Product Description

Composed in the early thirteenth century, Wolfram von Eschenbach’s Parzival is the re-creation and completion of the story left unfinished by its initiator Chrétien de Troyes. It follows Parzival from his boyhood and career as a knight in the court of King Arthur to his ultimate achievement as King of the Temple of the Grail, which Wolfram describes as a life-giving Stone. As a knight serving the German nobility in the imperial Hohenstauffen period, the author was uniquely placed to describe the zest and colour of his hero’s world, with dazzling depictions of courtly luxury, jousting and adventure. Yet this is not simply a tale of chivalry, but an epic quest for spiritual education, as Parzival must conquer his ignorance and pride and learn humility before he can finally win the Holy Grail.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #42032 in Books
• Published on: 2004-08-26
• Original language: German
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 448 pages

About the Author
Wolfram von Eschenbach was the greatest of the medieval German poets. Very little is known about his life, but it is generally accepted that he belonged to a Bavarian family of lower nobility. He probably died between 1220 and 1230. A.T. Hatto has translated Tristan and The Nibelungenlied for Penguin Classics.

Customer Reviews

One of the basics of german literature
Wolfram von Eschenbach's Parzival may seem a bit long at first, but is definitly worth the read. And unlike many tales of this length, it doesn't get boring either, as always new events take place. THis may be an easier step into higher literature as a lot of others, and still, "Parzival" in it's whole, is one of the most in-depth works ever.

Beneath the medieval skin
Hatto gives his usual accurate, precise and elegant English prose rendering of this classic German epic poem of the early 13th century.

Wolfram's Parzival is a more coherent and well-structured narrative than the Niebelungenlied, and is more courtly and refined than the Icelandic sagas of the same era. It is a lively, colourful insight into 13th century European culture. This, along with its place in the evolution of the Arthurian and Grail legends, is its main source of interest to modern readers.

Wolfram is particularly knowledgeable about military affairs and you can learn a lot from this story about what it was like (or supposed to be like) to be a knight at the time.

The Grail of this story is a stone. In Chretien's earlier story, on which Wolfram's is based, the Grail was a bowl. In other stories, it doubles as the cup used by Jesus at the Last Supper and the vessel used to catch the dripping blood at the crucifixion. In our own time it has served as a boon to conspiracy theorists and an excuse to cast Sean Connery in an Indiana Jones movie. Next...well, who knows what's next?

Parzival combines folk traditions - the Grail's power of providing unlimited food and drink is a favorite folk motif, most famously with the magic porridge pot - with knightly adventure, and adds a dash of mysticism. It is no more than a dash, and I think subsequent commentators have read too much into this aspect. Certainly it is a coming-of-age story and a tale of redemption, but the spiritual edifice that has since been built around it seems to me a bit of a stretch. At the time of writing this review, youth counsellors in Britain are using Parzival as an allegory to teach the true meaning of manhood. Good luck to them.

Although Parzival does not have the continuity errors of the Niebelungenlied, individual sentences are sometimes mangled beyond comprehension. Presumably they sounded more acceptable when recited as poetry. Hatto wisely avoids the temptation to tidy these passages up and translates them warts and all.

History books can only take us so far in an understanding of a previous age. To get beneath the skin, to understand the anxieties, hopes, prejudices and beliefs of the people who lived then, we must share the stories that they told. In Parzival, we see how medieval man related to his own masculinity, his fellow man, his womenfolk and his god.

Open your heart to this tale and find the grail within you
For those who miss the keys to unlock this esoteric tale it is just a story.If you can find the keys to unlock that which is hidden it is
much more than that.The search for the grail is an inner journey first.The fruits of this inner journey may manifest to the outside world as great (esoteric) art and therefore the one who wrote it we can recognize as a traveller on the path of inner freedom.Wolfram von Eschenbach is part of a tradition that is true to certain principles wich
are esoteric and in times of persecution and oppression by the roman catholic church these principles where passed on in songs and stories.
As the grail is not a cup that is handy to drink from but and ever overflowing cup that gives and gives, one must ask the right question as Parzival
had to learn in this tale.Many great thing may be achieved when one has once had and lost.We all have something.Something that makes us human,but lost it.Find it back in this ancient tale.