Titurel
The Titurel fragments come from the medieval poet Wolfram von Eschenbach (around 1170 - around 1220) and tell the story of the lovers Sigune and Schionatulander in strophic form . To this day, researchers are still not in agreement about the time when the fragments were created. A widespread assumption is still that the “Titurel” was created between Wolfram's other two great works, the “ Parzival ” (courtly novel) and the “ Willehalm ” (heroic epic). The "Titurel" is the first material in German literature from the Arthurian circle that does not have any foreign sources . Only Albrecht's “ Younger Titurel ” is better known than his original work , which was probably composed around 1260/1270 and in which Wolfram's work is elaborated into an epic of over 6300 titular verses.
Lore
Wolfram's “Titurel” can be found in three manuscripts . Initially in manuscript G of the Bavarian State Library in Munich, the creation of which is dated to the middle of the 13th century. It is therefore the handwriting that comes closest to the time when the fragments were created . 164 stanzas have survived .
The second carrier is the manuscript H from the Austrian National Library in Vienna, better known under the name " Ambraser Heldenbuch ". It was written between 1504 and 1516. However, the manuscript only bears witness to 68 stanzas of the "Titurel" and, apart from five additional stanzas, largely corresponds to the manuscript G.
The manuscript M of the Munich University Library from around 1300 is the worst preserved and has only 46 stanzas or parts of stanzas from the first fragment, some of which are difficult to read and in a different sequence of stanzas.
The manuscripts H and M have eleven additional stanzas that do not appear in G. Today it is assumed that the manuscripts G and H represent two different branches of tradition, while M occupies an intermediate position. Serves as Leithandschrift medieval studies research the oldest and most extensive tradition G.
Author and date of origin
Wolfram von Eschenbach, along with Heinrich von Veldeke and Hartmann von Aue, is one of the great German-speaking epics of the Middle Ages and lived approximately between 1170 and 1220. It is known that he had connections to the Bavarian duke family of the Wittelsbach family and the Landgrave Hermann von Thuringia , the latter being the latter is known as the client of the "Willehalm". Wolfram's complete works include three epic works (“ Parzival ”, “ Willehalm ”, “Titurel”) and nine songs .
Regarding the time when the “Titurel” fragments were created, there are only speculations. In research it is assumed that they could have originated between the "Parzival" and the "Willehalm". Again and again details appear in the "Titurel" which are assumed to be known to the reader from the "Parzival". Only stanza 87, which reports about the late Hermann von Thuringia, would be suitable as a dating source. That means that one would move in the time after 1217, the authenticity of this stanza is strongly doubted.
Why the work was only handed down in fragments has not yet been clarified. For research, Wolfram's death around 1220 is still a possible reason for the abrupt demolition of the fragments. It should be taken into account that the work could have been complete in Wolfram's time and possibly only became a fragment due to poor transmission possibilities .
action
Fragment I.
Titurel is the progenitor of the Grail clan . In the first stanzas that have survived, he hands over the reign of the Grail to his son Frimutel, but does not appear again in the further course. Nevertheless, the fragments are named after Titurel, since his name appears first in the first stanzas that have been handed down.
In the following, the reader is introduced to the relationships and the protagonists are introduced. Sigune is Titurel's great-granddaughter, whose mother dies in childbirth. She therefore grows up with her aunt Herzeloyde. Schionatulander is the grandson of Gurnemanz von Graharz and becomes a squire of the Gahmuret . When Herzeloyde and Gahmuret get married, the children, Sigune and Schionatulander, grow up together and fall in love. A spatial separation is imminent when Gahmuret wants to take Schionatulander to the Orient. The children then confess their love to the parents.
Fragment II
Without clearing up the events and Gahmuret's death in the Orient, the action in the second fragment begins about a year and a half later. Sigune and Schionatulander camp on a meadow in the forest. A hunting dog appears in the clearing and is caught by Schionatulander. His name, Gardeviaz, and the love story of his mistress are written on its long, gem-studded leash. Before Sigune can read the story to the end, the dog escapes with a leash. Schionatulander first tries to recapture him, which he fails. Sigune has the ultimate goal of reading the story to the end and assigns her lover to find the leash. If he succeeded in this, she would grant him grace . Schionatulander agrees. Then the fragment breaks off suddenly.
Notes from the Parzival
The outcome of the love affair is known to some extent from the "Parzival". In the course of his search for the Grail, Parzival encounters a complaining woman whose slain lover lies in her lap (Pz. 138,9-142,2). In this scene, Sigune tells Parzival about their family relationship: She is his cousin. About the dead Schionatulander in her lap she says: in our two ministries he hunted death (“in your and my ministry he hunted death”). Sigune also names his murderer: Orilius, Lähelin's brother, who had robbed Parzival of his hereditary lands. Schionatulander was supposed to take revenge on him in Parzival's name. A second statement by Sigunes ein bracken seil gap in den pîn ("a dog leash caused him this suffering") only gives an idea of what must have happened to the minne sick Schionatulander after Sigune asked him to search for the at the end of the "Titurel" Got a leash. In the end, the “Parzival” does not provide a complete explanation of Schionatulander's tragic end either. The following are only three scenes in which Parzival meets the plaintive Sigune that as a result of the death of her lover for Klaus Experience decided. At their last meeting, Parzival finds Sigune dead in her hermitage above Schionatulander's grave and buries her next to him.
Excerpt
Original:
| 170 |
Si said: 'dâ stuont âventiure on the strand. |
| 171 |
Tell me, whoever is happy, not give you anyone yet. |
Translation:
| 170 |
She said, “There was an Aventiure on the rope. |
| 171 |
I am not saying that, my noble friend, to put you or anyone else in danger. |
Stanza form
The “Titurel” is written in strophic form and not in rhyming verses, as would be typical for a courtly story from that time. Stanzas function as carriers of courtly epics and lyrical forms. Without a doubt, the “Titurel” stands between these two literary traditions. Similar to the Nibelungenlied , the stanzas are all four lines with long verses rhymed in pairs, caesurized . The stanzas therefore follow an ideal-typical form: 4-4a, 4-6a, 6b, 4-6b. An eight-bar and zehntaktige two long lines each have a break after the fourth elevation and are of a unzäsurierten third verse interrupted with six elevations.
A closer look at the text reveals that this scheme is only adhered to to a limited extent, as there are too many exceptions and rhythmic variants in the form of too long or too short verses in the fragments, which are not evenly distributed over the text. It is very likely that the poet had a melody frame in mind for his stanzas. The traditional melody illustrates its approximate shape.
The titular stanza
On the flyleaf of Codex 2675 of the Austrian National Library (manuscript A), in which the “ Younger Titurel ” is also handed down, one can find the so-called “Viennese Melody”. In terms of content, the text of this stanza relates to the “Titurel”, but has not come down to us anywhere else, neither in Wolfram's fragments nor in Albrecht's revision. The author is unknown. The only possible source for the form and substance of the stanza is the “Younger Titurel”. Since the stanza was entered in the Viennese manuscript A around 1300, it is likely to be one of the earliest poems about the “Younger Titurel”. The content of the stanza is a self-contained Sigunen lament. Perhaps their recording on the flyleaf of the Codex indicates that Albrecht's “Younger Titurel” should be sung according to the present melody iamer has sprung from me , a melody that must therefore be known in this place at the time - perhaps even better known than the “ Younger Titurel "himself.
The structure of the titular stanza shows similarities to the Nibelungen strophe , which consists of four long lines rhyming in pairs with anvers and abvers. It differs from its predecessor only in that it has an inserted short line and an extension. For this reason it is referred to as the further development of the Nibelungen strophe.
Reception history - Younger Titurel
The reception of the Titurel material relates primarily to Albrecht's “Younger Titurel”, which has been handed down far more frequently than Wolfram's original work (13 manuscripts, 45 fragments). Albrecht worked all 175 stanzas of Wolfram into the "Younger Titurel" and expanded it into a Grail and Schionatulander novel comprising over 6300 stanzas, which corresponds to about twice the size of Wolfram's "Parzival". The "Younger Titurel" should have been very popular around 1300, as it is in no way inferior to Wolfram's two greatest epics, the "Parzival" with over 80 and the "Willehalm" with over 70 text witnesses with its almost 60 bearers of tradition. The “Titurel” fragments, on the other hand, appear very narrow with their three text witnesses. The “Younger Titurel” had been Wolfram's main work since the 14th century, before August Wilhelm Schlegel realized in the 19th century that only the two fragments were by Wolfram himself. Above all, the stanza form of the "Younger Titurel" had a great influence on late medieval literature. More than 20 poems from this period are based on the title strophe, including "The Hunt" by Hadamar von Laber and "The Book of Adventurers" by Ulrich Füetrer .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Manuscript census : http://www.zfda.de/images/pic_muen_ub8154_3r.jpg
- ^ Wolfram von Eschenbach: Titurel. Text translation job comment. Edited by Helmut Brackert and Stephan Fuchs-Jolie. De Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2003, p. 124.
- ^ Wolfram von Eschenbach: Titurel. Text translation job comment. Edited by Helmut Brackert and Stephan Fuchs-Jolie. De Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2003, p. 125.
literature
For the introduction
- Horst Brunner: History of German literature in the Middle Ages and the early modern period. Reclam (No. 17680), Stuttgart 2010, ISBN 978-3-15-017680-1 .
- Joachim Bumke : The Wolfram von Eschenbach research since 1945. Report and bibliography. Wilhelm Fink, Munich 1970.
Text output
- Wolfram von Eschenbach: Titurel. Text - translation - job comment. De Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2003, ISBN 3-11-016971-1 .
- Wolfram von Eschenbach: Titurel. With the entire parallel translation of the Younger Titurel. Niemeyer, Tübingen 2006, ISBN 3-484-64028-6 .
Secondary literature
- Kurt Gärtner, Joachim Heinzle : Studies on Wolfram von Eschenbach. Festschrift for Werner Schröder on his 75th birthday . Niemeyer, Tübingen 1989, ISBN 978-3-484-10627-7 .
- Joachim Heinzle : Comment on Wolframs Titurel. Contribution to the understanding of the transmitted text. Niemeyer, Tübingen 1972, ISBN 978-3-484-15025-6 .
- Elisabeth Martschini: Writing and writing in courtly narrative texts of the 13th century . Kiel, Solivagus 2014, pp. 50–56, pp. 291–556, ISBN 978-3-943025-14-9 .
- Volker Mertens : On the text and melody of the titular stanza: Iamer sprang from me . In: tungsten Studies I . Erich Schmidt, Berlin 1970, ISBN 978-3-503-00478-2 , pp. 219-239.
- Wolfgang Mohr : On the text history of Wolfram's ›Titurel‹ . In: Wolfram Studies IV . Erich Schmidt, Berlin 1977, ISBN 978-3-503-01239-8 , pp. 25-47.
- Thomas Neukirchen: 'Titurel'. 1. The substance. 2. Perspectives of interpretation. 3. Bibliography on the 'Younger Titurel' 1807–2009 . In: Joachim Heinzle (ed.): Wolfram von Eschenbach. A manual . Berlin / Boston 2011, ISBN 978-3-11-019053-3 , pp. 446-475, 502-522, 1307-1346.
- Christa Ortmann: ›Titurel‹ in the ›Parzival‹ context. On the question of a possible structural interpretation of the fragments . In: Wolfram Studies VI . Erich Schmidt, Berlin 1980, ISBN 978-3-503-01646-4 , pp. 25-47.
- Burghart Wachinger : Author's Lexicon. German-language literature of the Middle Ages. Study selection . 2nd, completely revised edition, de Gruyter, Berlin / Boston 2001, ISBN 978-3-11-016911-9 .
- Max Wehrli : Wolframs 'Titurel' . Westdeutscher Verlag, Opladen 1974, ISBN 978-3-531-07194-7 .