Wolfram von Eschenbach
Categories: 1220s deaths | German writers | Medieval literature | Knights
Wolfram von Eschenbach (died around 1220) was a German knight and poet, regarded as one of the greatest epic poets of his time. As a Minnesinger, he also wrote lyric poetry.
Little is known of Wolfram's life. From his name it can be determined he was born in Eschenbach (now called Wolframs-Eschenbach) in Bavaria, near Ansbach, and it is known that he served at a number of courts in his life. In his Parzival he claims he is illiterate and recorded the work by dictation, though the claim is still disputed by scholars.
Wolfram is best known today for his Parzival, sometimes regarded as the greatest of all German epics from that time. Based on Chrétien de Troyes' Perceval, le Conte du Graal, it is the first extant work in German to have as its subject the Holy Grail. In the poem, Wolfram expresses disdain for Chretien's (unfinished) version of the tale, and states that his source was a poet from Provence called Kyot. Some scholars believe Wolfram might have meant Guiot de Provins (though none of the latter's surviving works relate to the themes of Parzival), however others believe Kyot was simply a literary device invented by Wolfram to explain his deviations from Chrétien's version of the tale.
Parzival was the main source Richard Wagner used when writing the libretto to his opera, Parsifal. Wolfram himself appears as a character in another Wagner opera, Tannhäuser (Wagner).
Bibliography
- Otto Springer. "Wolfram's Parzival" in Arthurian Literature in the Middle Ages, Roger S. Loomis (ed.). Clarendon Press: Oxford University. 1959. ISBN 0198115881
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