BOOK III

The first two books of this poem are peculiar to Wolfram. Among the different versions of the Perceval legend which we possess there is a curious diversity of statement as to the parentage of the hero; though, as a rule, they agree in the main facts of the death of his father, either before, or shortly after, Perceval's birth, and his being brought up in the desert by his widowed mother.

With the Third Book we find ourselves on ground common to most transcribers of the legend; and in this and the following books a table of the traditional events contained in the book, with the other versions of the story in which they occur, will be given. The following are the Romances of the Grail-cycle which deal more particularly with the Perceval legend.--

_Li Conte del Graal_, poem by Chrêtien de Troyes; left unfinished at Chrêtien's death; it was continued by three other writers; the poem as we have it, is the work of at least four different hands.

_Peredur_: Welsh tale found in the Red Book of Hergest.

_Perceval_: A French prose romance, ascribed by many critics to Robert de Borron.

_Sir Percyvelle of Galles_: English metrical romance--author unknown.

_Perceval li Gallois_: French prose romance, also by an unknown writer.

TRADITIONAL EVENTS

The son of a widowed mother; Chrêtien: Peredur; Sir Percyvelle. Brought up in the desert; Meeting with knights and departure for Arthur's court.

Meeting with Jeschuté. 'The Lady _Ibid._ of the Tent.'

Meeting with Siguné. In this place only in _Perceval_, later meeting in the other versions.

Arrives at Arthur's court and All the versions. demands knighthood.

Meeting with the Red Knight; slays Chrêtien: Peredur, and Sir him; and takes his armour. Percyvelle closely agree as to the meeting. All agree as to the wearing of the red armour. In Perceval, alone, hero does not kill the knight who originally owns it.

Laughter of Kunnewaaré; speech of Chrêtien: maiden and fool; Antanor and their smiting by Kay. Peredur; dwarf and companion.

Arrival at castle of old knight, Chrêtien: Sir Percyvelle. who counsels hero.

(It will be found that, from Books III. to XIII. inclusive, there is a very close parallelism between Wolfram's poem and Chrêtien's share of _Li Conte del Graal_.)

Introduction, lines 1-45. This introduction, like that to Book I., appears to have been written _after_ the completion of the poem, and to have been intended by the poet as a defence of his attitude towards women; certainly the lines 12-15 presuppose certain statements which had aroused the wrath of the lady hearers of the poet. The whole passage is interesting on account of its strongly personal character. In Book VI. Wolfram refers more than once to the lady who has wronged him (pp. 163, 166, 191), and in terms that show, as here, that he bitterly resented her treatment. The line 'Born was I unto the bearing of knightly shield and spear,' is the only definite statement as to the poet's rank in life which we possess, and in the light of his lasting fame as a poet it is curious to find him holding his gift of song as of less account than his knightly deeds, which do not seem to have been more remarkable than those of his fellows.

From Book IV. p. 122, we learn that Wolfram was married, and, from the concluding lines of Books VI. and XVI., it is clear that the _Parzival_ was composed with a view to winning, or retaining, the favour of a lady, but the only direct personal allusion throughout the entire poem is that to the Margravine of Heitstein in Book VIII. p. 232, and the passage is too vague to allow of our identifying the lady named either with Wolfram's faithless love, or with her for whose sake he composed his poem; certainly the Margravine was not his wife.

Page 67, line 61--'_Soltanè's strand_.' This is one of the many instances in the poem in which an adjective has been taken as a proper name. In the French source it was undoubtedly an adjective meaning 'solitary,' 'waste.' In Chrêtien we find _la gaste forest soltaine_; other versions speak of the woods, or the desert, none but this gives a proper name.

Page 69, line 158--'_Ulterleg's Count_.' _Oultre-lac_, 'beyond the lake,' cf. Louis D'outremer. This is again an instance of a qualifying term used as a proper name.

Page 72, line 220--'_Meljakanz_.' This exploit is quite in keeping with the character of the knight, cf. Book VII. p. 198. In Malory we meet with the same character, as Sir Meliagraunce; and the story of his abduction of Guinevere, and her rescue by Launcelot is there given in full.

Page 72, line 240--'_For some cunning wile of woman_.' It is curious to note that nothing comes of these elaborate precautions on the part of Herzeleide. Parzival's fool's dress seems to excite very little attention, nothing is said of it on his appearance at Arthur's court, nor do we hear of any one mocking him for it. The effect produced by his personal beauty is much more strongly insisted upon. There is also a decided discrepancy between the mother's anxiety to keep her son from danger and her suggestions to him to avenge the wrong Lähelein has done him.

Page 73, line 267--'_Lähelein_,' Cf. Appendix A, and remarks on this character. Heinzel suggests that Lähelein=Llewellwyn, a prince of South Wales who conquered North Wales in 1015. But if a parallel between the boyhood of Parzival and that of Henry Fitz-Empress be intended, as seems probable, the Welsh connection is of too early a date. The remarks in Heinzel's pamphlet, 'Ueber Wolfram von Eschenbach's _Parzival_,' as to Lähelein being undoubtedly an historical personage, are worthy of note. It is remarkable that we find no equivalent to this character in other versions of the story.

Page 74, line 287--'_Briziljan's wood_.' Most probably Broceliande, where so many of the adventures of King Arthur and his knights take place. Undoubtedly this wood was in Brittany, but the localities in the poem are much confused.

Page 74, line 297--'_Duke Orilus of Lalande_.' This name is again a misconception of a French original, '_Li Orgueillous de-la-lande_,' which Wolfram has taken as a proper name. In other versions the lady is unnamed. (It may be noted that Wolfram almost invariably names his characters; and often goes to some trouble to connect them with each other, and the main thread of his story. This tendency to account for everything, _sum motiviren_, is a marked feature in Wolfram's writings.)

Page 76, line 365--'_Thy brother, King Lac's son Erec_.' An allusion to the Erec of Hartmann von Aue (founded upon Chrêtien's Erec and dealing with the same subject as found in the Welsh tale of _Geraint_ and the late Laureate's Enid) where the tournament at Prurein is described.

Page 77, line 374--'_Proud Galoes_.' The slaying alike of Parzival's uncle Galoes, and of his kinsman Schionatulander (p. 80) by Orilus, Lähelein's brother, is also peculiar to Wolfram, but it is curious that the _Rache-motif_ thus introduced is not followed up, and when Parzival overthrows Orilus it is to avenge the shaming of Jeschuté, nor, though Orilus mentions his brother as having won _two_ kingdoms,