Michaela Kotziers

on translating Wolfram von Eschenbach

Completed around 1210 and now regarded as one of the great German epics of its time, Parzival was introduced to a German audience that had already read about Arthurian romance and chivalry. But Parzival is a somewhat alternative knight. This translation is roughly a third of a longer, researched piece that I adapted from Book III of Parzival. My research drew from the conversation between Parzival and his mother, Herzeloyde, which introduces von Eschenbach’s interest in Parzival’s humanity and the place of religion in his story, both of which set Parzival apart from the standard courtly ideals and characters of Arthuriana. Throughout the narrative, Parzival returns to his childhood questions about his own relationship both to God and the rest of humanity. Upon her husband Gahmuret’s death in battle, Herzeloyde decides to move with Parzival and their servants to the forest, in order to shield Parzival from knighthood; no one is allowed to speak the word “knight” or mention King Arthur. My translation is written in von Eschenbach’s style of rhyming couplets, but I chose to adapt this section from a third-person narrative to Herzeloyde’s first person perspective as a way of exploring the character transformations of both Herzeloyde and Parzival. I took license with the reordering of translated lines and emphasis on certain narrative aspects as a means of staying true to the new Herzeloyde perspective.