Titurel

Titurelis a fragmentaryMiddle High Germanromancewritten byWolfram von Eschenbachafter 1217. The fragments which survive indicate that the story would have served as aprequelto Wolfram's earlier work,Parzival,expanding on the stories of characters from that work and on the theme of theHoly Grail.Titurelwas continued by a later poet named Albrecht, who tied the story together in a work generally known asJüngere Titurel( "Younger Titurel" ).

History

Wolfram'sParzivalwas an adaptation of the unfinished French romancePerceval, the Story of the Grail,byChrétien de Troyes.Titurelprovides theback-storiesof Wolfram's characters, principally the wounded Grail-king Titurel and the tragic lovers Sigune and Schionatulander.Titurelwas written some time after 1217, as indicated by its mention of the death ofHermann I, Landgrave of Thuringia,which occurred that year. It survives in three fragments and in Albrecht'sJüngere Titurel.The fragments primarily deal with the love between the young knight Schionatulander and the princess Sigune, the granddaughter of Titurel and a cousin ofParzival.LikeParzivalthe poems focus on the relationship between secular and spiritual obligations.

Jüngere Titurel

Main article:Albrecht von Scharfenberg

The Albrecht who wroteJüngere Titurelis generally presumed to beAlbrecht von Scharfenberg.He completed his continuation around 1272. Albrecht synthesized the fragments into a cohesive narrative and expanded it to over 6300 lines. He adopts Wolfram's narrative persona, and due to this the work was assumed to be Wolfram's own for many years.

In Wagner

InWagner's 1882 operaParsifal,Titurel is the former leader of the Knights of the Grail, and the father ofAmfortas,the current leader. He is an aged offstage presence in Act I, and has today died in Act III.

References

• Christoph, Siegfried Richard, "Wolfram Von Eschenbach's Couples,"1981,ISBN90-6203-573-6.
• Jeep, John M., ""Medieval Germany: An Encyclopedia",2001,ISBN0-8240-7644-3.
• Wolfram von Eschenbach:Titurel. Mit der gesamten Parallelübersetzung des Jüngeren Titurel.Niemeyer, Tübingen 2006,ISBN3-484-64028-6.
• Andrea Lorenz:Der Jüngere Titurel als Wolfram-Fortsetzung. Eine Reise zum Mittelpunkt des Werkes.Lang, Frankfurt/M. 2002,ISBN3-906767-40-X.
• Thomas Neukirchen:Die ganze "aventure" und ihre "lere". Der "Jüngere Titurel" Albrechts als Kritik und Vervollkommnung des "Parzifal" Wolfram von Eschenbachs.Winter, Heidelberg 2006,ISBN3-8253-5231-5.
• Sager, Alexander.Minne von mæren: on Wolfram's "Titurel."Göttingen: V&R, 2006.