In the realm of the silver lion IV

In the realm of the silver lion IV is a travel story by Karl May . The book was published in autumn 1903 as volume 29 of Karl May's collected travel stories and is part of the tetralogy Im Reiche des Silber Löwen . It belongs to May's late work .

In 1912 an illustrated edition was published with pictures by Claus Bergen .

content

Volume IV of the Silver Lion , which begins with the resettlement of Kara Ben Nemsi , who is recovering more and more quickly, into the Ustad apartments, is initially all about the progressive spiritual transformation of the Ustad / Kara Ben Nemsi double; long conversations about love, "shadows" and light reach a first climax when the Ustad asks Kara Ben Nemsi to hand over his weapons to him; he parted with them just as readily as he gave up his old names of honor. Bimbashi's missing father-in-law is recognized in a traveling merchant.

The blood avenger Ghulam is captured by Kara Ben Halef when he sneaks to the bed where he thinks Kara Ben Nemsi is. In the clothes of the Multasim, Tifl discovers a cipher alphabet of the Sillan, with which the letter from Basra is deciphered as a message from the mysterious Aemir-i-Sillan, the Lord of Shadows, to his executioner Ghulam: The murder of Jafar Mirza, who was commissioned by the Shah's journey is set for the day of the great race. Ahriman Mirza is recognized as Aemir, who increasingly emerges as an evil counter-ruler to the Shah. Ghulam escapes through Pedehr's inattention.

It is discovered that the Sillan meet regularly in secret in the valley of the Jamikun. Pekala is recognized as a seduced accomplice who has played her "Aschyk" (lover) a comedy; like Tifl, she becomes a seedy, threatening figure. Kara Ben Nemsi's relationship to Schakara, the soul sister, whose “unconscious knowledge” contributes a lot to the elucidation of the secrets, becomes all the closer.

Kara Ben Nemsi, as the representative of Ustad, who has been drawn to the Shah, receives Sheik ul Islam, who has come with the hypocritical plan to unite the Jamikun with his bigoted Takikurds; the Persians in his entourage scout the area from a military point of view. Mocked and rejected by Kara Ben Nemsi, the Sheik wants to race with his famous mare. Kara Ben Nemsi explores the secret canals under the ruins of the "High House" with Kara Ben Halef and discovers the corpses of those once thrown into the abyss, the weakness of the foundations and the enclosed image of the "enchanted prayer". During the night a long dream follows in which Kara Ben Nemsi “as Ustad” (IV, 314) makes an initiation journey in the high house and the abysses below, which leads him from the fight against ghost figures to their redemption when he gives up his old self . Kara Ben Halef catches the spying Ashyk, who, obstinately, is brought to the corpses in the water cave under the ruins.

Before the race (Chapter 3), in which the Ustad's opponents want to gather in large numbers under the pretext of a festival, Jafar arrives, whom Kara Ben Nemsi is seeing again for the first time since he left the West. The Shah-in-Shah, who had been informed about Kara Ben Nemsi for a long time by Jafar and recently also by Lord Lindsay, sent him a dress of honor, a second one for Halef. Jafar also has Syrr, the Shah's horse, which only the Shah can ride so that Kara Ben Nemsi should try it. Pekala and Tbilisi show confused remorse. The Aschyk changes in the darkness of his prison and confesses; grateful for the purging punishment, he wants to be the "faithful dog" Kara Ben Nemsis. He confesses that two opposing parties want to jointly destroy the Ustad: the pious one of Sheik ul Islam, to which he himself belonged, and the Sillan who overheard him. Ustad, who has returned from the Shah, adds: A general conspiracy, the first blow of which is directed against the Jamikun, is also to hit the ruler himself. The allied and mutually hostile opponents approach the race: Ahriman, who has been designated as emperor by the conspirators, the Gul-i-Shiraz (the woman in the double portrait in the Babelturm), Ghulam and Sheik ul Islam with his khanum "Saints" and Generals.

Kara Ben Nemsi is weakened from the air of the "holy of holies" in which he overheard the last meeting of Ahriman Mirza and the Sheik before the fight, has returned from the ruins and is recovering again while various preparations are made with the Jamikun and the encirclement plans of the Enemies are watched. The Bimbaschi family is brought together; Pekala falls in love with the voracious Kepek and moves away with him and Tbilisi.

The Ustad, in Persian costume, the doppelganger Ahriman Mirzas, approaches him as “Chodem”, as his own self, and in the solitude of his cave hiding place gives him the choice between “death or madness” (IV, 539). The opponents gather; Sheik ul Islam and Gul-i-Shiraz put up splendid tents. The festival begins. Ghulam, who dragged the wretched horse Kiss-y-Darr ("trash novel") that had been stolen from the Ustad to mock Ustad, is arrested by the captain of the bodyguard sent by the Shah after a boastful speech against the Ustad. Kara Ben Halef discovers that Kiss-y-Darr's ailments are only fake; When Ghulam wants to flee on his own horse, he catches up with him on the Kiss and forces him to make the public confession that Kiss is only "lied to (by) you" (IV, 578). When Ghulam, who is about to be hanged, threatens Sheik ul Islam that he will betray him if he refuses to protect him, he stabs him to death.

The decisive races follow. Hanneh wins on her express camel. The Ustad defeats Sheik ul Islam, Kara Ben Halef the rider of the alleged "Iblis" Ahriman Mirzas, who does not want to send his wonder horse into the race until the third decisive run, before which Shakara challenges him to use his "Chandschars" (dagger). Kara Ben Nemsi on the Shah's Syrr defeats Ahriman Mirza, who in a frenzy shoots his horse, already mutilated by the blows during the race; dying it bites his head in two. The madness of Ahriman, which has swelled since the encounter with the “Chodem”, urges to break out.

In a tremendous collapse, the ruins of the “high house” sink to reveal the image of the “enchanted prayer” that was once hidden in them. The attack of the enemy turns into wild flight; the “shadows” scatter and are captured. Sheik ul Islam and the Gul-i-Shiraz are dead, Ahriman Mirza insane. A letter from the Shah pardoned the Ashyk. The Ustad can now realize his plans for new buildings on the ruins and the “liberation from shadow and shadow” (IV, 640) is complete.

Emergence

After completing his work on the Silver Lion III , May began that memorable journey on July 21, 1902, which ultimately led to the irrevocable separation from Emma and the writer's permanent bond with Klara . This trip and the subsequent turbulence forced a four-month long break in work on the Silver Lion .

According to Hansotto Hatzig, May had not yet known in the summer of 1902 how he would continue the third volume. There are indeed very noticeable breaks between volumes III and IV, but also within the fourth volume, especially in the characterization of the novel's staff. From a narrative point of view, this may be unfortunate. The biographically interested reader, however, will pay particular attention to these breaks as special signals.

In October 1902 May went to South Tyrol again with Klara Plöhn and then to Lake Garda . There in Riva he began - "in direct competition" to Nietzsche's Zarathustra - in mid-November 1902 "with the greatest freshness and full of lust" with the writing of the first parts of the Silver Lion IV .

The manuscript, which was created in Riva within four weeks, corresponds to the majority of the first, particularly difficult and particularly important book chapter Im Grabe (IV, 1–176). In mid-December 1902, with the departure from Riva, the work on the silver lion was interrupted again.

Only after a break of several months was May able to resume work on the Silver Lion IV . In the meantime he was busy with the Münchmeyer trial, the divorce proceedings, the marriage with Klara and the writing of the novellas Sonnenscheinchen and Das Geldmännle .

May did not deliver further manuscript texts on the Silver Lion until July 17, 1903: book pages 177–376, ie the rest of the first chapter and the second chapter Under the Ruins . At that time the author “must have worked very concentrated and relatively calmly on the 'Silver Lion', because just twelve days later, on July 29, 1903, Krais received the entire third chapter” with the heading Before the Race . After a minimal delay - small excursions in August - May closed on September 10 with the fourth chapter collapse . On October 1, 1903, the book was published as Volume XXIX of the Fehsenfeld series in Freiburg .

interpretation

In the sequel roles of the Silver Lion it turns out: The members of the secret society of the "Shadows" went unnoticed - with the help of Pekala, a cook who still appeared sympathetic in the Silver Lion III , but who has now been exposed as a "traitor" (Emma is meant!) - into the Idyll of Jamikun crept in. The destruction of the Ustad had long been planned with treacherous sophistication. The “master”, here (as almost always) a first-person projection from Karl May, feels compelled to rethink his “love affair” and to face the reality of evil. He calls his "Minister of War", the Chodj-y-Juna. The Ustad can no longer evade the insight: As long as humanity does not keep peace, “even the peaceable may not forego defense” (IV, 186)!

The armaments measures taken by the Ustad and his minister, of course, prove to be superfluous. Because the end for the quarreling enemies comes from “above”: The “Prince of Shadows” (the godless Ahriman) and his pseudo-religious allies had settled in the temple ruins, the residence of the Ustad; but a natural event leads to the collapse of this ruin! The catastrophe reveals: The forces of darkness are collapsing; and the "shadows" (of the past) lose their power. The ruins now reveal their true secret, their innermost being - the "prayer" released from the "curse".

The novel closes with the words of Shakara: "And if that is correct, then I have found the mountain I was looking for." - - - (IV, 644)

What does Karl May think? What did Shakara have, what did the poet “look for” and “find”? Peace with God? The restoration of one's own public image? The downfall of all adversaries? Do you understand that of a loving person? The "highlands" of literature, religious symbolism, Christian poetry, prophetic poetry?

May's novels are “life travel stories”. What the poet writes “is reality and life, is never just something imagined” (IV, 183). Especially in the Silver Lion , the author's past, his current experiences, his contradicting moods, and above all the marriage crisis and the, are reflected - “half unconsciously, then more and more controlled” and, compared to the earlier stories, “many times” more sophisticated agonizing confrontation with his opponents, influenced by feelings of hatred, contrary to May's Christian conviction.

“My time is finally here!” May wrote to Friedrich Ernst Fehsenfeld . Yes, its time has come, in two respects: the transition to high literature is complete; and for Karl May - as for Henrik Ibsen in his early stage work When we dead awake (1899) - the “judgment day” has come. Because the final volumes of the Silver Lion are, according to Roxin , “a single big reckoning” for the author, namely “not only with his opponents, but also with himself.”

The author's self-criticism, which began with the later travel stories, reached a high level in the Silberlöwen IV . In its severity and ruthlessness, the confession of Ustad, the “Mayster”, surpasses the author's self-analysis in the Friede novel. It leads to the “resurrection” of the inner man, at least of the poet's wishful ego.

Self-denomination (after Christoph F. Lorenz)

In the big night conversation, the first chapter of Volume IV, May tries again to summarize, retrospectively so to speak, a self-denomination. The Ustad is no longer the “higher I” of Karl May, but stands for the writer May, who has finished with his previous life, who is literally burying his past. It is no coincidence that this chapter is called In the Grave . The Ustad's “crypt”, the three living spaces that lie above his apartment and that lead directly into the open, on the flat roof (read: in the nakedness of real existence stripped of any legend, in the area where it is about life or death goes) lead (IV, 6 f.), symbolize the three areas of the previous life of Karl May:

• The study with its deceptive signs of a false existence as a hunter and traveler in all parts of the world becomes a museum of a completed phase of life. The astral lamp that burns there does not attract the real spirit, but only the lower earth spirits, by which the critics of May are also meant, but at the same time the previous literary production of May is not yet really filled with spirits.

• The bedroom with the image of the “small village church” (IV, 5) located “on the mountain level” symbolizes May's religious longing.

• The library with its wrapped letters and cards is supposed to represent May's previous work.

A way out of this “grave of the past” is being sought. First, the Ustad tells his life story as a parable , with the parable of the tree of "speaking newspaper voices" taking center stage. It becomes clear that the Ustad (and with him Karl May) identifies more or less intensely with the Passion of Christ (the autobiography of the Ustad is entitled My Passion ); like Christ, the Ustad and his alter ego, the first-person narrator, speak in parables and parables in their self-confession. Like Christ, they have to go through suffering, crucifixion and death after the phase of public approval, the “Hosian time” (IV, 65).

Only after the long, painful self-confession of the night conversation, interrupted by a renewed attack by evil (in the form of Ghulam's nocturnal attack), is it possible for May / Ustad to profess true poetry, i.e. H. to write in the language of old age work, with the “ghost hand” (IV, 182 and so on). And just as the tone of the nocturnal conversation slowly develops from the parable and solemn prose to poetry and verse , so at the end of the first chapter of Volume IV Silberlöwe May finds the true destiny of the poet, the task in which he himself is Wants to dedicate the future: to the true poet “the gates of other worlds are open” (IV, 183). He does not become a chronicler of the everyday, but a medium of the spiritual. May saw this as the decisive task of his late work .

The confrontation with the opponents (after Hermann Wohlgschaft)

The key polemic against the adversary, however, seems violent and hard, exaggerated and uncontrolled. The love of one's enemies, which is his “guideline” (IV, 195), becomes a big problem for May.

“A musical family [...] For today all friends are invited [...] The instruments are ready, already well tuned [...] Then deep silence. Now! The bows touch the strings. The first bars sound [...] Then the door is thrown open. An enemy of the family comes in noisy, inconsiderately disruptive. "

Indeed, the poet was denied peace and quiet. He feels persecuted by “ furies ”. The confrontation with the hostile critics, with Mamroth , Cardauns and others. a., disturbs his life and also disturbs his work, the silver lion III / IV .

In the dream, in the maggot dream, the feverish Halef sees the Sihdi in great danger:

“Everyone, everyone yelled and yelled at you; However, you remained without words [...] they said you were the worst person on Allah's earth [...] One after the other of the enemies came towards you. As soon as he reached you, he lost his human form [...] I screamed, as often as a person became a worm, a maggot and buried itself in your body. "

What emerges from the author's subconscious in Halef's dream is paralyzing fear. May doesn't want to accept them. The poet's dream leads the haji nightmare to a happy end: "The worms had finally eaten each other themselves [...] But the Effendi stood there so cheerfully and so vigorously as if he hadn't even been touched by them." III, 632)

Admittedly, this novel scene does not correspond to the reality of Karl May. The reality of the author corresponded much more to the state of mind of the Ustad: He was “chased” by dark shadows, “which have not left him even today!” (IV, 157)

Which shadows do not leave him? First the opponents, the external enemies. You expose him. They rob him of his honor. They laugh at him and hunch over “with pleasure” (III, 489).

And May? His ideal is forbearance and love also for enemies. Because he himself is a sinner, in need of God's mercy. He knows it and says it explicitly: He wants to forgive so that he too may one day be forgiven (IV, 89).

At the same time May thinks of his past, of his guilt, which he repented and atoned for. “I like to forgive [...] because I was forgiven too.” (IV, 116) He knows that he IS already forgiven. Therefore he too must now be merciful (cf. Mt 18:23 ff.).

May's thinking is biblical; Jesus' Sermon on the Mount is normative for him (IV, 174). And not only that; He IS LOOKING for probation: "The ardent wish rose in me, but once so much, so hard, so bitter, so deeply offended that no one, no one else could endure or bear it." (III, 529 )

The critic could say: Even here in the religious, the urge for the heroic! May wants, as he assures himself, to possess the “unselfishness” and the “trust in God”, to remain silent and to endure all shame (ibid.)!

But with this wish he takes over. The repressed aggression breaks through at various points in the text. His opponents hurt him deeply. And his first wife Emma offended him. He does not tolerate it, he cannot tolerate it. Pekala-Emma, ​​the festive maiden who was initially drawn so lovingly, is transformed into the brazen “bred” (IV, 228).

The divorce from Emma must have been difficult for May. He had to calm his conscience and defend his step in front of himself: “Woman, you are crazy! An evil spirit dwells in you ”(IV, 271)!

The Silver Lion is not poor in such discrepancies . Kara Ben Nemsi is basically philanthropist. He means well; but he lets the Ashyk tie up “so that the rind cracks” (IV, 360). The intention is noble: the man should come to insight, to repentance. But Shakara, the “soul”, is shocked: “How strict you can be, Effendi, how relentlessly cold and strict! I didn't know that yet. "(IV, 363)

May's opponents are brought to an ugly end in the fiction of the novel. Ahriman-Mamroth, like Nietzsche , falls into madness. And Ghulam-Cardauns is thrown into “hell” (IV, 582) according to the “good Dante custom”.

Why still, in the otherwise so humane late work, this harshness and this cruelty? One must regret it and yet also understand: "The tortured person has no other tones than those which the pain blackmailed him." (IV, 24)

Karl May is a Christian, but his loyalty is challenged and his heart is shaken. His fight is a fight for love, a struggle with God. Full of anger, the "master" asks his other self:

“Is God really just love? [...] And should only God alone be allowed to punish evil, not man too, not me? [...] 'Love your enemies!' it sounded deep inside me [...] Yes, it is Christ's commandment [...] and I will keep it. "

But love, says the Ustad, also knows severity. “'I'll - - -' '- - - show them my fist!' I interrupted him. 'Isn't that right, Ustad?' "(IV, 179)

Further considerations

Hermann Wohlgschaft complements and expands his interpretation worth reading by two further sections:

• Karl May's settlement with himself
• The imitatio Christi

These can be read in his Große Karl May biography (pp. 445 ff. And 449 ff.). Wohlgschaft concludes his presentation on the Silver Lion IV as follows:

“May's struggle with his own shadow, his way of following Christ includes self-affirmation, the acceptance of one's own shadowy side. The author now knows: he must not hate himself or curse the 'dark' in himself. He knows: he may also make mistakes and he may also be wrong: 'Blessed be he who searched for the truth / And also found error at your feet. / That's why I put him, whom I have cursed so far, / My God and Lord, into your hand of grace! ' (IV, 343) "

Self-interpretation

So it can be read in Der Kunstfreund 1907, No. 1, which contains May's third art letter, on an attached sheet with a double review of GR XXVI-XXX ("Silver Lion" and "Peace"), which undoubtedly comes from May himself, and from Die literäre Rundschau , a weekly supplement to the Bayerischer Kurier of December 27, 1906, is taken:

“In order to understand the book 'In the kingdom of the silver lion', one must know the author [!]. His travel stories can only be described as 'so-called'. They have a dual nature. Or rather, they are exactly like the human being who unites the physical and the spiritual, the sensual and the supersensible into one personality. May's stories are written personalities , breathing in natural truth, with no intentional art. Then the great success that his books have would be self-explanatory! Each of these books has, just like man, a body, a spirit, a soul, and this trinity is so closely connected, as is the case with humans, that the boundaries disappear and the trinity becomes a unity. What the body of the travel stories does seems to be adventurous and completely pointless and is in reality also a minor matter, the visible vessel for the invisible, valuable content. Because while this body moves through foreign countries and peoples seemingly without higher intentions, mind and soul wander through invisible worlds in order to make discoveries on which the actual intention of the author is directed. Because May is a metaphysician, above all a psychologist. Whoever wants to understand him has to search for the spirit and soul behind his bodies and to transfer what is visibly happening to an invisible area. So here too, in 'In the realm of the silver lion'. "

Contemporary criticism

In 1905 the Catholic pastor Karl Bruder from Günching dealt very critically with the 4th volume of the Silver Lion , as Hartmut Wörner reports in an article for KMG's communications no.172 / June 2012:

“He belonged to the spectrum of the educated Catholic readership. These readers valued the long-time 'Hausschatz' author Karl May not only because of the exciting exotic content of his travel stories, but also because of his clear Christian attitude, which was classified as Catholic. Just how popular the travel writer Karl May, ie the former Karl , was with Catholic priests and religious is also shown by the letters to the editor collected in Grateful Readers , even though their selection was shaped by May's tactical considerations. "

After detailed exposition of the comments and marginal notes of Brother Wörner draws the following interim balance:

“A fan of the classic travel stories is so annoyed by the new style and the new content of the old work that he finds many central passages ridiculous and artificial. At the same time, the Catholic clergy with a clear dogmatic orientation is more and more irritated by religious-philosophical statements and symbols that do not fit his clear worldview. The distancing of his brother, who reads the 'Silver Lion IV' word for word, from Karl May, whom he previously valued, has begun. "

Anonymous denunciation and short trial in Rome

At the end of March 1910, a five-page, anonymous indictment written on March 20 reached the Index Congregation in Rome. The six works considered offensive by the unknown German informer were the volumes Im Reich des silbernen Löwen III (1902) and IV (1903), Am Jenseits (1899), Und Friede auf Erden! (1904) and Ardistan and Dschinnistan I and II (1909). The accusations were of dogma-free Christianity, criticism of all denominations, including the Catholic, general religion, religious indifference, spiritualism , monism and pantheism . The secretary of the responsible congregation, the German Dominican Thomas Esser, put on record briefly on May 20, 1910:

“A certain anonymous German reports the works of the suspected author Karl May to this Holy Congregation. Because this is a non-Catholic author, about whose life and works various newspapers spread different rumors and views, the matter was decided: Because of the There is nothing to be done in the current situation. "

References and comments

1. ↑ General information on text and text history at http://karl-may-wiki.de/index.php/Im_Reiche_des_silbernen_Löwen
2. ↑ The table of contents follows the text by Joachim Kalka: (Work article on) Im Reiche des silbernen Löwen Ill / IV . In: Karl May Handbook . Edited by Gert Ueding in collaboration with Reinhard Tschapke. Stuttgart 1987, pp. 288-301 (291-294).
3. ↑ The following statements essentially follow the great Karl May biography of Hermann Wohlgschaft: Große Karl May Biographie. Life and work , Paderborn: Igel Verlag 1994, p. 438 f.
4. ↑ See Hansotto Hatzig: Karl May and Sascha Schneider. Documents of a friendship. Contributions to Karl May research 2. Bamberg 1967, p. 45.
5. ^ Arno Schmidt : Abu Kital. From the new grand mystic (1958). In: Karl May . Edited by Helmut Schmiedt . Frankfurt / M. 1983, pp. 45-74 (p. 65)
6. ^ Karl May in a letter of November 15, 1902 to Felix Krais; quoted according to R. Schmid: Epilogue (to Im Reiche des Silber Löwen III / IV ). In: Karl May: Freiburg First Editions, Vol. XXVIII. Edited by Roland Schmid. Bamberg 1984, N 7
7. ↑ Roland Schmid: Epilogue (to In the kingdom of the silver lion III / IV ). In: Karl May: Freiburg First Editions, Vol. XXVIII. Edited by Roland Schmid. Bamberg 1984, N 12
8. ↑ The following statements essentially follow the great Karl May biography of Hermann Wohlgschaft: Große Karl May Biographie. Life and work , Paderborn: Igel Verlag 1994, p. 439 f. and 443 f.
9. ↑ Arno Schmidt interprets “ruin” and “prayer” as follows: “In Karlmayistan, leaning against a mighty mountain wall, an ancient = huge building rises up. The lowest floor - massive gloomy, all the following foundation - is prehistoric = empty. The next thing above reminds of old Iranian, of Parsism; above him, in the next one, only a few dusty objects: cracked tablets, a seven-armed one. Right at the top, apparently frozen and interrupted in the middle of the expansion, a crowd of countless turrets and bowls, pinnacles and campaniles, ridiculously split ..... So 'old churches', 'teaching buildings', in every concrete and abstract sense of the word; from the gloomy paganism to the diversity of Christian sects ... From all the tortured architectonics of the religions - condemned to collapse from the start - in the end 'The Prayer' becomes free; the simple = unaffected connection between man and God that does not require any costumed intermediaries; the unencumbered; so that there is no longer a 'rope of confessions' stretched in front of dubious paradises ... “Arno Schmidt: From the new great physicist (Karl May) . In: Dieter Sudhoff / Hartmut Vollmer (eds.): Karl Mays "In the realm of the silver lion" , Hamburg, 2nd edition 2010, p. 64 f. and 69 f.
10. ↑ Karl May: To Heinrich Wagner, Passau, November 26th, 1906 (after visiting a contract on “The Religion of the Future” on November 25th in Dresden) : “I said that everything I write has been experienced. Yes, of course, I've said something like that here and there. Just so that people understand me and not lie to themselves about me, I had to say that! I search for the spirit and for the soul, outside in foreign countries and inside me. I experience out there and I experience in there. I combine what I experience in my books. I am describing e.g. B. In In the Kingdom of the Silver Lion , that we are to be attacked and that the Ustad is therefore riding to the Shah-in-Shah to ask him for help. On the way he met the messenger of the Shah, who brought him this help, even before he had made the request. Every real May reader knows that I am giving a definition of prayer , because the Jamikun are my readers; the Ustad is the distressed spirit in me, and the Shah-in-Shah is God the Lord. He helps before I ask him. So I give object lessons on Matth. 6,8: 'Because your father already knows what you need before you ask him.' This request to the Shah-in-Shah and its answer is experienced internally , and indeed a thousand times, and the picture in which I am telling this is therefore not a lie ; but that this image took place in concrete , I will never claim. ”In: Christoph F. Lorenz (Ed.): Between Heaven and Hell. Karl May und die Religion , Karl-May-Verlag Bamberg / Radebeul, second, revised and expanded edition 2013, p. 503 f.
11. ↑ Hans Wollschläger: Karl May. Outline of a broken life . Zurich 1976, p. 117
12. ↑ Joachim Kalka: (work article on) In the kingdom of the silver lion Ill / IV . In: Karl May Handbook . Edited by Gert Ueding in collaboration with Reinhard Tschapke. Stuttgart 1987, pp. 288-301 (p. 289)
13. ^ From May's letter of December 24, 1902 to Friedrich Ernst Fehsenfeld; quoted after Konrad Guenther: Karl May and his publisher . In: Karl May: Satan and I Iscariot . Freiburg first editions, vol. XX. Edited by Roland Schmid. Bamberg 1983, A 2-35 (20 f.)
14. ↑ Claus Roxin: Between Ardistan and Dschinnistan . In: Karl May - the Saxon fantastic. Studies of life and work . Edited by Harald Eggebrecht. Frankfurt / M. 1987, pp. 13-28 (p. 24).
15. ↑ The following statements essentially follow the contribution by Christoph F. Lorenz: "That is the El Dscharanil tree". Parables, fairy tales and dreams in Karl May's “In the kingdom of the silver lion III and IV”. In: Dieter Sudhoff / Hartmut Vollmer (eds): Karl Mays "In the realm of the silver lion" (Karl May Studies, Vol. 2), Paderborn: Igel Verlag 1997, 2nd edition 2010, pp. 261–291 (286 ff.)
16. ↑ Christoph F. Lorenz: “The basic structure of the big night conversation is reminiscent of the religious scheme of the 'confessio'. In the early Christian (Christian Catholic) religion, sin can only be forgiven if it is entrusted to the ear of at least the priest (as Christ's representative) as a confession . That is why St. Augustine calls his autobiography Confessiones : they are the confessions of a long erroneous (in the eyes of the saint), the confession of sin and wrongdoing. In the guise of Ustad, May undertakes such a self-denomination, even if he distances himself from the Ustad's lewd self-mourning (168 ff.). In the Christian Catholic faith, the 'confessio' must precede the 'communio'; only those who have confessed their sins and have received absolution are allowed to unite with the divine world in the sacrament . ”(Christoph F. Lorenz: “ That is the El Jaranil tree ”. Parables, fairy tales and dreams in Karl Mays“ In the kingdom of the silver Löwen III and IV ”. In: Dieter Sudhoff / Hartmut Vollmer (eds): Karl Mays“ In the realm of the silver lion ” (Karl May studies, vol. 2), Paderborn: Igel Verlag 1997, 2nd edition 2010, p . 287)
17. ^ Hermann Wohlgschaft: Große Karl May biography. Life and work , Paderborn: Igel Verlag 1994, p. 444 f.
18. ↑ Karl May: In the realm of the silver lion III , p. 534 f.
19. ↑ Karl May: In the realm of the silver lion III , p. 488
20. ↑ On the encryption of Mamroth and Cardauns in Ahriman and Ghulam el Multasim cf. Franz Cornaro: Karl Muth, Karl May and his key polemics. In: Jb-KMG 1975, pp. 200-219 (pp. 208f.) Online version
21. ^ Arno Schmidt : Abu Kital. From the new grand mystic (1958). In: Karl May . Edited by Helmut Schmiedt. Frankfurt / M. 1983, pp. 45-74 (p. 60)
22. ↑ Karl May: In the realm of the silver lion IV , p. 178 f.
23. ^ Hermann Wohlgschaft: Große Karl May biography. Life and work , Paderborn: Igel Verlag 1994, p. 451 f.
24. ↑ Quoted from Anton Haider : Karl May und Tirol , in: Wilhelm Brauneder (Hrsg.): Karl May und Österreich. Reality - fiction - reception. Education and Trivialliteratur , Husum 1996, pp. 98–123, by Peter Hofmann : Karl May und seine Evangelium. Theological experiment on camouflage and hermeneutics , Paderborn: Ferdinand Schöningh 2016, p. 128, note 270.
25. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original dated June 6, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
26. ↑ Hartmut Wörner: “May is getting old!” The “break in construction” from the point of view of a contemporary reader . In: Communications from KMG No. 172 / June 2012, p. 28 ff.
27. ↑ Hartmut Wörner: “May is getting old!” The “break in construction” from the point of view of a contemporary reader . In: Communications from KMG No. 172 / June 2012, p. 30 f.
28. ↑ Hartmut Wörner: “May is getting old!” The “break in construction” from the point of view of a contemporary reader . In: KMG Communications No. 172 / June 2012, p. 35 f.
29. ↑ Quoted from Hubert Wolf : Karl May and the Inquisition , in: Christoph F. Lorenz (Ed.): Between heaven and hell. Karl May und die Religion , Karl-May-Verlag Bamberg / Radebeul, second, revised and expanded edition 2013, pp. 71–143, here p. 115 f.

literature

• Otto Eicke : Der Bruch im Bau , in: Karl-May-Jahrbuch 1930 (online version) , pp. 77–126.
• Arno Schmidt : Abu Kital. From the new grand mystic. In: Dya Na Sore. Conversations in a library. Karlsruhe 1958, pp. 150-193; today in: Arno Schmidt: Dialoge 2 (Bargfeld edition, group of works II / 2). Zurich 1990, pp. 31-59.
• Hans Wollschläger : The "High House". Karl May and the realm of the Silver Lion. In: Jb- KMG 1970, pp. 118-133. Online version
• Hans Wollschläger: First approach to the "Silver Lion". On the symbolism and creation . In: Jb-KMG 1979, pp. 99-136. Online version
• Volker Krischel: Karl May's "shadow novel". Viewpoints on a "world interpretation poetry". So-KMG 37 (1982) online version
• Christoph F. Lorenz: "That is the El Dscharanil tree". Parables, fairy tales and dreams in Karl May's “In the kingdom of the silver lion III and IV”. In: Jb-KMG 1984, pp. 139–166. Online version
• Joachim Kalka: (Work article on) In the kingdom of the silver lion III / IV . In: Karl May Handbook . Edited by Gert Ueding in collaboration with Reinhard Tschapke. Stuttgart 1987, pp. 288-301; 2nd expanded and revised edition Würzburg 2001, pp. 236–240.
• Dieter Sudhoff: Karl May's great dream. Another approach to the "Silver Lion" . In: Jb-KMG 1988, pp. 117-183. Online version
• Hermann Wohlgschaft: "What I saw there has never been seen". On the theology of the "Silver Lion III / IV". In: Jb-KMG 1990, pp. 213-264. Online version
• Dieter Sudhoff: Dawn inside people. Comments on the night conversation in Karl May's “Silver Lion”. In: Jb-KMG 1992, pp. 199-217. Online version
• Hermann Wohlgschaft: Große Karl May biography. Leben und Werk , Paderborn: Igel Verlag 1994, p. 435 ff. ISBN 3-927104-61-2 online version
• Oskar N. Sahlberg : The "grand mystic" Karl May. The conception and birth dreams of the son and the father. "In the realm of the silver lion". “Ardistan and Dschinnistan” , in: Meredith McClain, Reinhold Wolff (eds.): Karl May im Llano estacado (on the symposium of the Karl May Society in Lubbock / USA 2000). Hansa Verlag, Husum 2004, pp. 243-275, here especially pp. 249-254.
• Dieter Sudhoff / Hartmut Vollmer (eds): Karl Mays "In the realm of the silver lion" (Karl May Studies, Vol. 2), Paderborn: Igel Verlag 1997, 2nd edition Hamburg 2010 (with detailed bibliography). ISBN 3868155058
  • Adolf Droop: Karl May. An analysis of his travel stories
  • Arno Schmidt : From the new grand mystic
  • Hans Wollschläger : First approach to the 'Silver Lion'. On the symbolism and creation
  • Walther Ilmer: Unsuccessful trip to Persia. Thoughts on the 'great upheaval' in Karl May's work
  • Ulrich Melk: From the classic travel novel to the mythical-allegorical late work. Continuity and change of narrative structures in Karl May's 'Silberlöwen' tetralogy
  • Wolfram Ellwanger: encounter with the symbol. Thoughts on Karl Mays 'In the Realm of the Silver Lion IV'
  • Ulrich Schmid: The hidden writing. Karl May's variants of the 'Silver Lion III / IV'
  • Jürgen Hahn: Language as content. On the phenomenology of the 'alabaster style' in Karl May's novel 'Im Reiche des silbernen Löwen'. A blueprint
  • Volker Krischel: “We don't want to be masters of your faith, but helpers for your joy”. Comments on Karl May's criticism of religion in 'Silberlöwen III / IV'
  • Christoph F. Lorenz: "That is the El Dscharanil tree". Parables, fairy tales and dreams in Karl Mays 'In the kingdom of the silver lion III and IV'
  • Dieter Sudhoff: Karl May's great dream. Another approach to the 'Silver Lion'
  • Hansotto Hatzig: The women in the realm of the silver lion. Reading notes and impressions
  • Franz Hofmann: Fall into Hell and Transfiguration. The conclusion of the action in the 'Silver Lion' as a paradigm for Karl May's old works
• Peter Hofmann : Karl May and his gospel. Theological attempt on camouflage and hermeneutics , Paderborn: Ferdinand Schöningh 2016, esp.p. 95, 124, 158.
• Hans Wollschläger: Approaching the Silver Lion. Readings on Karl May's late work , Wallstein Verlag, Göttingen 2016, ISBN 978-3-8353-1970-7 .

Web links

Commons : In the Realm of the Silver Lion IV  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Full text on the Karl May Society website
• Hermann Wohlgschaft: Contributions to Karl May research
• Entry in the external Karl May Wiki