Parzival: A Knightly Epic (vol. 2 of 2)Wolfram, von Eschenbach
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Parzival: A Knightly Epic (vol. 2 of 2)
Wolfram, von Eschenbach
Perceval (Legendary character) -- Romances
Page 5, line 63--'_Lischois Giwellius_.' This name, again, seems to be
a misunderstanding of a French original, in Chrêtien the knight is not
named, the passage; '_li Orguelleus de la roce à l'estroite voie, qui
garde les pors de Galvoie_' in which some critics have found the origin
of the name, seems rather to refer to the knight overthrown by Gawain
in Book XII. and named Florand by Wolfram. _Here_ there is a distinct
identity between the knight now referred to and him who fights with
Gawain later (p. 20); in Chrêtien the knight who opposes Gawain is the
nephew of the wounded man, and therefore can scarcely be the guardian
of the '_bogue de Galvoie_' who overthrows him. Later on Wolfram uses a
French expression to indicate where the knight in question was wounded,
_Av estroite mâvoié_, which distinctly indicates a _ford_ rather than
a _ravine_ as in Chrêtien (translated Perilous Ford, p. 13), and the
whole incident, carefully examined, decidedly points to a French
source, _other_ than Chrêtien.
Page 5, line 74--'_Spake o'er it spells of healing_.' As all students
of folk-lore are well aware, a belief in the virtue of certain formula
of words for the healing of bodily ailments was at one time practically
universal, and indeed, in certain districts, a belief in them exists
to this day. In vol. ii. of _Grundriss der Germanischen Philologie_
(part I.), a number of such spells, collected from old German MSS. are
given; among them will be found one for checking the flow of blood, and
another for the closing of a wound.
Page 5, line 77--'_Logrois_,' French Logres. In Malory we have Logris,
which has been identified with Loegria, or Saxon Britain.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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