Family Tree of Parzival, according to Wolfram von
Eschenbach. Wagner omitted a generation, making Amfortas the son of Titurel, and
did not given any hint that Herzeleide -- and therefore also her son Parsifal -- were
members of the Grail family.
-
Keeper of the Grail, Fisher King. In Wagner's music-drama he is the son of Titurel. In Act 1 of the music-drama Wagner makes a pun on the word
Amt, server, and the name Amfortas. Wagner described the suffering
Amfortas as
my third-act Tristan inconceivably
intensified (letter to Mathilde Wesendonk, 30 May 1859).
Amfortas is Wagner's version of the Fisher King, also
called the Wounded King or the Grail King, of the medieval Grail romances. In Wolfram's Parzival
he was called Anfortas.
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Disciple of the Buddha Shakyamuni. In Wagner's unfinished
music-drama Die Sieger, the love of Prakriti for
Ananda is a central element of the story.
-
In Wolfram's poem, the Grail King Anfortas is the
grandson of Titurel, brother of Herzeloyde and therefore maternal uncle to Parzival. The name has been derived from the Latin,
infirmitas and also from the Old French, enfertez, both words
meaning infirmity.
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The missionary who converts Josaphat to Christianity in the
early medieval tale of Barlaam and Josaphat. Later
Barlaam becomes a hermit living by a spring in the desert. After long wandering,
his convert finds the old man again. Barlaam was probably an important element in
Wagner's development of his character Gurnemanz.
-
In Wolfram's poem, a magician who traps knights in his
marvellous Castle of Maidens. The most obvious basis for Wagner's Klingsor, although Wagner did not take much more than a name from
Wolfram's character. See also: Márá, Theodas.
-
Condrie or Cundrie or Kundrie
In Wolfram's poem, the Loathly
Damsel is called Condrie. There is also a sweet Cundrie, sister of Gawain, who is one of the maidens imprisoned by Clinschor and released by her brother. One element of Wagner's Kundry.
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In Wolfram's poem, the wife of Parzival and mother of
Loherangrin and Kardeiz. She is the cousin of Sigune, and
therefore somehow related to the family of Grail kings, and the maternal niece of
Gurnemanz. Although Condwiramurs does not often appear
directly in Wolfram's poem, Parzival's fidelity to her is a continuing theme of the
poem. Her name has been derived from the Old French conduire amours, "to
guide love".
-
In Wolfram's poem, the son of Titurel and father of
Anfortas, Herzeloyde, Repanse de Schoye, Schoysiane and Trevrizent. Wagner
simplified the family tree by making Anfortas the son of Titurel.
-
In both Wolfram and Wagner, the father of the eponymous
hero, who dies
in far Arabian land without having seen his new- born
son.
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In the first act, Amfortas asks about the knight Gawan, more usually "Gawain". It
is not clear whether Gawan has joined the Grail knights, or whether he has found
and followed the path to the Grail domain but failed in the Quest. Wagner had no
use for Gawan, unlike Wolfram, who contrasted the two
heroes.
-
Gawain is generally said to be the nephew of Arthur. His parents are Lot of Orkney
and Morgause (though his mother is said by Geoffrey of Monmouth to be Anna ). Upon
the death of Lot, he becomes the head of the Orkney clan, which includes in many
sources his brothers Aggravain, Gaheris, and Gareth, and his half-brother Mordred.
Gawain figures prominently in many romances. In the French romances he is generally
presented as one who has adventures paralleling in diptych fashion but not
overshadowing the hero's, whether that hero be Lancelot or Perceval. In the English
tradition, however, it is much more common for Gawain to be the principal hero and
the exemplar of courtesy and chivalry, as he is in Sir Gawain and the Green
Knight and the other Arthurian romances of the Alliterative Revival. In
Malory's Morte d'Arthur, however, he has a role similar to that in the
French romances, in that Lancelot is the principal hero. Loomis has pointed out
that there are multiple references to Gawain as a healer in the
Dutch Lancelot and that in Chrétien's
Perceval appear the lines:
Right: Gawain meets a wounded knight in this painting from Ludwig's castle of Neuschwanstein.
Of wounds and healing lore
Did Sir Gawain know more
Than any man alive.
To make the sick knight thrive,
A herb to cure all pain
That in a hedge had lain
He spied, and thence he plucked it.
The attentive reader will have made the connection to the first scene of Wagner's
drama. Gawain is singular (at least in the Arthurian tradition) as a knight who is
also a physician. Tolkien fans might note this and other similarities between
Gawain and Aragorn.
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In Act 2 of Wagner's music-drama, one of the names by which Klingsor addresses Kundry. Cosima's diary
relates,
... at lunch he tells me: "She will be called Gundrygia (sic), the
weaver of war", but then he decides to keep to Kundry [14 March 1877]. Although
it has been speculated that the name was that of a Valkyrie, the author has not
been able to find the name Gundrygia or Gundryggia in any of the Old Norse sources,
which contain many Valkyrie names. There is, however, a striking resemblance to the
name Gunn (meaning strife or battle), one of Odin's principal Valkyries, and this
might have been the inspiration for Wagner to transform Kundry into Gundryggia. In conjunction with the name Herodias, a reference to Gunn who rides with Odin in the Wild
Hunt would reinforce the connection between Kundry and
Herodias, the Princess of Judea, who in Heinrich Heine's Atta Troll also joins the Wild Hunt.
-
The spelling used by Wagner in his prose draft for the character he later called Gurnemanz.
-
Wagner's first act narrator is most obviously based on a character in Wolfram's Parzival. Gurnemanz de Graharz is Parzival's first tutor and the maternal uncle of Condwiramurs. Parzival has grown up
without knowing his father and in the company of women and girls. In the poem
Gurnemanz becomes a kind of father-figure to young Parzival. Some of this relationship is detectable in Wagner's very
compressed encounter between Parsifal and Gurnemanz, who
has now become a senior knight of the Grail order. Gurnemanz is also Wagner's third
act hermit, but here it was another character in Parzival
who was a model. This is the hermit Trevrizent whom Parzival met on Good Friday. Wolfram makes him the brother to
Anfortas and Herzeloyde and
therefore a maternal uncle of the young man.
Gurnemanz might also be identified with the hermit Barlaam
who converts Josaphat to Christianity in the medieval
religious tale of Barlaam and Josaphat. Like Gurnemanz,
Barlaam appears early in the story but he loses touch with
his convert and becomes a hermit. At the end of the story Josaphat wanders for two years in the desert in search of Barlaam before he finds the old man again. This is actually closer
to Wagner's story in that Josaphat searches for the hermit
Barlaam, while Parzival apparently
stumbles upon the hermit Trevrizent while seeking the way
to Amfortas.
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A Welsh hero (the hawk of May) who appears in the Mabinogion. In the tale
of Peredur we meet Gwalchmai son of Gwyar where Chrétien (in his Perceval) presents Gawain. Therefore it has been traditional to identify Gwalchmai with
Gawain, even to the extent of regarding Gwalchmai as the
Welsh original of the character who became Gawain in the
medieval romances.
-
In Act 2 of Wagner's music-drama, one of the names by which Klingsor addresses Kundry. This might have
been her original name. Herodias (as described by Eugène Sue in his novel,
Le juif errant of 1844) is the female equivalent of Ahasuerus, the Wandering Jew. Heine's Herodias, in his poem Atta
Troll of 1841, corresponds either to Wilde's Salome or to her mother Herodias.
Left: Gamuret and Herzeloyde in this painting from Ludwig's castle of Neuschwanstein.
-
In Wagner's music-drama, the mother of Parsifal. Like Tristan, her son is the
innocent cause of his mother's death.
-
In Wolfram's poem, the sister of Anfortas and mother of Parzival.
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From the Greek Ιωασαϕ.
The hero of the medieval story of Barlaam and Josaphat,
which, although it has been ignored by most commentators on Wagner's drama, is
after Wolfram's Parzival the most important medieval source used by Wagner
in the development of his Parsifal. Although most widely circulated in
Greek, Barlaam and Josaphat has been found in medieval
translations into sixty different languages. Wagner's copy (now at Haus Wahnfried)
was a modern edition of the German translation made by Rudolf von Ems in the early
14th century.
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In Wagner's music-drama, the magician who had once tried to gain acceptance as a
Knight of the Grail. Unable to remain chaste, Klingsor castrated himself and was rejected by Titurel. Since that time, he has desired both the Spear and the
Grail. Wagner described Klingsor as the embodiment of
a peculiar quality that
Christianity brought into the world (not, as the sentence is mistranslated in
Gutman's notorious biography of Wagner, a characteristic evil ). Although
Wagner took and modified the name of the sorcerer from Wolfram's Clinschor, Klingsor appears to perform the same function in the
story of Parsifal as did the sorcerer Theodas in
the story of Josaphat. In both cases the sorcerer
attempts to turn the spiritual hero from his path by sending to him a beautiful
seductress who promises to allow her soul to be saved on condition that the hero
spends with her a night of passion. It is possible that another model for Klingsor
was the demon Bertram in Meyerbeer's Robert le
diable.
Right: Klingsor and Kundry, by Fantin-Latour.
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In Wagner's music-drama, the High Messenger of the Grail, who reveals to Parsifal
his name and tells him of the death of his mother. In the domain of the Grail,
Kundry is a strange, wild woman who often is found sleeping in the undergrowth.
When she awakes, she serves the Knights of the Grail, not least in seeking a cure
for Amfortas. Then she mysteriously disappears. On the other side of the mountains,
in the domain of Klingsor, Kundry is transformed into a
beautiful maiden who seduces Knights of the Grail, enabling Klingsor to capture and destroy them. As a result of an ancient
curse, she is trapped in an eternal cycle of rebirth. Her
name suggests a messenger, since Kunde means "news".
There is little resemblance between Wagner's Kundry and Wolfram's Condrie. There is something of Condrie in Wagner's creation, but
there are also elements of at least two other female characters from Wolfram's
poem: Sigune and Orgeluse. More
importantly, Kundry was blended from both Herodias and Prakriti.
Wagner's first act Kundry appears to be a blend of Wolfram's Condrie (the messenger who is also a heathen sorceress) and Sigune (the cousin who tells Parzival about himself and about the
death of his mother). The Kundry of the second act is partly Herodias, partly Wolfram's Orgeluse (the
haughty lady who caused the wounding of Anfortas) and (when
transformed by the power of the sorcerer) the beautiful, nameless princess who
attempted to seduce Josaphat. Wagner's third act Kundry
is primarily Wagner's own creation, a penitent Magdalen. She might also be
identified with the Prakriti of Die
Sieger, whom Wagner intended to present as the first woman to be admitted to
the Buddha's community. In fact the last words that Wagner wrote dealt with this
very subject.
-
In Wolfram's poem, the Swan Knight, son of Parzival and
Condwiramurs. Wagner chose a variant of the name for his opera,
Lohengrin.
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Probably the most important single literary source for Wagner's character Klingsor. Mára appears in Buddhist literature as the Lord of
Death or the Lord of Illusion, who attempted to prevent the enlightenment of the Buddha Shakyamuni. In these
scriptures he is invariably a symbol of evil, sin, desire and temptation. His
domain is one of sensuous pleasure. In Sanskrit texts he is a deva, lord
of desire and lust, and appropriately his daughters are named Rati (lust or
attachment), Arati (aversion, discontent or unrest) and Trsná (craving, desire
or thirst). These are the three daughters who are sent to seduce Shakyamuni as he approaches total enlightenment.
-
The mountain, hidden in a forest, on which resides the castle of the Grail. In Wolfram's poem, the mountain is called
Munsalvæsche, or the savage mountain. This might be derived
from Montsegur, the last refuge of the Albigensians or
Cathars of southwestern France. The castle fell to the crusaders in the spring
of 1244.
-
In Wolfram's poem, the haughty lady, who is loved by
Anfortas. One of the elements of Wagner's Kundry.
Left: "Parsifal in Quest of the Holy Grail" by Ferdinand Leeke (1859-1925).
-
The spelling of the hero's name that Wagner finally adopted, taken from a dubious
etymology by Joseph Görres, in his 1813 edition of Lohengrin. It was
claimed that
fal parsi was Arabic for
pure fool, and "Parsifal" was derived as an anagram of this phrase.
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The hero of Wolfram's poem.
-
The hero of Chrétien's poem and its
continuations.
-
The hero of a story in the Mabinogion, who appears to be a derivative of
the Celtic original (or equivalent) of Perceval and Parzival. Wagner found the story Peredur Son of Evrawc in Comte de Villemarque's Contes
populaires des anciens Bretons. Peredur of the long lance was an ancient
traditional hero of the Old North, whose name is found in the
Gododdin together with that of Gwalchmai. With
Owein and Geraint ab Erbin this tale is known as one of the Three
Romances in the Mabinogion. The three tales are united in their similarity
of style and subject-matter: the names of the protagonists in all three have close
parallels in those of their counterparts in the corresponding poems of Chrétien de Troyes - Perceval li Gallois,
Yvain, Erec et Enide. In the Welsh version, Peredur's story
contains within it the germ of the Grail legend, which was developed more
explicitly by Chrétien de Troyes. See Goetinck's
Peredur: A Study of Welsh Tradition in the Grail Legends.
-
The self-sacrificing heroine of Die Sieger, Wagner's unfinished Buddhist
drama. In an earlier incarnation, Prakriti had rejected, with mocking laughter, the
love of the son of a Brahmin. Wagner wrote that the Buddha's acceptance of Prakriti
into what had been, until that time, an all-male community was
a beautiful
feature of the legend .
-
In Wolfram's poem, the Grail Bearer, sister of Anfortas.
Perhaps one of the elements of Wagner's Kundry. Her name has
been derived from the Old French, Repense de Joie.
-
In Wagner's prose draft, the name (meaning Pain-sorrow) given to Parzival's mother,
later renamed to Herzeleide (Heart's sorrow).
-
(son of the clan of Shakya). A character in Wagner's unfinished Buddhist drama Die Sieger. The historical Shakyamuni is commonly known as
the Buddha, although Buddhists refer to him as
the Buddha of the present
age . Both Wagner and Schopenhauer referred to the
Buddha by his title of the Victoriously Perfect.
-
In Wolfram's poem Parzival, a granddaughter of
Titurel and hence a cousin of Parzival. Sigune is found in another poem by Wolfram,
Titurel. One of the elements of Wagner's Kundry.
Right: Pogàny's "Titurel Bears the Sacred Spear".
-
The name of the sorcerer who sends a nameless, beautiful maiden to seduce Josaphat in the early medieval tale of Barlaam and Josaphat. Together with Mára he was probably one of the sources for Wagner's magician Klingsor.
-
In both Wolfram and Wagner, the original Winner of the
Grail and the founder of the Community of Grail Knights. Titurel was, for Wagner, a
Wotan who had attained redemption through denial of the world. His role in
Parsifal seems to be primarily a symbolic one: he represents extreme old
age in the same way that Amfortas represents extreme
sickness and intense suffering.
-
In Wolfram, Anfortas presents
Parzival with a magic sword, whose hilt is made of ruby. This sword, which Anfortas
has carried into battle many times, was forged by the smith Trebuchet. Parzival's
cousin Sigune later reveals to him that the sword will
shatter at the second blow, but that it might be repaired in the magic spring at
Karnant.
-
In Wolfram's poem, the brother of Anfortas, for whose sake he has renounced chivalry and become a
hermit. He is the second tutor to Parzival. In Wagner's music-drama, this character
is renamed Gurnemanz.
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