait 555 His coming, and Parzival sorrowed for the brother he won so late, And mourned sore when he heard the tidings — Then counsel he took straightway, And a goodly force of the Templars did he send with them on their way, Thro' the woodland paths should they guide them — Anfortas, the gallant knight, Himself fain would be their escort — sore wept many maidens bright. 560 And new pathways they needs must cut them to Karkobra's city fair — Then Anfortas, he sent a message to him who was Burg-grave there ; And he bade him, if aye of aforetime rich gifts from his hand he won To bethink him, that so this service of true heart by him be done ; His brother-in-law with his lady, the king's sister, he now must guide 565 Thro' the wood Loehprisein, where the haven afar lieth wild and wide — For now 'twas the hour of parting, nor further the knights must fare, But Anfortas, he spake to Kondrie, and he bade her the message bear. Then from Feirefis, the rich man, the Templars leave did pray, And the courteous knight and noble rode hence on his homeward way. 570 And the Burg-grave no whit delayed him, but he did e'en at Kondrie's word, And gave welcome fair and knightly to the folk and their noble lord. Nor might Feirefis grow weary of his stay, at the dawn of day, « With many a knight as escort, they guided him on his way. But I know not how far he had ridden, nor the countries his eyes had seen 575 Ere he came once more to Ioflanz, and its meadow, so fair and green. And some of the folk yet abode there — and Feirefis fain had known, In the self-same hour, the tidings of whither the host had flown ; For each one had sought his country, and the road that full well he knew — King Arthur to Camelot journeyed with many a hero true — 580 Then he of Tribalibot hastened, and his army he sought once more, For his ships lay yet in the haven, and they grieved for their lord full sore And his coming brought joy and courage to many a hero bold — The Burg-grave and his knights from Karkobra he rewarded with gifts and gold— And strange news did they tell unto Kondrie, for messengers sought the host, 585 Sekundille' was dead ; with the tidings they many a sea had crossed. Digitized by PARZIVAL Then first in her distant journey did Re'panse de Schoie find joy, And in India's realm hereafter did she bear to the king a boy ; And Prester John they called him, and he won to himself such fame

590That henceforward all kings of his country were known by no other
name. And Feirefis sent a writing thro' the kingdoms whose crown he bore, And the Christian Faith was honoured as it never had been of yore. (And Tribalibot was that country which as India here we know.) Then Feirefis spake to Kondrie, and he bade her his brother show

595(Who reigneth in far Monsalvasch) what had chanced unto him, the king,
And the death of Queen Sekundille' — and the tidings the maid did bring ; And Anfortas was glad and joyful to think that his sister fair, Without or strife or conflict, the crown of those lands might bear. Now aright have ye heard the story of the children of Frimutel,

600Five they were, and three are living, and death unto two befell.
And the one was Schoysiane', who was pure in the sight of God, And the other was Herzeleide, and falsehood her soul abhorred ; And the sword and the life of knighthood, Trevrezent, he had laid them down For the love of God, and His service, and the hope of a deathless crown.

605And the gallant knight, Anfortas, pure heart and strong hand he bore,
And well for the Grail he jousted, but for women he fought no more. And Lohengrin grew to manhood, and cowardice from him flew, And his heart yearned for deeds of knighthood, to the Grail he did service true. Would ye further hear the story ? A maiden, in days of yore,

610Whose heart was free from falsehood, the crown of a fair land bore —
Her heirdom was rich and noble, and lowly and pure her heart, And no taint of earthly longing had found in her soul a part. And wooers she had in plenty, of crowned kings, I ween, And princes, whose race and kingdom fit mate for her own had been.

615Yet so humble she was, the maiden, she thought not of earthly love —
And the counts of her realm waxed wrathful, since no pleading her soul could move, And their anger raged hot against her that she gave not her maiden hand To one who should be fit ruler o'er her folk, and her goodly land. Digitized by LOHENGRIN In God was her trust, whatever men might in their anger speak, And guiltless, she bare the vengeance her folk on her head would wreak. 620 But she called of her land the princes, and they journeyed from far and near, From many a distant country, the will of their queen to hear. And she sware she would have no husband, and no man as her lord would own Save him whom God's Hand should send her, his love would she wait alone. Of the land of Brabant was she princess — From Monsalvasch he came, the 625 knight Whom God at His will should send her, and his guide was a swan so white. He set foot in her land at Antwerp, and she knew that her heart spake true, And gallant was he to look on, and all men the hero knew For a noble knight and manly, and his face, it was wondrous fair, And his fame was in every kingdom where men did his deeds declare. 630 And a wise man he was, free-handed, with never a doubting heart, And faithful and true, and falsehood it found in his life no part. A fair welcome the princess gave him — now list ye unto his rede, Rich and poor stood there around him, and they gave to his words good heed, And he spake thus, 4 My Lady Duchess, if thou wilt not mine hand refuse, 63S But wilt have me for lord and husband, for thy sake I a kingdom lose — But hearken to what I pray thee, ask thou never who I may be, And seek not to know my country, for so may I abide with thee. In the day thou dost ask the question of my love shalt thou be bereft — Take thou warning, lest God recall me to the land which erewhile I left.' 640 Then she pledged her faith as a woman that her love, it should ne'er wax less, She would do e'en as he should bid her, and never his will transgress So long as God wit should give her — Her love did he win that night, V And Lord of Brabant and its Duchess they hailed him with morning light. And the marriage feast was costly, and many a knight the land 645 That of right should be his, as vassal, must take from his princely hand. For he gave ever righteous judgment, and many a gallant deed Of knighthood he did, and, valiant, he won of fair fame his meed.

186
PARZIVAL Fair children were born unto them — The folk of Bfabant yet know

650Of the twain, how he came unto them, and wherefore he thence must go,
And how long he dwelt among them ere her question broke the spell, And drove him forth, unwilling, for so shall the story tell. The friendly swan, it sought him, and a little boat did bring, And he sailed thence, and left as tokens his sword, and his horn, and ring. 6S5 So Lohengrin passed from among them, for in sooth this gallant knight Was Parzival's son, and none other, if the tale ye would know aright. By water-ways he sought it, the home of the Grail, again — And what of the lovely duchess who longed for her lord in vain ? Why drove she hence her true love ? since he bade her be warned of yore,

660And forbade her to ask the question when he landed on Brabant's shore —
Here Herr Erec should speak, for, I think me, he knoweth the tale to tell Of revenging for broken pledges, and the fate that such speech befell ! If Chretien of Troyes, the master, hath done to this tale a wrong, Then Kiot may well be wrathful, for he taught us aright the song,

665To the end the Provencal told it — How Herzeleide's son the Grail
Did win, as was fore-ordained when Anfortas thereto did fail. And thus, from Provence, the story to the German land was brought, And aright was it told, and the story doth lack in its ending naught. I, Wolfram of Eschenbach, think me that here-of will I speak no more —

670Of Parzival's race, and his kindred, of that have I told afore ;
To the goal of his bliss have I brought him — he whose life such an end shall gain, That his soul doth not forfeit Heaven for sins that his flesh shall stain, And yet, as true man and worthy, the world's favour and grace doth keep Hath done well, nor hath lost his labour, nor his fame shall hereafter sleep !

675And if good and gracious women shall think I be worthy praise,
Since I tell to its end my story, then joyful shall be my days. And since for the love of a woman I have sung it, this song of old, I would that, in sweet words gentle, my guerdon by her be told ! APPENDICES Digitized by Googk Digitized by Googk EXCURSUS A wolfram's source In examining into the source whence Wolfram derived this poem, it may be well to restate briefly the problem as indicated in the Preface. We may take it as an acknow- ledged fact, disputed by none, that for the bulk of his work, from the commencement of Books in. to Xlll., and inclusive of part of the latter, Wolfram drew from a French source ; he himself says that this source was the poem of ' Kiot the Provencal,' and, while acquainted with the work of Chretien de Troyes, he distinctly avows his preference for Kiot over Chretien, saying that Chretien had told the story wrongly, for which Kiot might well be wrathful with him. From this we gather that, granting the existence of the two French versions, Kiot's had preceded Chretien's. The difficulties in the way of accepting Wolfram's own definite statement are two- f fold : first, that no trace of such a poem, or such a poet, exists (which in itself is not an insuperable difficulty) ; second, and more serious, that we do possess the poem of Chretien I de Troyes, and that it presents such striking features of similarity to Wolfram's version that it is clear that if one were not the source of the other, there is ajcommon source at the root^of both. Now, of Chretien's source he only tells us that Count Philip of Flanders gave him the book in which he found this story of Perceval and the Grail, but of the author of the book / he says no word. Of Kiot's source, Wolfram tells us that the story of the origin of the Grail was found in a MS. at Toledo, written in Arabic by a heathen astronomer, Flegetanis ; and it also appears, from a passage in Book vm. p. 238, that the story of Parzival was contained in the same MS. That Kiot , then sought through the chronicles of various countries for some confirmation of the tale, and finally found the record of the Grail kings in the chronicles of Anjou. Of the sources thus variously given, the book possessed by Count Philip of Flanders, the Arabic MS. of Flegetanis, the Chronicles of Anjou, and Kiot's poem founded upon these two last, the Chronicles of Anjou alone remain to us ; do they throw any light on the question or not? It has long been asserted that they do not, and it is true that they contain no recordjrf the Grail kings, nor, though King Arthur is mentioned, and treated as an historical personage, do we find any mention of Mazadan, Gamuret, Herzeleide, and Parzival under the same names ; but it also seems equally clear that the writer of the Parzival knew the Chronicles of Anjou, and in the case of each of the characters men- tioned above it is not difficult to trace a distinct correspondence between what is recorded n the Parzival and real personages and events of Angevin history. (A reference to Appendix A, vol. i. , 'on the Angevin allusions ' will show how close in some cases this PARZIVAL parallel is. ) Now we find that the greater number of these allusions are contained in the earlier part of the poem, Books I., il, and in., some of the most striking, e.g. the account of the origin of the Angevin House ; the parallel between Gamuret and Fulk v. ; and the introduction of Herzeleide, being in the two first books ; i.e. that part of the poem peculiar to Wolfram's version is also the part of the poem richest in indications of a knowledge of Angevin history. The fact that Wolfram has an introduction, and a completion, to the Perceval legend which agree perfectly one with the other, and are not found elsewhere, naturally leads to the inference that he either had a source other than Chretien, or that he invented the books himself ; which latter Simrock claims to have been the case. In a case of this kind, where there is an utter lack of external testimony to help us, we can only judge from the internal evidence of the work itself, and here we are met at the outset by the startling phenomenon of a poem, ascribed to the invention of a German poet, abounding in allusions to a contemporary French line of princes, and evidently designed for the glorification of that house. It is perfectly true that the princely family in question had risen to a point of greatness that resulted in their dominating for some years European politics, but, in the absence of any testimony connecting Wolfram with the House of Anjou, we are at least entitled to ask how he possibly came to give such a colour to his poem. It is impossible to avoid being perplexed by such questions as these ; how did Wolfram come to be so familiar with the early history of the Angevin counts ? If he wished to glorify any reigning prince why did he not choose a German, say Hermann of Thuringia, rather than lead to the suspicion that he wished to compliment a house represented at the time he wrote by its very worst and weakest descendant, John of Anjou and England ? Why did he lay the adventures of his hero's father in the East, and bring into the story the curious and enigmatic personality of Feirefis, and, having invented him, give him a name of undoubted French origin ? And even if we pass over the difficulties of the first two books we are met by other questions just as puzzling, e.g. why did Wolfram, who had so high an idea of fidelity to his source, and who blamed so strongly the leading poet of his day for the fault of departing from his supposed model, represent the Grail and the lers in Its castle in the light in which he did ? There is no parallel to his Grail-stone the 1 Templeisen ' throughout the whole Grail literature, and we cannot escape from the , alternative of admitting that if Wolfram did not invent all this he found it in a source "unknown to us] * v The problem of the Grail has been attempted to be solved by the hypothesis of a misunderstanding of Chretien de Troyes, this solution is of course possible, but it must be admitted that it has the appearance rather of an ingenious evasion than an explanation of difficulty, and it holds good for nothing beyond the bare presentment of the Grail as a 's'one. The Angevin problem, on the other hand, has so far never been solved at all, ' Md only its removal hinted at by the suggestion that Walter Mapes was the author of Wolfram's source, which of course admits that Wolfram had a source other than Chretien, and therefore by implication throws doubt on the above suggested explanation of the ' Grail which is based on the supposition that Chretien, and Chretien alone, was the source of Wolfram's information. In fact, so long as we refuse to admit the truth of Wolfram's own explicit statements, so long shall we find the interpretation of the Parzival beset with innumerable difficulties, the attempted explanation of one part of the problem only render- ing the remaining portion more obscure ; but if we will accept it as possible that Wolfram gave a correct account of the source of his poem, and, divesting our minds of all precon- ceived ideas in favour of this or that theory, carefully examine the indications afforded by the poem itself, we may find that there is a solution which will meet, more or less fully, all the difficulties which beset the question. Now, as remarked above, when Wolfram wrote EXCURSUS A his poem the power of the Angevin House was beginning to decline, the date assigned to the Parzival, with which date all the internal evidences agree, is within the first fifteen years of the thirteenth century, a period exactly corresponding to the reign of John, and it may be the first two or three years of that of his successor Henry in. , and it was during the fatuous misgovernment of these princes that the edifice so carefully built up by the early Angevin counts fell to pieces. Works in glorification of any special house or kingdom are not, as a rule, written during that house or kingdom's period of decadence, rather during its time of growth and aggrandisement, and we find as a fact that the events which led to the accession of an Angevin count to the throne of England ' stirred up, during the early years of Henry Fitz-Empress' reign, a spirit of patriotic loyalty which led more than one of his subjects to collect the floating popular traditions of his race, and weave them into a narrative which passed for a history of the Angevin counts.' (Cf. England under the Angevin Kings, vol. ii. p. 195.) It is therefore to this period rather than to a later date, i.e. to Wolfram's source rather than to Wolfram himself, that histori- cal testimony would bid us assign the Angevin allusions. History also forbids us to assume that Chritien could have been the source of Wolfram's information ; Chretien was of Troyes, in Champagne, therefore an adherent of the House of Blois who were hereditary foes of the Angevin counts, and not without reason, as the latter were most undesirable neighbours, and never lost a chance of increasing their dominions at the expense of their fellow-princes. At one time or another, either by marriage or by conquest, they annexed all the surrounding estates (though they grasped considerably more than they could permanently hold), and after the marriage of Henry Fitz-Empress with Eleanor of Aquitaine, the heiress of Poitou and Guyenne, and of his son Geoffrey with Constance of Brittany, the whole of the coast-line of France belonged to the Angevin possessions. It was not surprising that princes of such an acquisitive nature should have many enemies, and when Henry's sons rebelled against him they were not without friends to back them up, among them, apparently, was the very Count Philip of Flanders from whom Chretien received the book from whence he drew his poem. If then Wolfram in his first two books was following a French poet, that poet was not Chretien. But if the Angevin counts had many foes they had also many adherents, not only in Europe but in the East, their connection with which dated back to the reign of Fulk Nerra, or Fulk the Palmer. It was not to a member of an unknown house that Baldwin, king of Jerusalem, in 1129 sent an invitation to become his son-in-law and successor ; nor did Fulk, when he left Anjou for Jerusalem, go alone, — we are expressly told that he took a large army with him. Fulk himself died in 1142, but he left sons who succeeded him, so that the Angevin rule in the East did not end with his death. Is it then impo>sible, or even improbable, that this ' Kiot the Provencal ' of whom Wolfram speaks was an adherent of the House of Anjou, who had followed their fortunes in the East, and who, coming under the spell of the Grail myth in its connection with the Perceval legend, remodelled the story, probably then still in a rough and transitional form, in accordance with his own personal experiences and prepossessions? Do not all the indications afforded by the poem favour this theory? Such a man would have been thoroughly familiar with the legends that had gathered round the early Angevin princes, as well as with the historical facts connected with their successors ; he would have come into contact with the Order of the Knights Templars in a land where they were in deed, and not merely in name, guardians of the Faith ; he would be familiar with many a legend of precious b tones, the favourite talisman of the East, and would know the special virtue ascribed to each ; above all, he would have seen before him in a concrete form the contest between faith and unbelief, darkness and light, Christianity and Heathendom, a black race and a white, which forms at least one of the leading ideas in the interpretation of the poem. PARZIVAL In fact, if we will allow the existence of such a writer as a travelled Angevin might well have been, we shall find all the principal problems of the Parzival admit of a rational explanation. Even the central puzzle, Wolfram's representation of the Grail, is explicable on such an hypothesis. We know how very vague Chretien's account of the Grail is ; how much in the dark he leaves us as to Its outward form, Its influence, and Its origin. A writer before Chretien is scarcely likely to have been more explicit ; what more likely than that a man long resident in the East, and familiar, as has been said above, with Eastern jewel talismans and the legends connected with them, when confronted with this mysterious Grail, of which no definite account was given, yet which apparently exercised a magical life-sustaining influence, should have jumped to the conclusion of Its, at least partial, identity with the precious stones of the power of which he had heard so much? And in connection with this it is worthy of note that Wolfram represents the Grail as lying on a green Achmardi ; in other versions of the Grail romances it is red, or white, samite that we find mentioned as veiling the relic. Throughout the poem we find green constantly mentioned, e.g. Gamuret's equipment, the robes of the Grail maidens and of Gramoflanz, the cross over Gamuret's grave, Trevrezent's shrine or reliquary ; all these allusions seem to point to the writer's familiarity with green as a royal and sacred colour, a knowledge which could only have been gained in the East. Nor, as mentioned in note to Book IX., is the description of the Grail the only instance of a mystical influence being attributed to a precious stone, but throughout the whole poem the constant mention of gems, and, in special instances, of the virtue they possess, is one of the marked peculiarities of the poem, and one of the features which differentiate it from Chretien's version. That Wolfram had a model for these earlier books, and one that he was following closely, appears from the description he gives in two places of Kailet's armour ; in Book I. we find ' do rekande ich abr wol dinen strUz, ante schilde ein sarapandra test,' and in Book II. 1 stU din strdz noch sunder nest f Du solt din sarapandra test gein sinem halben grifen tragen,' where in both instances it is distinctly implied that Kailet had two badges, an ostrich on his helmet and a snake's head on his shield, which is, to say the least, extremely unlikely. What seems to be really meant is that Kailet carried the figure of the entire bird on his helmet, and a representation of its head on his shield ; the likeness in the shape of the latter to a snake's head has often been commented upon, and the ostrich, from its curious head and neck, has been known as ' the serpent bird.' It seems clear that here at least Wolfram was following another description, and one which he did not altogether understand. As to the conclusion to be drawn from the proper names which occur in such profusion throughout the poem, this question has been so fully treated by Bartsch (cf. vol. i. Appendix B) that it would be superfluous to discuss it here; and the correspondence between the Titurel poems and the Parzival, which argues a common source for both, has also been adequately discussed, but the addition of the arguments to be derived from the correspondence existing between Wolfram's Angevin allusions and the facts of Angevin history, seems to put it beyond doubt that there is a strong body of evidence in support of Wolfram's own statement that he had a French source other than Chretien de Troyes ; and, if we admit that he spoke the truth so far, it seems only logical to believe that he was also speaking the truth when he gave the name of the author of his source as 'Kiot the Provencal.' EXCURSUS B EXCURSUS B RELATION OF WOLFRAM TO CHRETIEN In explanation of the striking agreement which exists between the Parzival of Wolfram von Eschenbach and that part of Li Conte del Graal which we owe to Chretien de Troyes, three solutions may be suggested : (a) That Chretien was the source of Wolfram ; (6) That Chretien and Wolfram both drew from a common source, that source, if Wolfram is to be believed, being Kiot ; (c) That Chretien, who wrote before Wolfram, drew from a source anterior to Wolfram, which source was also used by Kiot. For reasons already stated we may dismiss (a) without further argument, and accept Wolfram's statement as to the existence of a French poem other than Chretien's ; but the question as to the relationship existing between these two poems, whether the one was directly the source of the other (as Wolfram seems to have supposed), or whether both represent a common source, requires to be carefully examined. The principal difference between the Parzival and the Conte del Graal is in the Introduction, which is missing entirely in Chretien, whose account of Perceval's father and of his death is at variance with all the other versions, and has been supplemented by a later Introduction, more in harmony with what seems to have been accepted as the original form of the story, i.e. with the fact of the death of the hero's father before his birth, and the flight of the widowed mother into the woods. Now, it is of course quite possible, it is even highly probable, that Chretien, had he known a version of the story such as Wolfram gives, would have rejected it on account of its connection with the House of Anjou, but we cannot base any argument on the absence of this introduction, since Chretien left his poem unfinished at a point before the close connection between the first two books and the ending of the story becomes apparent in Wolfram. Had Chretien lived to complete his work we should have then been in a better position to judge whether he knew Kiot's poem and deliberately set it on one side, or whether he was following another version. Closely as the two poems agree, it is noticeable that, in more than one instance, Chretien's version of an incident is more in harmony with the story as told in other members of the Grail cycle than is Wolfram's ; e.g. Parzival's visit to the court of King Arthur, and Gawain's adventure in the Chateau Merveil, both of which have been fully treated in the Notes. It is curious also that in the three versions of the story most closely agreeing, the Conte del Graal, Parzival, and Peredur, we find the bleeding lance and the sword in each, while for the ' Grail ' talisman we have variously, an enigmatic object of gold set with precious stones, a stone, and a bleeding head on a dish ; this variation seems to point to the conclusion that the lance and sword, and not the ' Grail,' were the original features of the story ; and accordingly we find in Chretien that it is the lance, and not the Grail, which Gawain goes to seek ; and the lance is also treated at" greater length than is the Grail. If Wolfram and Chretien were drawing from the same source it seems strange that it is in the work of that one of the two who avowedly places a high value on adherence to the traditional form of the story that we miss just these archaic features. Again, Wolfram and Chretien differ very decidedly in their presentment of the Grail knights and their organisation ; if so striking and effective a feature existed in a source common to both, it is difficult to understand why Chretien omitted it ; he could have had no such grudge against the Order of Templars as he would reasonably have against the House of Anjou, and it is equally difficult to believe that if it was not in the source, Wolfram departed from his avowed principle of fidelity so far as to introduce it. VOL. II. N PARZIVAL We also find the same ideas introduced in a different context ; thus, when Perceval leaves his mother to go out into the world, among her counsels the French poet includes, 'Preudom ne forconselle nie celui ki tient sa compagnie ' ; in Wolfram we have no such phrase, but when Parzival arrives at Gurnemanz's Castle we find him saying, 'Min muoter saget al wdr, Alt marines rede sttt niht ze vdr,' which in the Parzival she did not say. It is evident that in the two versions counsel and application have become separated, and in this case again it seems more probable that the counsel would originally have been given without the application, as by Chretien, than vice versa as by Wolfram. On the other hand, Mr. Nutt points out in his Studies that Perceval's recognition of the knights as angels is quite at variance with his mother's representation of armed men as devils, whereas in the Parzival the whole episode is clear and consistent. Here the French poet has evidently dropped out something, and there are other instances, such as the names of Gurnemanz's sons, in which the German poem seems to have followed an older tradition. But on the whole, a careful comparison of the two poems seems to show that Wolfram's version is further removed from the original form of the story than is Chretien's, and that therefore the probability is that the common basis of the two poems was a work known to the two French poets. In support of this theory it may be noted as a curious fact that while Chretien avowedly bases his poem on a book given to him by the Count of Flanders, Wolfram's poem really contains more references to Flanders than Chretien's does. Thus we have several allusions to Lambekein, Duke of Brabant ; Brandelidelein of Punturtois figures prominently both in the second and in the later books, and his city 4 Der Wazzervesten stat von Punt' (punt*=pont=bridge) is suspiciously like Bruges; to say nothing of the connection of the Lohengrin story with Brabant and Antwerp. It has been pointed out already by critics that Gerbert, one of Chretien's continuators, has the same connection of the Grail winner with the knight of the swan, which seems to indicate that the stories were not first connected by the German poet (Gerbert also connects with the Swan Knight with the Deliverer of the Holy Sepulchre, an Oriental and Crusading feature quite in har- mony with what has been suggested with regard to Wolfram's French source). On the whole, the evidence seems to point to the conclusion that the source of Kiot's poem was identical with the book delivered to Chretien by the Count of Flanders ; and the connection between Wolfram and Chretien is that of a source from which Chretien drew at first, Wolfram at second hand, Wolfram's medium having treated the legend with far more freedom and boldness than was common at that date. The question of the interpretation to be placed upon the Parzival is one of the most important parts of the problem under discussion. As a rule it has been treated apart from the question of the source, for critics have been pretty generally unanimous in declaring that whatever the authority followed as to the story, its employment as a medium of ethical edification was due to Wolfram and to Wolfram alone. But a careful examination of the poem seems to indicate that not only were the first germs of a spiritual interpretation due to another and older writer, but also that a very close and important connection exists between the interpretation and the source, as alleged by Wolfram himself. EXCURSUS C THE INTERPRETATION AND RELIGIOUS TEACHING OF THE POEM EXCURSUS C Now, whether we are treating of the source or of the inner signification of the poem, one of the most important elements in the question is the character of Feirefis. That this curious personality is as closely connected with the inner, as with the outer, development of the story many critics have readily admitted, and therefore the question of the origin of the character becomes one of no little importance. If we can prove that Feirefis is beyond doubt the invention of Wolfram, then we have a strong argument for believing that the ethical teaching is also entirely Wolfram's ; but if the evidence points the other way, and is in favour of the theory that Feirefis is an integral part of the original French source, then there is strong ground for believing that the semi-allegorical treatment of the subject was also part of Kiot's scheme. Simrock feels this so strongly that he advances the close connection of Feirefis alike with the grund-idee of the poem and the first two books to prove that Wolfram must have written those books, since to him alone the moral teaching can be due. But is the evidence in favour of the German authorship of these books? Is it not, as I we have shown in the discussion of the Angevin allusions, distinctly against such a con- clusion? And here we must not overlook the fact that the Angevin parentage is insisted on far more strongly in the case of Feirefis than in that of his brother ; it seems indeed I as if the elder brother were regarded specially as the son of his father, from first to last I he is • Feirefis Angevin,' whereas Parzival is regarded more as the son of the mother I through whom he is connected with the mystic race of the Grail-kings, and bears through-

1out the title of 4 Waleis,' his mother's, not his father's, land.
A close study of the poem seems to show that it came into Wolfram's hands an ! organic whole ; in spite of the strong individuality of the German poet which has stamped \ \ itself on every page, in spite of the constant personal allusions, of the characteristic form I into which he has remoulded the story, we feel that he has never lost sight of the original conception, but, even while working out his own interpretation, has allowed the thread of ! his source to run unbroken, if not untangled, to the end. And with that thread Feirefis is closely inwoven; it is at. the critical moment of Parzival's life, when the conventional faith in God as the All-wise Ruler of the world, which has been sufficient for his boyhood, fails him, that the hero first learns the existence of his unknown brother, Feirefis Angevin ; from that point onward, whenever the story will admit of an allusion to Feirefis, either directly, or indirectly through his love Sekundille, that allusion is introduced, so that as we I draw towards the end of the poem the mind is not unprepared for the appearance of Feirefis himself, and the combat which is the last, as it is the most desperate, of Parzival's trials. The breaking of the sword of Ither of Gaheviess, as well as the exceptional nature I of the conflict itself, is a distinct indication of a special significance attached to the inci- I dent, and one is not surprised to find that the conclusion of Parzival's probation and his election to the Grail kingdom follow closely upon it. It is impossible to believe that a personality so strange as that of Feirefis, so closely connected with the hero of the poem, and brought into special prominence at the turning-points of his career, means nothing at all ; and this when we have the contrast between Doubt and Steadfastness, Darkness and Light, Black and White directly insisted upon. The original ethical idea seems to have txjen simple enough ; the sin of lack of faitL in God, which mars an otherwise steadfast character. Feirefis shows, in a concrete form, the contrast sketched in the opening lines of Book I. , and Parzival's final conflict with his parti-coloured brother signified the final victory over Doubt which rendered him worthy to win the Grail. The idea of working some such motif into the story may very likely • have arisen from a wish to supply a better and more adequate reason for Parzival's inter- view with the Hermit, an episode which, as the Parzival shows, is capable of far finer treatment than it has received in any other version. (It must not be forgotten that PARZIVAL Parzival's passionate outbreak and defiance of God is found nowhere else, and that the duty of trust in God and reliance upon Him in the hour of trouble has been distinctly part of his early teaching, and that there too the ' black and white ' contrast has been insisted upon.) The idea thus first suggested, the circumstances of a residence in the East, where such a conflict between light and darkness was actually being carried on, determined the form into which it should be cast. It is extremely difficult to understand how Wolfram, if he only possessed the Perceval legend in an incomplete form, conceived the idea of supplementing it in this special manner ; but if Kiot be responsible for the first introduction of the religious idea, as he was of the Angevin, the problem becomes perfectly easy, his conception of the struggle in the soul of man was simply a reflection of the struggle as he saw it in the world. (It cannot be too strongly insisted upon, that no princes of the day were more strongly affected by the Crusading spirit, or more closely connected with the East than the Angevin princes ; and that to assume on the part of one of their followers the familiarity with Crusading ideas which is here ascribed to ' Kiot ' is to do little more than state a common- place fact of history.) But that the idea of the poem has, in a measure, undergone a change, and that the Parzival in its present shape owes much to the genius of the man who, probably attracted by the ethical turn Kiot had given to the story, took it into his own hands, and, remodel- ling it, sent it forth to the world a heritage for all generations, may readily be granted. No careful reader of the poem can fail to feel that the interpretation is a double one ; that if there are passages which seem to treat of Faith and Doubt only as they affect the position of the soul towards God, there are others which as clearly treat of the same questions as affecting man's relation to his fellow-men ; in which faith is interpreted in its widest sense as a loyal fulfilment of all obligations, social as well as religious ; and that all this is summed up and expressed in the inculcation of loyalty to the dictates of the knightly order in their highest form. Occasionally these two ideas obviously clash, as when in Book IX. Trevrezent tells Parzival that the Grail cannot be won by human effort, and asks, ' Wilt thou force thy God with thine anger?' and in Book xvi. practically takes back his words and admits

1that this is what Parzival has done. The true solution of the puzzle seems to be neither
I in interpreting the poem exclusively as an allegory df the struggle in the soul of man, nor exclusively as a confession of faith in the knightly order as a means of salvation, but rather in admitting that the poem sets forth both these views, and that the lines of thought cross and recross and overlie one another according as Wolfram reproduced the ideas of the older poet, or overlaid them with his own. And if we will believe in the real personality of ' Kiot,' we may find that the religious teaching of the poem gains a new significance ; deeply religious it undoubtedly is, full of a profound trust in God, a deep conviction of the individual relationship existing between the soul and its Maker, and a simple acceptance of the elementary doctrines of Christianity, the Trinity, the Incarnation, and Its extension through the initial Sacrament of Baptism ; but with all this there is a complete absence of ecclesiasticism, and a lack of features familiar to us in other works of the day. It is very curious that, constantly as Baptism is insisted upon as essential to salvation, the equal necessity for the Second Great Sacrament of the Faith is passed over. It is perfectly true that Wolfram's knights attend Mass, and that Mass is apparently cele- brated with regularity, but here their obligation seems to end ; never once do we hear of one of his knights communicating, even Gamuret, when dying, though he receives absolution, does not receive the viaticum (the account of Vivianz' death in Willehalm seems to show that elsewhere Wolfram, in common with other writers of the day, did acknowledge this necessity). Again, though Parzival comes to the Hermit's cell on Good EXCURSUS C Friday, and spends fourteen days in his company, confessing and receiving absolution, we have no mention of the Easter Communion in the German poem, though we have in the French. In Book x. the wounded knight, whom Gawain succours, asks to be helped to a spital that his wounds may be attended to ; in Chretien's version he expresses his fear of dying unabsolved and uncommunicated, and would seek a Hermit who lives near at hand for that purpose. And this difference between the two versions meets us at every turn V ChrUien abounds in allusions to the hours of prayer ; if he wishes to indicate the time when any special event happens he mentions that it is just after Prime, or between Tierce and Noon ; Perceval says that if he finds his mother he will make her a veiled nun, and the mother's counsels in the French poem are emphatic on the subject of Perceval's religious duties, which Wolfram wholly omits ; Chretien's characters constantly invoke the saints, which Wolfram's knights never do; when Parzival is in imminent danger of death it is to his wife, and not to a patron saint, that he looks for aid. Wolfram is always a religious poet, but, if we compare his other important poem the Willehaltn with the Parzival, we cannot help feeling that the former is decidedly more in harmony with the thought of his day, and less curiously ' modern ' in tone than the latter. It is difficult to resist the conviction that some of the special peculiarities of the Parzival are due to Wolfram's source quite as much as to Wolfram himself. It is a commonplace of history that one effect of the contact between heathen and Christian races brought about by the Crusades was the awakening of a spirit of tolerance between the brave men on either side. In a day when manly strength and courage were accounted of such value it was impossible that the existence of such qualities on the side of the heathen should not, in the opinion of many, go far to counterbalance their lack of Christianity ; and it is certain that among those long resident in the East such tolerance eventually led to laxity in matters both of faith and practice. It was such laxity that was the ostensible reason for the fall of the Knights Templars. In the case of a poem, which otherwise gives indication of familiarity with Oriental custom and tradition, is it unreason- able to suggest that its peculiarities of religious treatment, its freedom from petty ecclesiastical details, the breadth and tolerance of its views, and the far more human ideal of virtue which it presents, may, at least in part, be due to the influence of the Crusad ing spirit which we know did, on the whole, make in these directions ? To sum up the entire questionf the drift of the internal evidence of the Parzival seems to indicate that the author of Wolfram's source was a warm partisan of the House of Anjou, sometime resident in the East, familiar with the History of the House whose fortunes he followed, and with much curious Oriental legend, and thoroughly imbued with the broader views of life and religion inspired by the Crusades. That he wrote his poem after 1172 seems most likely from the connection between England, Anjou, and Ireland noted in Book ix. ; on the other hand, the parallel existing between the early history of Henry Fitz-Empress and that of the hero of the Parzival seems to show that he intended a compliment to that prince, which would fix the year of Henry's death, 1189, as the terminus ad quern. The probabilities are that it would be written earlier, before the troubles of Henry's later years. What we know of the extent of the Angevin rule and influence at that date renders it quite possible for us to believe that the writer was by birth a Provencal. That the source of the poem bore a strong affinity to the source of Chrdtien's Conte del ♦ Graat is certain, and the many Flemish allusions give colour to the supposition that it may have been identical with that source. If we grant the correctness of the Angevin allusions to be found in the earlier parts of the poem, we must logically grant that these two first Books, and as a consequence the latter part of the poem which agrees with them, are due to the French source rather than the German redaction ; that it was Kiot who introduced the characters of Gamuret, Belakane, Feirefis, and Lahelein ; and that to Kiot is due the first germ of the ethical Digitized by Google NOTES and^ Hero meets with wounded knight maiden. Is warned of the perils of the way. Meets with a lovely lady, whom he woos and is repulsed by her with mockery. Is insulted by a squire of hideous aspect, and his charger is stolen by the wounded knight. Comes to a river on the further side of which is a castle, and fights with a knight who is riding his own horse. Is entertained by the boatman. Chretien, who gives all the incidents in corresponding sequence. Introduction, lines 1-19. In Book x. the poet returns to Gawain, taking up the story at the point at which he dropped it in Book vin. The corresponding book in Chretien commences very abruptly, making no further mention of the challenge between Gawain and Kingrimursel (Guigambresil) or of Gawain's search for the Grail (or Lance). It is doubtful whether the passage beginning with line 15 really refers to traditional adventures ascribed to Gawain, and omitted here, or whether it is merely introduced in order to soften down the abrupt transition from the story of Parzival to that of Gawain. From the fact that, both here and in Chretien, this incident of Gawain's meeting with the wounded knight follows immediately after Parzival's interview with the hermit, it seems certain that a similar sequence existed in the source common to both ; on the other hand, in line 804, Wolfram seems to be referring to a definite version of the Gawain episode, which certainly differed from Chretien's. Here, as elsewhere, in the absence of any external evidence, it is not possible to speak with certainty. Page 1, line 5—' At Schamfanzon he challenged Gawain.1 Cf. Book vin. p. 239. Page 1, line 9 — ' The murder, Count Ekundt did it.' Cf. Book vm. p. 236 and Book in. p. 99. Page 4, line 29 — 'Kami Ha.1 A reference to the sEneid of Heinrich von Veldeck, where Kamilla, the daughter of Turnus, is represented as defending Laurentium against the Trojans, and being slain on the field of battle. Cf. Book xn. p. 52. Page 4, lines 39, 40 — * On her knee she bore a knight.1 This incident occurs under exactly the same circumstances in Chretien, there, too, Gawain comes to the rescue of the knight by arousing him from his stupor, though the surgery, of which Wolfram gives so curious an account, finds no parallel in the French poem. The reader will not fail to notice the likeness between this incident and Parzival's meeting with Sigune, in Book ill. As will be pointed out later Wolfram evidently intended a parallel, or a contrast, between his two heroes. Digitized by VjOOQlC PARZIVAL Page s, line 63 — ' Lisckois Giwellius.1 This name, again, seems to be a misunder- standing of a French original, in Chretien the knight is not named, the passage ; ' li Orguelleus de la roce a I'estroite vote, qui garde les pors de Galvoie ' in which some critics have found the origin of the name, seems rather to refer to the knight overthrown by Gawain in Book xn. and named Florand by Wolfram. Here there is a distinct identity between the knight now referred to and him who fights with Gawain later (p. 20) ; in Chretien the knight who opposes Gawain is the nephew of the wounded man, and therefore can scarcely be the guardian of the ' bogue de Galvoie ' who overthrows him. Later on Wolfram uses a French expression to indicate where the knight in question was wounded, Av estroite mdvoii, which distinctly indicates a ford rather than a ravine as in Chretien (translated Perilous Ford, p. 13), and the whole incident, carefully examined, decidedly points to a French source, other than Chretien. Page 5, line 74 — 'Spake o'er it spells of healing.1 As all students of folk-lore are well aware, a belief in the virtue of certain formula of words for the healing of bodily ailments was at one time practically universal, and indeed, in certain districts, a belief in them exists to this day. In vol. ii. of Grundriss der Germanischen Philologie (part I.), a number of such spells, collected from old German mss. are given ; among them will be found one for checking the flow of blood, and another for the closing of a wound. Page 5, line 77 — 'Logrois,' French Logres. In Malory we have Logris, which has been identified with Loegria, or Saxon Britain. Page 6, line 90 — 'Orgeluse'.' This name, like Orilus, is a misunderstanding of a French original. Chretien calls the lady ' L'Orguelleuse de Logres,' and it evidently stood so in Wolfram's source. This incident of a knight proffering his services to, and riding with, a lady who repays him with mockery, and finds food for mirth in his misfortunes, seems to have been a favourite theme with mediaeval writers. Malory gives two such adventures, one of which, that of La Cote Male Taile and the damsel Maledisant, is, curiously enough, connected with the Castle Orgulous. The adventure as recounted by Chretien closely parallels the German version, but the latter is told at greater length, and the lady appears to decidedly more advantage ; her mockery, though biting, is more in the vein of a courtly lady, and, what we should not expect to find, there is far more lightness of touch and * malice,' in the French sense of the word, about the German than about the French poet. The little touch on p. 9, lines 192, 193 (If a woman ye thus behold), is lacking in Chretien, and is decidedly in keeping with the dry humour of Wolfram, who, in spite of his respect for women, delights in a sly hit at feminine weaknesses. The very curious adjuration of the old knight, oh the slime page, * May He who made salt the sea,' seems, according to Bartsch, to be frequent in old French literature, 'Qui Jit la mer saliej but does not occur at all in Chretien, who here simply has ' Dieu le Souverain Pete.' Page 10, line 235— 1 Malcriature. ' This squire appears in Chretien, but is not connected in any way with Kondrie, though it may be noted that the description given of him in the French poem agrees far more closely with Wolfram's description of the Grail Messenger than the latter does with Chretien's Maiden. Bartsch says that the curious account of this strange people ' rests on Talmudic tradition, and is repeated in many mediaeval writ- ings, Latin, German, and Romance.' In Wolfram's poem of Willehalm he introduces a strange ' horned ' people who come from the banks of the Ganges, and who speak with no human tongue. Chretien has nothing corresponding to this wild story, nor is his squire named. Page 12, line 274— « Anfortas.' This is the first indication that the lady in whose service Anfortas received his incurable wound was Orgeluse. Cf. Book IX. p. 275. The story is more fully told in Book xn. p. 65. Page 12, line 281—' / wot well e'en Dame Jeschuti, etc.' Cf. Book v. p. 145. NOTES Page 13, line 311 — 'A spital shall stand near by.' Chretien's knight wishes to be taken to a Hermit that he may confess and receive the sacrament. The incident is a good illustration of the different tone of the two poems : Chretien's is deeply imbued with the ecclesiasticism of his day, and abounds in references to hours of prayer, religious services, and invocation of saints, all of which are lacking in Wolfram's version, which, neverthe- less, is far more thoroughly pervaded with the religious spirit. Page 14, line 349 — 'Is it thou, O Urian f In Chretien the name of the knight is Griogoras. Urian appears to be the same name as ' Friam,' which we meet with later on, Book xiii. p. 92. The main outline of his story is the same in the French as in the German poet, but there are some significant points of divergence. In Chretien we have no mention of the trial before the king, nor of the death-sentence ; Gawain appears to have punished the knight on his own account, and his anger is therefore more intelligible, especially as Chretien gives an additional touch of ignominy to his punishment, ' les 11 mains liies au dos ' ; and we hear nothing of the special right of message-bearer, by out- raging which Urian broke ' the peace of the land.' The incident itself is a common one with mediaeval writers, but it is generally treated lightly, and the punishment, as a rule, was a money fine. It seems as if the more serious manner in which the episode is treated by Wolfram were to be accounted for by the maiden's official position. Throughout the poem there are frequent allusions to the manners, customs, and modes of government of his day, and, where Chretien seems to give us simply a world of romance, Wolfram seems to aim at investing his story with reality by surrounding it with the atmosphere of the time in which he lived. The indignation expressed by Orgeluse (line 417) is peculiar to Wolfram's version, and seems somewhat out of keeping with the general laxity of her conduct. Page 18, line 465 — * Amor and Cupid.' Amor and Cupid were regarded by the poets of the Middle Ages as two separate gods, both being the children of Venus. The fine passage, lines 480-496, is an eloquent exposition of Wolfram's belief in the superiority of lawful love over the mere earthly passion, too often unlawful, sanctioned, if not encouraged, by the prevailing licence accorded to Minnc-Dienst. Throughout this poem Wolfram is a steadfast upholder of the binding nature of the marriage vow ; Parzival's fidelity to his wife is held to be a virtue sufficient to cancel any other sin of which he may be guilty ; cf. Book ix. p. 270, where Trevrezent's words are a sufficient com- mentary on the rarity of such fidelity in those days. At the same time Wolfram accepts the prevailing ideal, and it must be noted that it was he, and not a poet of laxer principles, such as Gottfried von Strassbourg, who first brought into vogue the Wdchter-lieder, the very essence of which is that the love to which they give eloquent voice is an unlawful love, and must be indulged in secrecy and under the cover of night. Page 19, line 506 and seq.— ' A Castle so fair and stately.' This is Chateau Merveil, mentioned by Kondrie, Book vi. p. 181. Page 22, line 598—' Gringuljet. ' Chretien explains how Lischois Giwellius comes to be in possession of Gawain's horse ; he is, according to the French poet, the nephew of the wounded knight Griogoras, who has sent him to attack Gawain, and has given him the horse stolen from that hero for the purpose. For the meaning of the name, cf. vol. i. Appendix B. The previous history of the steed has been alluded to twice, Books vii. p. 196 and IX. p. 272. In the latter passage Trevrezent recognises Parzival's horse, also a Grail steed, by the dove on its saddle, here the badge is branded on the horse itself. The fight between Lischois and Gawain is told at much greater length here. Page 24, line 661— ' This right was his o'er the meadow.' The tribute due to the Ferry- man is also related in Chretien, where Gawain evades it in the same manner. Page 26, line j^—'Klingsor.' The magician, lord of the Chateau Merveil, has not PARZIVAL been named before ; he is identical with the ' clerk who all magic knew,' cf. Book n. p. 39. Chretien has not this character at all ; the castle, according to him, was built by ' 1 sages clers d'astrenomie,' who came there with King Arthur's mother, but there is no indication that the lady eloped with him, nor does he play any part in the story. The origin of the name seems to be uncertain ; in the poem of the Wartburg-krieg, already alluded to (note to Book vi.), Klingsor appears as a magician from Hungary, and Simrock thinks that here his name is derived from Klingsaere, a singer or minstrel, and that Wolfram was weaving into his poem an old legend illustrative of the power of song. San Marte derives the name from an old French word clincher, and thinks it indicative of the sensual character ascribed to the magician, and that the character is of French origin. Merlin is, of course, the Arthurian magician, and appears as such in Chretien's continuators, but there is no sign of him in the Parzival, nor can the incidents related of Klingsor be paralleled in the history of Merlin. Page 27, line 774 — 'Bene'.' The part assigned to this character in Wolfram is im- portant, the maiden does not appear in Chretien's version, here she plays an active part as confidant of Itonje\ Gawain's sister, in her love affair with King Gramoflanz and acts as messenger between the lovers. Some critics have derived her name from a misunderstand- ing of Chretien's phrase, que beneois soit voire osiu, spoken by Gawain to the boatman, and, of course, such a phrase may have stood in Wolfram's French source, but, as he certainly did not borrow the character from Chretien, it seems scarcely likely that he borrowed the name. Page 28, lines 785-790 — ' Purs lain and lettuce.' The dish was apparently a kind of salad. Wolfram makes an ingenious use of the mention of vinegar to impress upon his readers the folly of speaking untruly, and incidentally shows that the use of rouge was not unknown in his day. [Gawain's adventures with the Proud Lady (Orgeluse) and at the Castle of Wonders form, perhaps, the most confused and perplexing portion of the poem, while they also bear obvious marks of age and of freedom from the Christian symbolism which has so pro- foundly affected the ' Grail ' legend as a whole. ' The Proud Lady ' seems to be a com- posite creation ; the characteristics of a courtly lady of the day having been grafted on to an originally supernatural conception. According to this latter, she was a water-fairy (note that Gawain meets her by the side of a spring, Book x. p. 6), mistress of a magic garden, in which are held captive the mortals whom she incites to a perilous venture, i.e. the crossing of the stream which separates this from the other world, and the bringing thence a branch plucked from a tree growing there. This adventure is of course only to be achieved by the best knight in the world, the hero, namely, of the episode, and to urge him to it she uses every species of raillery. When the hero has performed the task she gladly yields herself his. This incident, in itself a straightforward and intelligible one to which many parallels might easily be adduced from romantic and heroic. literature, is, however, crossed and blended with another adventure of the same hero, the achieving the feats of the Wonder Castle, and thereby overcoming its magician builder. The two episodes, originally told each for itself, coalesced owing to the personages in each being the same ; for the Proud Lady is, I believe, far more intimately connected with the Wonder Castle than appears from Wolfram's poem ; I suspect her, indeed, of being the magician's daughter. That the wedding of Gawain with Orgeluse should take place in the Chateau Merveil is at present almost the only trace remaining of the original connection, but that is decisive. For, as will be pointed out in Note to Book XI., the episode of the Wonder Castle must originally have ended in the hero's remaining there ; he has won to the other world whence he cannot return, but over which he rules, in com- NOTES pany with its fair mistress. As it is, the reader cannot but feel that the winning of the Branch is an anti-climax after the achievement of the Castle of Wonders. The true significance of the Proud Lady's garden has also been obscured in our poem ; it may possibly at one time have been confused with the Wonder Castle, and might then be compared with the Garden of Joy which Merlin created for Ninian ; there is indeed a strong temptation to compare Merlin and Ninian with Klingsor and Orgeluse, wide as the difference is between the two stories. But it is more probable that the Magic Garden belongs wholly to the Winning of the Branch feat, and that, like the remainder of this episode, it has suffered from contamination with the Wonder Castle story. (In connec- tion with this it may be noted that in Chretien, Gawain, after crossing the Perilous Ford, is not to pluck the branch of any one special tree, but to gather the flowers which he sees, ' A ces arbres et a ces pre"s* The idea of a garden seems to have been better preserved in the French than in the German poem. ) Another portion of the original story, the flyting of hero and heroine, has been com- pletely remodelled by the twelfth century poets, in order to afford an exemplification of the current ideal of courtly love and lady-service ; hence the complex character of the heroine, and the confused nature of the episode as related by Wolfram. It would be useless to seek in pre-twelfth century literature for an exact parallel to a situation so manifestly coloured to suit the prevailing social ideas of the time ; but the episode mu t have some root in preceding literature, the special form of the social relation of man to woman which is the most marked feature of twelfth century literary art must stand in some relation to the past ; and it is in the Irish heroic literature of the seventh to the eleventh centuries that we must seek for the origin of this feature. In this literature we find a remarkable parallel to the whole Gawain-Orgeluse episode. 'The Wooing of Emer by Cuchulainn' is one of the most famous stories about the greatest Irish hero. Emer was the daughter of Forgall the Wily, the chief maiden of Ireland in all virtues and qualities, and therefore the only one whom Cuchulainn deemed worthy of him. But she is by no means minded to take him at his own estimation ; when he recounts his achievements, ' these are goodly fights of a tender boy,' says she, nor will she consent to see him until he perform certain definite feats. Moreover, her father is by no means anxious that she should marry, and to get rid of the wooer has him sent off with two companions on a perilous expedition to Skye. The first danger he encountered (I quote textually from the oldest version of the story, ascribed by the editor, Professor Kuno Meyer, to the eighth century) is ' some dreadful beast like a lion, which fought with him, but did him no harm, and the foul play of the youths who laughed at him ' [Revue Celtique, vol. x. 44). Afterwards he has to make his way across the ' plain of ill-luck ' on which men freeze, and by a narrow path over a glen, and a * terrible stony height.' Cuchulainn of course comes safely through all these and other ventures, and carries off Emer, whom he weds. Here, then, we have the contemptuous attitude of the wooed maiden, her indication of feats to be performed before she can be won ; and before the final marriage a series of incidents bearing no small resemblance to those which befall Gawain at the Wonder Castle. — Alfred Nutt.] PARZIVAL TRADITIONAL EVENTS Gawain, against the advice of the Boat- Chretien gives the incidents in the same man, visits Chateau Merveil, seats himself order, but with some difference in details, on the magic couch, and is assailed, first by unseen adversaries, then by a lion which he kills and ends the enchantments of the Castle. (There is a Castle of Wonders in ' Peredur,' but the adventures connected with it are quite different. ) The entire episode of the Magic Castle and Gawain's adventures therein is stamped with a weird, fantastic character, unlike the rest of the poem, and gives the effect of a Mahrchen introduced into the midst of a knightly epic. More than one critic has pointed out the similarity between the tasks to be achieved by Gawain, before he becomes lord of the castle, and those which, in old folk-tales, fall to the lot of those who dare a venture to the shadowy under-world. Some of the features in the story, which will be noted as they occur, seem to distinctly indicate that such was the original nature of this episode, related with so much spirit by the German poet. Page 34, line 107 — *He who at Nantes slew Prince Ither. ' Cf. Books vn. p. 218 and vm. p. 242, and notes on these passages, where Wolfram's introduction of the chief hero of the poem, unmentioned in Chretien's version, is commented upon. Some critics have drawn a contrast between the Chateau Merveil, with its magic lord, and the Grail Castle, with its wounded king, which are won respectively by the two heroes of the poem, and have seen in the castle of Klingsor the embodiment of the fleshly principle, opposed to the spiritual realm of the Grail. But Wolfram seems to have intended a parallel rather than a contrast. Klingsor, on the whole, is by no means a malicious character, and of the deadly antagonism between him and the Grail knights, which is the very essence of Wagner's Parsifal, there is here no trace. If there is a contrast between spirit and sense in Wolfram's poem, it is rather to be found between the court and knighthood of Monsalvasch and that of King Arthur, and the latter monarch certainly embodies the world-principle far more than Klingsor does. Parzival's failure to ask the question here is quite in keeping with his general character and devotion to a single aim, but the introduction of the incident was doubtless intended to heighten the parallel between Monsalvasch and Chateau Merveil. Page 35, line 125— 'Now arm thee for deadly warfare /' In Chretien's account the Boatman plays the same kindly part of adviser, and, further, accompanies Gawain to the palace and to the hall of the Lit-Merveil, but, as before noted, the part played by the daughter is omitted. Page 36, line 162 — 'A merchant with merchandise costly. In Chretien this character is an 4 Eskiekier,' rather a money-changer than a merchant. The story of the ooth, and how it came to be in the courtyard of the castle, is fully related in Book xu. p. 65. Page 36, line 169— 4 TheBaruch of Bagdad.' Cf. Book I. p. 9, and note on ' Rankulat.' The . allusion to the Emperor of Greece shows that this was written after the taking of Constantinople by the Crusaders in 1204. Page 37, line PlippalinoV The Boatman is unnamed in Chretien. The critics give no interpretation of the name. NOTES Page 37. lme 201 — %The LechfeW The Lechfeld is a wide plain near Augsburg, between the rivers Werch and Lech, where the Hungarians were defeated in 955 by the Emperor Otho. Naturally, the courtyard of a castle could not be so large, and it seems probable that Wolfram was commenting humorously on the exaggerated description given in his source. Chretien gives much the same account of the castle and its gorgeous decorations. Page 38, line 220 — 'The Lit-Merveil.' Chretien gives a more detailed description of the magic couch : it is of gold, with cords of silver, and bells hanging from the interlaced cords. It is apparently the peal of these bells, as the knight seats himself upon the couch, that gives warning of the intruder, and is the signal for the enchantments to begin. In Chretien's account the attack by the five hundred unseen foes (Gawain has already been informed by the Boatman that five hundred knights guard the castle) follows immediately on the hero taking his seat on the couch, and the onslaught of the lion immediately on the cross-bows, so that the ordeal, as represented by Wolfram, is considerably more severe and prolonged than in the French version. Page 40, line 299 — 'A mighty lion.1 The encounter with the lion is the same in Chretien ; there, too, the lion's paw is smitten off by Gawain, and remains hanging to the shield. The remark in line 312 is quite in keeping with Wolfram's dry, quaint humour ; such ' asides ' are lacking throughout in the French poem. Page 41, line 331— 'Mount Ribbeli.' An allusion to Eilhart's Tristan, where Gymele, Isolde's maid, gives to Kahcnis, who should keep watch with her, a magic pillow on which he slumbers throughout the night, and is mocked in consequence. Page 42, line 340 — 'Arnivi.1 This is Arthur's mother, whose elopement with Klingsor has been mentioned, cf. Book 11. p. 39. ( Whether Arnive" went with Klingsor of her own free will, or whether she was constrained by magic art, does not clearly appear ; from Book 11. we should conclude the former, but the passage in Book xni. pp. 89 and 90, reads as if she were not a free agent.) She has been named as one of the dwellers in Chateau Merveil, (Book vi. p. 189) ; how it was that Arthur, who had apparently spent some years in the search for his mother (cf. Book 11. p. 39), failed to recognise her name when mentioned before him, is not explained. But the whole episode, as noted above, is so wild and fantastic, and so full of difficulties, that it seems most probable that it was not originally connected with the Arthurian legend, and has been only imperfectly fitted into the framework. In Chretien, too, the queen is Arthur's mother, but she is much less prominent in the story, indeed from this point onwards the two versions diverge considerably. In Chr&tien, Gawain is by no means seriously wounded ; the Boatman, who seems to have awaited the issue of the adventure outside the castle, returns promptly and tells him that the enchantments are at an end, and Gawain is greeted by a train of pages, gaily dressed and playing flutes ; and maidens, one of whom bears royal robes. Chr&tien then introduces a very curious and archaic feature, to which Wolfram has no parallel ; Gawain expresses his desire to leave the castle and hunt in the surrounding forest, but the Boatman tells him this is impossible ; it is judged and decreed that whoever achieves the venture of the Chateau Merveil shall never leave the castle, 'Que jamais de cette maison nistroit u fust tors u raison. Jamais riistris nul jor,1 at which Gawain is extremely angry. Nevertheless, he does leave the castle and no harm comes of it. The only explanation of this curious feature seems to be that this episode, as noted above, found its origin in the story of some hero's visit to the under-world, when his return to the world of the living depends on his fulfilment of certain conditions, e.g. , that he should eat nothing during his stay in the land of shadows ; Gawain certainly partakes of a meal in the Magic Castle, which meal in Wolfram precedes, though in Chretien it follows, his attempt to leave Chateau Merveil. Heinzel understands Chretien's account of the arrival of the two elder queens in Terre de Merveil as meaning PARZIVAL that they really were dead, and supernaturally revived ; (Chretien certainly does say of the elder queen, 'Qui f us mis en tiere,' but as he goes on to state that she brought all her riches with her into the country where she came, accompanied by her daughter, it is rather difficult to understand what he really does mean. ) Mr. Nutt remarks, ' I think there can be no doubt that Klingsor's castle is a form of the other world, and that its inhabitants cease to live if they return to this world. There is a distinct parallelism in the original form of the legend between Parzival's winning the Grail Castle and Gawain's winning the Magic Castle. On this theory neither, of course, should come back to Arthur's court ; the necessity of bringing them both into contact with Arthur again has obscured the signifi- cance of the story. ' Page 43, line 370 — '/linot the Breton* Arthur's son, alluded to in Book vil. p. 217, and note (which also explains the allusion to ' the mystic beasts ' which seem to have been the badge of the royal Breton house). Ilinot's history is told at some length in Book xii. p. 50. Page 44, line 422 — 'Dictam, the herb of healing.' San Marte says that this herb is mentioned by Cicero, Virgil, and Pliny, as possessing the power of drawing arrow-shafts from a wound. Wolfram, also, attributed this virtue to it, as he distinctly states in Willehalm, where he gives an account of his hero's wounds being dressed by his wife. The allusion to Kondrie should be noted ; it is another instance of the skill with which Wolfram connects all the threads of his story, and never loses sight of his main point. Gawain overthrows a knight whom the ■» Lady of Logrois brings to fight with him ; crosses the Perilous Ford, and is challenged . to single combat by a knight. Is rewarded by r ien' the love of Orgeluse, and returns in triumph to Chateau Merveil. Page 49, lines 5-18— 4 Launcelot on the sword-bridge battled* This passage to line 18 contains numerous allusions to the knightly tales of the day, some of which have been previously referred to. Launcelot's fight with Meljakanz and subsequent freeing of Queen Guinevere is mentioned in Book vn. (pp. 205, 219 and Note). The story of Garel and the lion is not known to us ; he was the hero of a later poem by Pleier, but this adventure does not appear in it. Garel and Gaherjet we find again in Book xiii. p. 96, according to Chretien they were Gawain's brothers, but Wolfram seems to regard them merely as kinsmen. (The fact that Wolfram knows only one brother, Beau-corps, whereas Chretien mentions two, if not three, seems to indicate that he was here following a different source.) ' The Perilous Ford1 we shall meet with presently; and Erec and the venture of Schoie-de-la-kurt have been alluded to in Book m. pp. 76 and 100, and Note ; and Book vin. p. 245. The allusion to Iwein is taken from Hartmann's poem of that name, which relates that in the wood Briziljan (Broceliande) there was a spring beside which hung a golden basin ; if any one drew water from the spring in this basin, and poured it upon a stone near by, a violent storm immediately arose which devastated the wood, and slew the game therein. TRADITIONAL EVENTS NOTES As soon as the tempest was over the lord of the spring appeared in full armour and demanded satisfaction for the mischief done. Iwein withstands this venture, slays the knight, and eventually, by Lunete's counsel, marries his widow. Cf. Book v. p. 143, and Book ix. p. 252. Page 50, lines 39-64 — 4 They yielded thee loyal service? etc. Mazadan, cf. Book 1. p. 31 and Book viii. 230 and Note. Ither of Gaheviess needs no further notice. Ilinot has already been alluded to, Book vn. p. 217 and Book XI. p. 43. This is the first full account given of this prince, hitherto his fate has only been alluded to ; we know nothing of this character, but it is quite evident from such passages as these, and Book vi. p. 171, that Wolfram was familiar with Arthurian romances other than those which have come down to us. Ilinot, being Arthur's son, was of course first cousin to Gawain ; the relationship with Parzival is much more distant, and, though Arthur speaks of Parzival as his 4 nephew,' the term must be taken in a much wider sense than we should now understand it ; from Wolfram's own account Parzival cannot have been more than very distantly connected with the House of Pendragon. Galoes and Gamuret, cf. Book 11. pp. 46, 52, and 59. The loves of Itonj6 and Gramoflanz occupy a considerable part of the next two books. Surdamur was Gawain's sister, and married the Emperor of Greece, Alexander ; their son was Clig^s, the hero of Chretien's poem of that name, in the early part of which the tale of their love is fully told. (Cf. Note to Book vi. 1 Sir Klias.') None of these allu- sions are to be found in Chretien, whose books, as a rule, lack introductory passages ; but, as noted in Book xi. , from the conclusion of the Lit-Merveil incident onwards the two poems diverge widely in detail, though the outline of the story is identical. Page 52, line 89 — * Arras.* A town in Picardy, famous in the Middle Ages for its stuffs. Page 52, line 97 — 'A shining pillar.' This magic pillar, of which a full account is given further on (lines 109 and 143), is peculiar to Wolfram's version. In Chretien we have simply a watch-tower, from the windows of which Gawain can see the country. Later on we find the deadly fight between Parzival and Feirefis mirrored on this pillar, and the news of the encounter conveyed to Arthur's court before the arrival of the heroes. Page 52, line 98 — 4 The coffin of /Camilla.' Cf. Book x. p. 4 and Note. Heinrich von Veldeck gives a minute account of this coffin. Page 52, line 101— 4 Master Geometras.' It is curious to find geometry thus personified. The same mistake has apparently been made by Heinrich von Veldeck, who makes Geometras the designer of Kamilla's coffin. Page 53, line 119 — * Came the aged queen Arnive' According to Chretien there are two queens, mother and daughter, and a maiden, daughter to the younger queen, who is named Clarissant. Gawain's mother he does not name at all, the old queen has her original name of Yguerne. In Chretien the elder lady asks Gawain at once if he is one of King Arthur's knights, and questions him closely as to King Arthur, King Lot, and the sons of the latter ; but apparently Gawain's curiosity is in no way aroused, and he makes no attempt to learn who the ladies are, though he makes a compact with the old queen that she shall not ask his name for seven days. The account, so humorously given by Wolfram of Arnive's curiosity and unavailing attempts to discover Gawain's identity, is lacking in the French poet. It is difficult to understand how it is that Gawain has no suspicion of the real facts of the case till enlightened by Gramoflanz, but, as remarked above, the whole episode is mysterious and perplexing. Page 54, line 174 — 4 The Turkowit* This seems to be the name for a lightly-armed soldier, an archer. This particular knight, we learn later, was captain of Orgeluse's night-watch, or body-guard ; his name was Florand of Itolac ; and he subsequently marries Sangive, Gawain's mother. VOL. II. O PARZIVAL Page 58, line 282 — 4 Tamris and Prisein.' Tamris— Tamarisk, has been mentioned in Book viii. (p. 242 and Note). Prisein has not been identified, Bartsch suggests Proven9al Bresil. Page 58, 294 — * The Perilous Ford' Wolfram's expression here is ' Ligweiz prelljus,' evidently the French 4 Li guex perelleus' Chretien's description of the episode is much the same, but he represents Gawain as being well acquainted with the character of this venture, and of the fame that will accrue to the knight who achieves it. In the French poem there does not appear to be one tree in especial guarded by Guiromelans, but Gawain is bidden 4 Quellir de ces flours que veis, A ces arbres et a ces pris.' Page 60, line 332 — 4 King Gramojlanz' This character has been already referred to in Book ix. p. 258. In Chretien he is called Le Guiromelans, and Wolfram's name for him is undoubtedly derived from some such original (cf. Appendix B, vol. i. ). The account of his meeting with Gawain differs in many respects in the French version ; there his quarrel with Gawain seems to be much more of a personal matter, not only has King Lot slain his father, as here, but Gawain himself has slain seven of his kinsmen. Chretien's description of the king's dress and appearance is far less gorgeous than is Wolfram's. Page 60, line 340 — 4 Sinzester.' Bartsch suggests that Winchester is here meant. In Book vi. we find Kondrie wearing a hat with plumes of 4 the English peacock.' Page 60, line 353 — * Eidegast.' Cf. Book 11. p. 39 and Note on 4 The Tourney.' In Chretien Orgeluse's lover is not named but he has been slain by Guiromelans, and, as here, it is her desire for vengeance that has led her to urge Gawain to the venture ; but in the French poem Orgeluse is a much less imposing personage, and her attempts at vengeance are of a less organised character. Page 61, line 374 — 4 Yet alas / I have ne'er beheld her.' Such instances of a knight vowing himself to the service of a lady whom he had never seen were by no means rare in mediaeval times. (Cf. the well-known story of Rudel and the Lady of Tripoli.) In Chretien, also, Guiromelans is the lover of Gawain's sister, whose name there is Clarissant. In the French poem Guiromelans gives a full history of all the queens, here he only states the identity of Itonje\ and Gawain apparently takes the rest for granted. Page 62, line 419— 4 Lover.' This name has been mentioned in Book iv. p. 121. The derivation is uncertain, but in each instance Arthur's kingdom, as a whole, seems to be meant. The curious name 4 Bems by the Korka ' has exercised critics much ; Chretien has 'A Pentecouste est la cors le roi Artu en Orcanie,' and Korka is evidently a form of Orcanie. Some have suggested that 4 Bems bei ' is a misunderstanding of Pentecouste (couste=£<5/<?), but the derivation seems far-fetched and unsatisfactory; all that can be said with certainty is that the name points to a French source. Page 62, line 425 — ' Rosche Sabbin.' This also seems to be derived from the French ; Chretien calls the castle 4 Roche de Sanguin,' and Wolfram seems to have transferred the name to Gramoflanz' kingdom. Page 64, line 471 — 4 True as the one-horned marvel.' Cf. Book ix. p. 277, where the story of the Unicorn's love for a pure maiden is given. We learn from this passage that advantage was taken of its slumber to slay it. Page 65, line 511— ' For the winning his death.' Here we have a full explanation of the connection between Orgeluse and Anfortas. The tent given to the Lady of Logrois by Anfortas was, we learn from the Willehaltn (which abounds in allusions to the Parzival), sent to that monarch by Queen Sekundille as a love-token. Page 66, line 547 — 4 And never a man beheld me.' This account of Orgeluse's bargain with the knights who fought for her, and her relations with Parzival and Gawain, throws a most curious light on the conventionalities of the day. It is quite evident that Orgeluse Digitized by NOTES in no way transgressed against the code of manners then prevailing, she is throughout treated as a great lady, and is well received at Court. Though this is the only episode of the kind recounted, it is quite clear from Books xiv. pp. 130-131 and xvi. 173 that Orgeluse was not the only lady who had proffered her love to Parzival and been refused. (Those familiar with Wagner's Parsifal will not need to have it pointed out to them what fine dramatic use he has made of the fact that it is Anfortas' love, and the indirect cause of his wound, who thus offers herself to Parzival. With wonderful skill Wagner has combined the characters of Kondrie and Orgeluse, thereby, in some ways, assimilating Kondrie more closely to the original form of the legend. ) Page 69, line 625 — ' The Swallow' Bartsch says that this was an English harp, so called from the fact that the lower part of the frame was shaped like the fork of a swallow's tail. Page 69, line 639—* The Buhurd.' Cf. Book 11. Note on ' The Tourney.' There is no trace of this formal knightly reception in Chretien, — there the old queen receives them seated outside the castle, and the maidens dance and sing around them. TRADITIONAL EVENTS Feast at the Chateau Merveil ; Gawain Chretien, whose poem ends abruptly in persuades his sister to confide her love-story the middle of a line, to him. Arrival of Gawain's messenger at the Court of King Arthur. (From this point onwards there is no resemblance between Wolfram's poem and any other known Romance of the Grail-cycle. ) Page 74, line 39 — ' One lived of yore named Sarant.' Cf. note to Book 1. 'Silk of Orient.' Bartsch identifies the name of the skilful weaver with that of an Asiatic people, probably the Chinese. Thasm6 is named later on as part of Feirefis' kingdom. His battle-cry is 'Tabronit and Thasm6 ! ' ' Akraton,' cf. Book vm. p. 230. Page 75, line 66 — ' Itonji.' This is the French name 'Idonie.' In Chretien the maiden is named Clarissant, and Gawain wins her confidence in the same manner. Chre- tien's share of the Conte ends so abruptly that we cannot tell how he intended to treat her love-story ; here, it plays a considerable part in the development of the poem. Page 77, line 147 — ' Now the hour it was come.' The account of the feast here given is very interesting from the light it throws on mediaeval manners and customs. In those days it was very usual for two to eat from one plate, in fact, this was one of the rules of the Knights Templars ; the reason assigned being that one brother might care for the other, and all share alike (cf. Feast at Monsalvasch, Book v. p. 136). On great occasions the principal guests seem to have had ladies assigned to them as their table companions (cf. Book vi. p. 178). One would gather from this passage, and that in Book vi., that the lady of highest rank had the hostess for companion, thus we find Arniv6 eating with Orgeluse\ and Guinevere having a queen (probably Ekuba) for companion ; while Kunne- waare is Arthur's table-mate, as here Itonje is Gawain's. Page 78, line 180 — 4 Ne'er was it night in her presence.' Cf. Book 11. p. 48. Page 79, line 194 — ' Thuringia.' San Marte remarks on this passage that at this Digitized by PARZIVAL period music and song invariably went together, the one was necessary to the complete understanding of the other ; separately, they were unintelligible. In many instances the lyrical poems of the day were wedded to dance music, the flowing graceful rhythm of which made it an appropriate vehicle for the illustration of poetry. The Thuringian Court being the centre of the literary life of the time many of these dances would naturally originate there ; though it must not be supposed that dances without the accompaniment of song were not also known. Page 81, line 262—' Kancor, and Thebit, and Trebuchet: San Marte says that Thebit is Thabet Ben Korra, a famous Arabic physician, mathematician, and philosopher of the ninth century. Kancor is probably Kenkeh, an astronomer and physician of the same period. Trebuchet has been mentioned before. Cf. Book v. p. 144 and Note. Page 81, 279 — "Twasyet in the early morning: Chretien gives no account of the delivery of the squire's message, but simply states that he finds Arthur and his knights plunged in grief at the prolonged absence of Gawain, and then breaks off abruptly in the middle of a sentence before they have learnt of his safety. From this point onward Wol- fram's version is entirely independent of the Conte del Graal, but his poem shows no dis- location or contradiction, such as one would expect would have been the case had he been following a source that suddenly failed him ; on the contrary, there is a far more complete harmony between all the parts of Wolfram's poem than we find in any other Romance of the cycle. Page 82, lines 301-10— 4 Meljanz de Lys.' Cf. Book vin. p. 239, and Introduction to Book x. and Note. If there was no account of Gawain's intermediate adventures Wolfram is evidently anxious to make his hearers believe in the existence of such a record, by means of well-timed and appropriate allusions. The fact that the combat was to be in the presence of Meljanz de Lys is only casually mentioned in Book vin. For the allusions to Kunnewaare, Jeschute, and Ekuba cf. closing pages of Book VI. with the account of the dispersal of the company at Plimizol. The whole passage is a proof of the care with which the poem has been constructed, and the details brought into harmony with each other. Page 83, line 339—' Brought he news of some gallant venture f Cf. Book vi. p. 176 and Note. Page 87-88, lines 466-506—' His doings, Sir Knight, I to thee will tell.' This history of the magician Klingsor, as noted in Book x., is found in Wolfram only, and the indica- tions seem to point to a French source. Terre de Labur is undoubtedly a French render- ing of Terra di Lavoro, in Calabria. Kalot Enbolot is Kalota-Belota, a fortress on the south-eastern coast of Sicily, well known in the days of the Hohenstauffen. This location of Klingsor's kingdom in Southern Italy may have been introduced in order to lend a colour to his supposed relationship to Virgil, who by the twelfth century was firmly established in popular belief as a magician. The name Iblis, Bartsch refers to the Sicilian town Hybla ; Ibert may be a form of the French Guibert. It is difficult to avoid the conclusion that in the lord of the Chateau Merveil, wounded as a punishment of un- lawful love, we have a parallel to the King of Monsalvasch, whose wound is due to a similar cause. (A reference to the original German will show how close this resemblance is) ; as mentioned before, it seems to be a parallel, rather than a contrast, which Wolfram intended to draw between his two heroes. It may well be that in the original version of the story from which both Chretien's and Wolfram's poems are derived the Gawain episodes were unfinished, and that in their original form Gawain, too, was brought to the Grail Castle, but to regard them as unfinished here seems a clear misunderstanding of the meaning of the poem. We are distinctly given to understand (p. 97, line 780) that Gawain's lot in life is finally settled, the Grail Quest, which was originally in the Gawain Digitized by NOTES story, has been quietly dropped, and this adventure of the Chateau Merveil has taken its place ; an alteration which artistically can only be considered an improvement, as it clearly marks Gawain's position as secondary to Parzival. Whether the story of Klingsor was introduced for the purpose of emphasizing the parallel between Monsalvasch and Chateau Merveil it is difficult to say. Certainly, the incident of Parzival's missing the adventure of the Magic Castle, as he did that of Monsalvasch, by failing to ask the question must, as noted above, be due to this idea. With the end of this book Gawain's adventures are practically concluded ; Wolfram promptly clears the stage for the winding-up of the his- tory of his real hero, Parzival, by bringing the two knights into contact, when Gawain is naturally worsted, and takes the second place. Whether it be due to Wolfram or to his source, it is certain that the Parzival is far simpler in construction than the majority of the Grail Romances, in which the adventures of various heroes succeed each other with such bewildering rapidity and similarity of incident that it is difficult to tell who is the real hero of the tale ! Page 89, line 519 — 'A child was born of a mother' A well-known mediaeval riddle, which Wolfram might easily have derived from a German source. Page 90, line 531 — ' Of joy had I once full measure' It is somewhat curious that in Chretien Gawain eulogizes Guinevere in similar terms. It rather looks as if the original passage had been the same in both instances, though it would be difficult to tell to which queen it originally referred. Page 91, line 566 — * Maurin.' This name occurs in the Lancelot of Ulrich von Zatzik- hoven, from which it was probably borrowed. Page 92, line 601 and seq. — 'And either side had suffered.1 Garel and Gaherjet: cf. Note to Book xu. Iofreit, son of Idol : cf. Book v. p. 155 and Note. Though this character only plays an unimportant part in the poem, he is yet very frequently men- tioned, it may be that in the original French source he was more prominent. Friam is probably the same name as Urian, in Book x. Vermandois and Nevers point to a French origin. Page 94, line 658 — ' Save the tent of Eisenhart only.' Cf. Book 1. p. 16 and Note. Tents seem to have been favourite love-gifts at this time, note the Booth in Books xi. and xu. given by Anfortas to Orgeluse, and, as we know from VVillehalm, sent to that king in the first instance by Sekundille. Page 96, line 733 — * Meljanz of Lys.' How Meljanz of Lys came to be there is not explained. It is worthy of note that in Book vn. we find the King of Lirivoin fighting against Meljanz, and taken captive by Parzival ; here the men of Lirivoin are evidently on the same side. Page 97, line 763 — * The wounds of Kay had been healed' Cf. Book vi. p. 169 and Note to Book 111. Page 99, line 819 — * A knight his bridle drew ' This knight is, of course, Parzival, though how he came to be there is not explained. In the Conte del Graal Perceval does not appear on the scene for some time, and passes through a variety of wild and fantastic adventures before finally winning the Grail. The poem, as we possess it, is more than twice as long as Wolfram's. [With reference to the Klingsor and Iblis story, it is noteworthy that Chretien's first continuator relates a long story of King Carduel of Nantes and his reputed son Carados. The wife of King Carduel is beloved by a magician, Garahiet, who is in truth the father of Carados. The latter grows to manhood and goes to King Arthur's court to receive knighthood, there a stranger knight appears and offers to allow his head to be cut off provided the knight who accepts the challenge will submit to the same ordeal a year later. Carados accepts, and strikes off the head of the knight who PARZIVAL picks it up and walks oft. Returning after a year he finds Carados ready to fulfil his part of the bargain, and then acquaints him with the fact that he, and not Carduel, is in truth his father. Carados returns to the court of Carduel and tells him what he has learnt from the magician ; the king in anger imprisons his wife in a tower ; she is nevertheless still visited by her lover, whom the king eventually surprises and punishes in a manner appropriate to his crime. This story, in its outline, appears to be the basis of the Klingsor and Iblis episode, but it has been very freely handled by the compiler, and, as suggested above, not improbably altered so as to draw out the parallel between Klingsor and Anfortas. A feature of importance in this connection is that the episode of Carados and his magician father, a most famous story of the Arthurian cycle, is elsewhere invariably associated with Gawain ; e.g. in the well-known Middle-English poem of ' Sir Gawain and the Green Knight,' and it is difficult to understand why, in a part of the poem specially devoted to the adventures of this knight, the French poet should have attributed this, one of his greatest and most famous feats, to another hero. Here again we find a parallel in Irish literature ; in the ' Fled Bricrend,' Bricriu's feast, the feat by which Cuchulainn establishes his claim to be regarded as the chief Ulster hero is precisely this one ; though the French poem in making the magician the father of the hero seems to have retained an archaic trait which has disappeared from the, in point of redaction, centuries older Irish story. But from other Irish stories we know that Cuchulainn was the son of a god who is sometimes represented as carrying off the mortal mother to his fairy home, sometimes as visiting her in animal shape. The foregoing facts warrant, I think, the conclusion that Gawain originally occupied in the Brythonic hero-saga of Arthur much the same position as Cuchulainn in the Goidelic hero-saga of Conchobor, both being par excellence the adventurous hero. Both, too, it should be noted, are sister's son to the king of the cycle ; the same position being occupied by Diarmaid, the adventurous hero of the Finn or Ossianic cycle. The nature of the connection between these cycles of romantic legend cannot be dealt with here. It is sufficient to show that in the French Arthurian poems of the twelfth century (which in one form or another undoubtedly form the basis of the Parzival) we have piecings together of originally disconnected narratives about separate heroes, many of which are found in more archaic form in the stories told of the Irish hero Cuchulainn and his compeers. In the process of piecing together, adjusting to the genealogical requirements of the cycle and to the social conceptions and literary modes of the twelfth century, the early Celtic narratives suffered sadly as far as order and significance are concerned, though gaining immensely in other respects. The changes are of course greatest where such far-reaching new ideas as the symbolical representation of Christian doctrine, or the exemplification of lady-service, affect the original narrative. — Alfred Nutt.] Page 103, line 13 — 'From Monsalvasch they came, the chargers.' This fact that both

1Parzival and Gawain are riding Grail steeds is constantly insisted upon by Wolfram, and
may be intended to emphasise the parallel obviously drawn between the two heroes. It does not seem very clear why Gawain, who here has nothing to do with Monsalvasch, should ride a Grail steed ; if Wolfram took over the fact from his French source it may, perhaps, be a survival of Gawain's original connection with the Grail Castle, which, as noted above, has been dropped out of the German poem. The history of Gawain's NOTES charger has been told more than once, cf. Book vn. p. 196 and Book IX. p. 272. Parzival's horse is, of course, the one ridden by the Grail knight, cf. Book ix. p. 258. Page 104, line 38 — ' Poinzacleins.' Bartsch considers that the name of this river points to a French source, and indicates the sloping nature of its banks, the old French word for which would be aclins, Provencal aclis. Page 105, line 52 — 'Punt, the water-locked city.' Punt=pont=bridge ; German Briicke or Briigge. The name of this town is decidedly suggestive of Bruges, and considering the fact that Chretien confessedly derived his version of the story from a book given to ' him by the Count of Flanders, the frequent allusions throughout the poem to men of

1Punturtois ' should not be ignored.
Page 105, line 57— 'Count Bernard of Riviers.' A name of undoubtedly French origin. His father, Count Narant, has been mentioned in Book iv. p. 119. Uckerland is probably a misunderstanding for Outre-land. Page 105, line 74 — ' Ecidemon-woven' This is a curious passage, as we are distinctly told in Book xv. p. 136 that Ecidemon is an animal ; and as such it is named in Book ix. p. 276 among the list of poisonous serpents. As we hear in Book xv. p. 136 that Salamanders wove the robe of Feirefis it is possible that the same power was ascribed to the Ecidemon. But the passage is somewhat ambiguous, and here a country, and not an animal, may be meant. Page 107, line 127 and seq. — ' Killicrates.' This name is of distinctly Greek origin. We find in Book xv. p. 154 that he was King of Centrium (which Bartsch identifies with the land of the Centaurs), and one of the princes conquered by Feirefis. In the same list of names we find Kalomidente and Ipopotiticon ; according to Bartsch the former name is a compound of Kalamos, and signifies Reed-land ; the latter he suggests may be a variation of Hyperponticon, the land beyond the Pontus. Agatyrsjente may perhaps be the same as Assigarzionte mentioned in Book xv. p. 136, as famous for its silks. 'Akraton,' cf. Book viii. p. 230. Page 108, line 150 — 'He cast from his hand his weapon." It is worth remarking how strongly Wolfram insists on this tie of brotherhood, both of arms, as here, and of blood, as in Book xv. To fight with one closely related by friendship, or one near of kin, is in his eyes a sin against one's self, one's own personality. Other writers of the cycle do not seem to consider such a combat, provided it were not to death, in so serious a light. The etiquette connected with the naming themselves by the knights should be noted ; it was the right of the victor to demand the name of the vanquished. Here, Parzival has heard Gawain's name from the pages, and therefore makes no objection to revealing himself ; in the next Book when Feirefis asks his name he refuses to give it, the combat between them is practically undecided, and he will not admit Feirefis's right to put the question. That Feirefis names himself is an act of courtesy on his part. This unwillingness to name themselves was probably originally connected with the idea of the identity of name and person — once so universal ; to this day the superstition that it is unlucky to mention the name of a person exists among certain races, and circumlocution and nicknames are employed to avoid the necessity for disclosing the real appellation of the individual referred to. Page no, line 237 — 'In wrath spake the lips of Bene".' We have already been told in Book x. p. 24, that the Ferryman, Ben6*s father, was of knightly birth, but it seems strange to find her addressing so powerful a monarch as King Gramoflanz in such discourteous terms. As noted before, the character of Ben6 and the part she plays are peculiar to Wolfram's version, and difficult of explanation. Page 113, line 325— •F*/, Sire, when I saw thee last.1 Cf. Book VI. p. 179, and Book xv. p. 158. Nevertheless, the other knights do not seem in any way to have held Parzival 2l6 PARZIVAL as really dishonoured ; they receive and welcome him as one of their body, though he has not won the Grail, nor, so far, apparently expiated his sin in failing to put the question. Page 114, line 339 — 'He should eat without on the meadow' Cf. Book v. p. 154. Page 115, line 402 — 'Did women with wealth o'erburdened,' etc. That gifts of armour and warlike trappings were usual on the part of the lady is evident from many passages, cf. Book 11. p. 47 and Book xv. pp. 139, 147, 155. Page 117, line 460 — 'Affinamus of Clitiers.' This knight has not been named before. The same name occurs in the list of princes overcome by Feirefis, Book xv. p. 154, but it is evidently a different individual. Bartsch suggests that the name is of Greek origin, Clitiers being derived from Clitorium. Page 117, line 467 — 'Then out spake King Lot's son gaily Cf. p. no, line 225. Page 120, line 543 — ' Thy sister Surdamur.' Cf. Note to Book XII. Page 121, line 587 — 'Now greeting to whom I owe greeting.' Bartsch remarks that this love-letter and that addressed by Anflise to Gamuret, Book 11. p. 44, are specially interesting as being almost the oldest specimens of love-letters in German literature. Page 124, line 675 — 'Beau-corps.' Cf. Book vi. p. 183. From the passage on p. 114 it would seem as if Gawain had other brothers, as in most stories of the cycle he has, but Wolfram mentions none but Beau-corps. Page 129, line 830 and seq. —' Arthur gave maid Itonji' It has been suggested that here Wolfram is indulging in sly mockery at the many weddings which, as a rule, wound up the mediaeval romances. In the original tales the whole character of King Arthur and his court was far less stamped with the rigid morality we have learned to associate with them, and the somewhat indiscriminate promotion of love-affairs and marriages (cf. Book xv. p. 157) is quite in keeping with what we elsewhere read of the king. (See note to Book x. p. 204, for Mr. Nutt's remarks on the marriage of Gawain being celebrated at the Chateau Merveil, instead of at court.) Page 130, line 869 — 'But Parzival, he bethought him,' etc. It cannot be too sdrongly insisted upon that this presentment of Parzival as a married man, and absolutely faithful to his wife, is quite peculiar to Wolfram's version of the story. Whether it is entirely due to the German poet we cannot now tell, but we meet with such constant instances of Wolfram's sense of the sanctity of the marriage vow, and the superiority of lawful, over unlawful, love, it seems most probable that it is to his genius we owe this, the most beautiful feature of the story. There is nothing answering to it either in Chretien or his continuators, although in Gerbert the hero's successive failures are declared to be due to his forsaking Blanchefleur. 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 — ' Thopedissemonti,' etc. This place has not been named before, and critics have not identified it with any known name. Assigarziont6 may, as suggested in Note to Book xiv., be the same as Agatyrsjente. Thasm6 we already know, Book xm. 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 vm. 242. NOTES 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 in. 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 Sekundille' 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. 1 59, 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 vn. p. 220 and Book vm. 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 thd 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—' Pelrapdrl' seq. It is very curious that though Wolfram empha- sizes 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 PARZIVAL 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 Chretien'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— 4 Thro' fear shall I tell my name ?' Cf. Note to Book XI v. The courteous and knightly bearing of Feircfis, 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 ad- mitted 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 f 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 ill. pp. 73, 80, 87), and this is really the first indication we have that he knows himself to be also lord of Anjou. Gamuretis 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 — ' Btalzenan.' Cf. Book v. p. 147 and Note. I Page 142, line 230— 4 A s 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 J to have known that the Saracens had other gods, in Willehalm he names as such j Apollo, Mahmet, and Tervigant. Page 144, line 275 — ' When King Eisenhart's life was run.' Cf. Book I. p. 28. Page 144, line 294 — 4 Till King Ipomidon.' Cf. Book II. p.- 59. NOTES Page 146, line 353—' From Chdieau Merveil,' etc. Cf. Book xn. p. 53. Page 147, line 377 — ' Saranthasmi.' Cf. Book xm. p. 74 and note. Page 149, line 458 — ' Wizsanl.' 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.t 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 Trogodjente, Bartsch identifies as the king of the Troglodytae ; Liddamus of Agripp6 was originally Laodamus of Agrippias ; Tinodente, 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) ; AtropfagentS 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 Sercabel, here the ending bel indicates the French origin ; Villegarunz is the Prov. Villagrana ; Jovedast of Aries, a Provencal, 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 mediaeval 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 — 1 Olympia and Klauditte'.' Here again we find the names of the three queens beloved by Feirefis of distinctly classical origin : KlaudittS being a French derivation from Claudia. Sekundille" 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 xn and xiv. (cf. note to xn.) Page 156, line 664 — 4 Drianthasmi* Apparently a combination of Triande and Thasme\ cf. Book xm. 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, Malcreature, 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 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, Treverezent 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 oi the Grail conditions, the fufilment 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 Zeval is the Arabic Zuhal, Saturn ; Almustri, El-musteri, Jupiter ; Almaret, El- mirrih, Mars ; Samsi, S'ems, 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 — 1 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 for- feited through lack of humility (cf. Book IX. p. 272 and Book xvi, p. 182). Page 161, line 817 — ' From the bright eyes of Orgeluse.' Cf. Book xn. p. 65. Page 162, line 861 — ' Triant.' Cf. Book xm. p. 74. Nouriente = von ourient, i.e. Orient. Page 165, line 5, and seq. — ' Then he spake to the knights of Monsalvasch.' Those readers who are familiar with Wagner's Parsifal will see in this speech of Anfortas to the knights, and his attempt to win death for himself by shutting his eyes to the Grail, the germ of the scene in the Grail Temple in Act in. of the Drama. It will be noted that here Anfortas does not injure any one but himself by this attempt at self-destruction. Titurel is still alive, cf. p. 178. It is noteworthy that the knights still await the advent of the promised Healer ; though, as we gather from Trevrezent's speech, Book ix. p. 278, * The knight, he hath come, and hath left us,' they were aware that Parzival was he, and had failed to fulfil his mission. NOTES Page 166, line 49 — ' Teriak.' Cf. Book ix. p. 278. Ambra=Amber. Page 167, line 67, and seq. — ' Carbuncle and Balas ruby,' etc. It has before been remarked that the belief in the virtue of precious stones was very real and very general in the Middle Ages. Similar lists are given by various writers, Albertus Magnus among them ; and San Marte remarks that, if this list is compared with mediaeval writings, it will be found that the names have not been put together in a haphazard fashion, but that the special virtue ascribed to each stone has a direct bearing on Anfortas' sufferings. Jewels, in the strict sense of the term, these stones are not exclusively, e.g. we find Asbestos and Pyrites among the list ; the expression * precious stones ' was freely construed in those days. The Latin equivalent of all these names can be found in writings of the period, but it would scarcely be interesting to give a minute description and identification. Page 169, line 119 — ' And e'en as was there the custom.' Cf. Book v. p. 132. Page 169, line 130 — ' O er-long have I waited.' Anfortas' speech to Parzival is curious ; some critics have opined that he alone was not aware of the lately read Grail writing, and of Parzival's election to the Grail kingdom, and was, therefore, in doubt as to whether or not he was the destined Deliverer. But, if that were the case, how did he come not only to know Parzival's name, but to lay such stress upon it ( ' If Parzival men shall call thee, then, etc.'), i.e. 'If thou art indeed the chosen ruler of these knights, then exercise thine authority on my behalf.' We learn from Book ix. p. 271, that the name of the elect knights appeared on the Grail. If Anfortas had learnt it from Trevrezent, the only other source of information he could have had, he would have had no doubt of the identity of the promised Deliverer with the knight who had already paid an abortive visit to the Castle ; as it is, he recognises him at once, but is in doubt whether he is the * Parzival ' named by the Grail. The meaning of his speech seems to be that Anfortas was unaware how far Parzival himself was acquainted with the rdle assigned to him, and feared to transgress the Grail's commandment, and risk the promised healing by saying too much. Page 169, line 141 — 4 Now say where the Grail It lieth ?' It is remarkable that though Parzival is well aware of the nature of the question which he is to put to Anfortas, and of the happy results which will follow (p. 159), yet he fully realises that this healing can only be brought about by the blessing of God ; it is as God's Messenger, and not in his own power, that he speaks. He feels himself, and wishes the knights to regard him, merely as the instrument in God's hand ; there is no trace of self-assertion or presumption in his action, the grace of humility has been fully won. The beautiful touch in lines 155-56 seems to show that to Anfortas, also, the long ordeal issued in distinct spiritual gain. It is worth noting that, from this point onwards, Anfortas is spoken of as a knight in the prime of life, worthy to be compared in skill and prowess with his nephew, Parzival, and excelling him in physical beauty ; whereas Trevrezent, who was considerably the younger (cf. Book ix p. 275), is always spoken of as an old man. This is, of course, due to the youth-preserving powers of the Grail (cf. Book ix. p. 270), so Rdpanse-de-Schoie, who had been in the service of the Grail from her childhood, would have retained the appear- ance of a young girl, and there is nothing surprising, therefore, in Feirefis becoming enamoured of her beauty. Page 178, line 147—' By the mouth of His saint, Sylvester.' An allusion to a well- known story told of S. Sylvester ; how when he was defending Christianity against a Jew, in the presence of the Emperor Constantine, he restored to life, by the invocation of Christ, a steer which the Jew had slain by whispering the most Holy Name into its ear, but had failed to revivify by the same means. Page 170, line 168 — ' The wood where they fought of old. ,' Cf. Book VI. p. 160 and seq. This reunion of Parzival and Kondwiramur on the very spot where he had been over- ■JJ. PARZIVAL a passage prophesying that of Perceval's race shall spring the 'Swan-knight and the Deliverer of the Holy Sepulchre.' This passage, together with the fact that Wolfram connects Lohengrin wtih Brabant, seems to indicate that the German poet was not the first to connect the legend of the Swan-knight with that of the Grail, but found the story in his French source ; though he certainly gives the earliest version of the legend in the shape in which, through Wagner's Lohengrin, it is familiar to us to-day. A more prolonged and elaborate account of Lohengrin's adventures is given in Der jungere Titurel already referred to ; here the lady is the Duchess of Lizaborye, and the catastrophe is brought about by the advice of a treacherous maid, who persuades the Duchess that if she cuts off, roasts, and eats a portion of her husband's flesh, he will be unable to leave her. In pursuance of this intention, armed knights break into Lohengrin's chamber at night, and in th# struggle with them, though overcoming his assailants, he is himself slain. The unhappy wife dies of grief, and the name of the country is changed from Lizaborye to Lothringen (Lorraine) in memory of Lohengrin. (Those familiar with the Wagner Drama will note the skill with which Wagner has combined these two versions of the legend. ) In the forbidden question we probably have a surviving testimony to the originally divine nature of the hero ; it is a well-known feature of such legends that a mortal wife wedded to a divine husband may not inquire too closely into that husband's nature, e.g. thev myths of Jupiter and Semele, and of Eros and Psyche. The question therefore probably belongs to the original form of the story, and the passage on p. 182 is merely, as suggested above, an ingenious attempt to explain a feature which puzzled the later compilers. Page 186, line 661—' Here Herr Erec should speak.1 An allusion to Hartmann's Erec, so often referred to. The hero forbids his wife to speak to him, she breaks the silence in order to warn him of an impending danger, and is punished by him for so doing. Page 186, line 663 — ' If ChrUien of Troyes,' etc. Here for the first time Wolfram gives us clearly to understand that he knew Chretien's Grail poem, but deliberately preferred to follow Kiot's version, to which he has made frequent allusions. If Wolfram's statement is to be accepted as it stands, we must perforce conclude that both the first two books and the last three (of which Chretien has no trace) were in Kiot's poem, 4 To the end, the Provencal told it.' Certainly Wolfram himself does not wish us to consider that any part of the tale was due to his own invention, but rather that he was throughout faithfully adhering to lines already laid down. The question of the connection between Chretien and Wolfram will be found fully discussed in Excursus B. FINIS II Printed by T. and A. Constable, Printers to Her Majesty at the Edinburgh University Press Digitized by Googk / Digitized by Googk

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