Biographical information about Wolfram von Eschenbach
is hazy at best. Though the precise span
of his life is not known, he lived at the same time as
his fellow poet GOTTFRIED VON STRASSBURG, who
makes references to his competitor Wolfram in his
works.Wolfram also lived at the same time as another
famous German writer, HARTMANN VON AUE.
He was probably born in the town of Eschenbach,
in Bavaria, and achieved the rank of knighthood
at a time when the both the Catholic Church and
the German emperor were trying to consolidate
their power into more centralized, hierarchical
structures. This left a man trained for fighting, like
Wolfram, on the fringes of society. He therefore
took up writing as a career, and for most of his life
the powerful Hermann of Thuringia was his patron
and benefactor.
In his writings Wolfram sometimes refers to
himself as illiterate, meaning he could not read and
write Latin, the language of the clergy. He was,
however, fluent in French as well as his native German.
Wolfram’s poems are clearly meant for oral
performance and may have been composed orally
as well; he could have hired a scribe to record the
words for him.As a relatively impoverished nobleman,
he would not have had access to the best education
of his day, as he himself testifies. This was
in no way a disadvantage in his writing, which
shows a narrative talent that takes its strength from
the message he seeks to communicate, not academic
knowledge.
Along with his contemporaries,Wolfram lived
in a society where politics were governed by the
structure of feudalism and social codes were governed
by CHIVALRY/COURTLY LOVE, ideals that infused
the genre of the MEDIEVAL ROMANCE in which
Wolfram was writing. His early verse lyrics show
the influence of the TROUBADOURS of southern
France, and Wolfram first gained recognition for
his love songs (in German,Minnelieder).His greatest
skill was with the alba, or song of dawn, which
was highly cultivated by medieval French poets but
relatively unknown to the Middle High German
audience.
Wolfram’s longer verse narratives are difficult to
date, but his reference to his poem Parzifal (ca.
1210) in the opening to Willehalm (ca. 1217) may
indicate that Willehalm, which tells of the earlier
adventures of certain characters who appear in
Parzifal, was actually written later. Scholars argue
over whether Willehalm is complete or whether
Wolfram intended further books. Upon his death,
he left fragments of a work called Titurel, which
he most likely began composing after Parzifal but
never finished. His lieder (songs) cannot be dated
but are most likely early works.
Critical Analysis
Wolfram’s Parzifal is a complete work, which represents
an achievement over the source he was
using, The Knight of the Grail by the French romancer
CHRÉTIEN DE TROYES. Chrétien’s tale introduces
the early adventures of the hero Percival and
his quest for the HOLY GRAIL, but his tale strands the
hero far away from his chosen quest and actually
ends in the middle of the adventures of another
Arthurian knight, Gawain. Wolfram adopts the
characters of Parzifal and Gawain but completely
reimagines them, turning the original tale of
knightly battles into a deeply spiritual quest.Wolfram
also draws on the epic tone of German heroic
poetry, of which the NIBELUNGENLIED is a classic example.
Translators Marion Gibbs and Sidney Johnson,
in their introduction to Willehalm, call Parzifal
“one of the great quests of world literature, acted
out in the idealized world of the courtly romance.”
They add: “It is also a search for man’s proper relationship
to God, beginning in ignorance, and passing
through disappointment, even antagonism, to
the ultimate realization of Divine Love.”
Written in rhyming verse, Parzival describes
various episodes in the life of its hero, beginning
with his birth and his youth as a laborer living in
the forest, ignorant that he is truly a knight and
destined to become a king. The story follows his
chivalrous education and reception at Arthur’s
court, then turns to his noble deeds and failings as
an Arthurian knight.Despite the numerous digressions
and the fact that several chapters are devoted
to the life and adventures of Gawain, another
knight in King Arthur’s court, at the heart of the
novel is the story of Parzival’s quest to find the
Holy Grail and heal King Anfortas, who is also his
uncle. Parzifal initially fails at his quest because,
when he witnesses the magnificent Grail procession,
he neglects to ask the most important question:
Whom does the Grail serve?
To find the answer, he must take up a deeper
and even more challenging quest, one that takes
him to the very center of knightly ideals and moral
conduct. In Parzifal a reader can clearly see Wolfram’s
faith in the ideals of “true” knighthood and
his earnest belief that a harmonious world order
can only rest on a return to these ideals. The quality
that best describes Wolfram’s ideal life is triuwe,
or loyalty, which must underpin a knight’s relationships
with his lord and his fellow knights, his
family, wife, and children, and his relationship to
God. Parzifal, then, is less about the quest for the
earthly Grail kingdom and more about the personal
quest for understanding and devotion to the
greater spiritual laws. The depth and artistry with
which Wolfram portrays this quest make the 16
books of Parzifal one of the most astounding landmarks
of medieval literature.
In Parzifal we find the narrative technique that
most distinguishes Wolfram’s prose: his direct address
to the audience. Throughout the text, the
narrator interjects personal commentaries and
opinions into the story, which serve not only to
leaven the dramatic tension and provide comic relief
but also to give the reader insights into the
characters, action, and the author’s world vision.
Also appealing is the lively and unpredictable way
in which Wolfram relates the story. Ironic and
comic passages are juxtaposed with serious discussions
on religious and existential themes. Individual
adventure scenes are described with great
dramatic tension but also with much irony, as if
Wolfram could not take the subject matter completely
seriously. The following short passage from
the fifth book in Edwin H. Zeydel’s translation
might be considered characteristic of the work and
Wolfram’s style:
Who fain would hear where he may stray
Whom lust for deeds has lured away,
Great acts of wondrous daring
To them we shall be bearing.
The originality and mastery ofWolfram’s Parzival
lies also in its poetic sophistication.Metaphors,
similes, and hyperbole all come into play. The
work is often humorous, but it is not a comedy, as
its core is a harsh vision of the perplexing and horrifying
aspects of human existence.
Willehalm is quite different from Parzifal in
both tone and intent. The author retains his style
of the direct address, speaking conversationally to
his reader or listener. An early passage in the first
book of Willehalm reveals this characteristic style
as well as the author’s ambitions, when after modestly
pointing out his success with Parzifal, he
claims:
I shall tell of love and other grief which in
consequence
of their devotion men and women have
been suffering . . .
No tale in German tongue can easily match
this whole work
which I now have in mind. . . .
The best Frenchmen are
agreed that no sweeter poem was ever composed
in dignity
and truth. . . .They told it there: now listen
to it
here. This story is true, though it may be
amazing.
Willehalm recounts the struggles of the hero in
battle against the invading Muslim forces from the
south. In the tale,Wolfram continues with his use
of fantastical names and hazy geography meant
more to evoke exotic associations than to assume
any genuine historicity. Scenes of vivid action, such
as the battles of Alischanz, intermingle with scenes
of contemplation or tenderness, as when Wolfram
describes the love between Willehalm and Giburc.
Though a different work than Parzival,Willehalm
is imbued with no less spiritual awareness,Wolfram’s
contribution not only to his source material
but also his lesson to his listeners.
Parzival has an assured place in the canon of the
greatest Arthurian literature, next to the romances
of Sir Thomas Malory and Alfred, Lord Tennyson.
Richard Wagner turned Wolfram’s Parzival into a
famed opera, and the legend of the Holy Grail,
with Percival as one of its chief knights, continues
to inspire retellings in the forms of present-day
novels and films.
English Versions of Works by
Wolfram von Eschenbach
Parzival. Edited and translated by André Lefevere.
New York: Continuum, 1991.
Parzival. Translated by A. T. Hatto. New York: Penguin,
1980.
Willehalm. Translated by Marion E. Gibbs and Sidney
M. Johnson. New York: Penguin Books, 1984.
Works about Wolfram von Eschenbach
Poag, James F. Wolfram von Eschenbach. New York:
Twayne Publishers, 1972.
Weigand,Hermann J.Wolfram’s Parzival: Five Essays.
Edited by Ursula Hoffman. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell
University Press, 1969.