Ranks 22nd on The Fictional
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"If
knightly deeds with shield and lance
can win fame for
one's earthly self, yet
also paradise for one's soul, then
the
chivalric life has been my one desire!"
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The following books and opera DVD will introduce you to Perceval, who said
these words in Wolfram von Eschenbach's Parzival. To order a book or the DVD, or for more information, follow the title links to Amazon.com,
or return home to browse other
characters.
- Chrétien de Troyes. The
Complete Romances of Chrétien de Troyes (David
Staines, Trans. and Intro.). Bloomington: Indiana
University Press, 1990.
- This 12th-century French poet's masterpiece was
"Perceval, or the Story of the Grail,"
which follows the hero from childhood to
knighthood under King Arthur to mature Christian
chivalry through his quest for the Grail.
- Mabinogion
(Jeffrey Gantz, Tran.). Viking Penguin, 1976.
- The story of Peredur in this Welsh romance cycle
shows Perceval's Welsh origins.
- Wolfram von Eschenbach. Parzival
(A. T. Hatto, Trans. and Intro.). Penguin USA, 1980.
- While Chrétien's story remained unfinished, this
German version carries Perceval (Parzival)
through to his final destiny as Grail King. It
was the basis for Wagner's opera Parsifal.
- Malory, Sir Thomas. Le
Morte D'Arthur: Vol. 1 (Penguin Classics; Janet
Cowen, Ed.). Viking, 1981.
- Malory, Sir Thomas. Le
Morte D'Arthur: Vol. 2 (Penguin Classics; Janet
Cowen, Ed.). Viking, 1993.
- Malory's account of the Grail quest is the most
popular version in English. He emphasizes
election by God, which permits Galahad, Perceval
and Bors to see the Grail, but excludes Lancelot
because of his sin with Guinevere. Galahad
becomes Grail King, but Perceval is still
essential.
- Tennyson, Alfred Lord. Idylls
of the King (J. M. Gray, Ed.). Penguin USA, 1989.
- Perceval narrates the Grail story in this classic
Victorian tribute to Arthurian romance.
- Wagner, Richard. Parsifal (2007)
[DVD]. Starring Siegfried Jerusalem, with Horst Stein conducting. Deutsche Grammophon, 2007.
- Wagner's opera on DVD, in the Bayreuth style.
- Beckett, Lucy. Richard
Wagner, Parsifal. Cambridge University Press, 1988.
- Guide to the opera, its literary bases, Wagner,
and stage history.
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