Die Jagd im PARZIVAL Wolframs von Eschenbach. Stellenkommentar und Untersuchungen.

The attentive reader of Wolfram von Eschenbach´s PARZIVAL will soon notice, that the author repeatedly describes hunting scenes and draws his pictures and metaphors from the range of the hunt and especially the falconry. In doing this he could count upon the knowledge of his noble audience concerning proceedings, techniques and technical terms as well as upon the appreciation and pleasure they showed for this pastime. This world may be rather unfamiliar to the modern reader and so the need for this commentary (which is limited not by the passage of the text but by the thematic material) is quite obvious. The commentary is preceded by a historical survey, covering a period from the reign of the first Merovingians up to the year 1200 which shows the development of the hunting rights and their achievement and protection by emperors, kings and noble hunters. A continuous commentary explains hunting scenes, pictures and allusions. Text passages which require no commentary are retold in a concentrated form. In this way the commentated passages are not torn from their textual coherence, they can be classified and the understanding of the text is facilitated. The three following studies covering the subjects ‘sovereignty and criticism of sovereigns’, ‘courtly education’ and ‘courtly love’ (most hunting scenes in Wolfram’s work are related to these spheres) show how Wolfram handles these coherences. An example is the young King Vergulaht whose lacking kingly authority is connected with his thoughtless behaviour as a falconer and thereby criticized. Parzival’s uncourtly education which is in strong contrast with his kingly birth shows itself in the primitive manner in which he stalks the stag. This too is exactly the opposite to the refined french manner of hunting which the young Tristan demonstrates before the amazed court of King Marke of Cornwall. The sparrowhawk is the attribute of the ‘Minneritter’ Gramoflanz who is utterly determined, despite the love for his lady Itonje, to kill her brother Gawan. These studies complement the commentary and expand it, contemporary ideas of the ideal sovereign (including praise and criticism of the hunt), courtly education and courtly love are joined. The expositions of mediaeval authors (e.g. John of Salisbury, Emperor Frederick II., Gaston III. Count of Foix) about the advantages and disadvantages of the hunt give additional information and further background knowledge. An appendix with illustrations visualizes the explanations given in the commentary, an index gives quick access to the commentary.