Epilogue
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umerous problems that have hitherto been addressed in one
way or another, are solved in a surprisingly new manner by the viewpoint taken
in this book: to recognize Wolfram von Eschenbach as a historian.
It is obvious that the reader for whom the themes dealt
with here are new, will be prepared to a certain degree to accompany the
researcher step by step in his research report and that on this path of
discovery he will feel that the results are valid.
In the
mind of the specialist who, from another viewpoint, already knows the solution
to the problem, objection after objection will crop up preventing him from
considering our viewpoint in an unbiased manner. These objections will differ
depending on whether this expert is active in the field of the more specialized
Wolfram research or whether he regards the whole Grail theme as his central
subject matter. But to deal also with these specialized matters is beyond the
scope of this report that is directed to the general public.
However,
the author does not intend to evade the questions that are of eminent interest
to the expert in both fields. It therefore appears useful to deal with the
specialized questions in two different ways.
In the field of the
Wolfram research, philology has hitherto been the main instrument. It must
therefore be asked what can be discovered anew with the aid of this new
paradigm. The way has already been
largely smoothed by philosophy.
It is no
longer necessary to convey the current situation in the more specialized field
of Wolfram research, because there already exists an encompassing compendium
for those interested in philology. With his standard volume Die Wolfram von Eschenbach-Forschung seit
1945 [1]
the leading Middle High German scholar at the
For years
the central question has been and still is (one could also say: today again or
this time for real) the source question. The whole basis of Wolfram research
hinges on the question as to whether Kyot, Wolfram’s source, is a real person
or Wolfram’s invention; the whole house built on this fundament will stand or
fall depending on the answer.
Now that
the Kyot question has been decided in these pages in favour of a real Kyot, we
feel obliged to enter into a discussion with those researchers who, on the basis
of other deliberations than our own, have come to the conclusion that Kyot is a
figment of Wolfram’s imagination. That in the field of Middle High German
studies, scholars do not really take note of each other has been emphasized
repeatedly by those researchers who take their scientific discipline very
seriously. They are however, especially in
The current dichotomy in the field of Wolfram
research is due to the fact that the Kyot problem is not approached with an
open, unbiased attitude. Because Wolfram’s work follows Chrétien’s
chronologically, it is assumed that he adapted the Parzival version
published earlier by Chrétien. The position presented here that Wolfram as well
as Chrétien based their work independently from each other on an even older
version of the Parzival story has hitherto been rejected, because a
pre-Chrétien Parzival novel has not been found.
The first part of this research report has been
sent in manuscript form to the leading Wolfram researchers. The representative
of the Kyot fiction-theory too has received it and has given an immediate
opinion openly, which deserves our thanks.
We believe that through a critical appraisal
of his objections, the contrasting opinions can be characterized clearly enough
in order to draw the conclusion from the current situation that new basic
research is a matter of priority. A common new basis for this research must be
sought without making presuppositions, but creating the condition under which
the Kyot problem can be solved scientifically.
In a special publication dealing with the
objections made by the proponents of the Kyot fiction-theory against our
research, the philological research will be asked: what facts stand in the way
of identifying
This research report has taken a turn in
another direction for those readers who have a more general interest in the
Grail theme.
Wolfram von Eschenbach deals with the
historical Grail events of the 9th century. But since the Grail was
revered throughout all ages by those human beings who aspired to organize their
lives in the sense of the spiritual guidance of Man and mankind, the Grail
quest in other times assumes different forms.
The Grail quest that leads the human being
from dumpheit (dumbness, dullness)
via zwivel (doubt) towards saelde (bliss, blessedness) is symbolized
in Wolfram’s Parzival by a stone. We
identify this stone, which is also called the Grail, as the semi-precious stone
jasper, in mineralogical terms: Neolithic Silex. Wolfram calls it: iaspis ex silis or silix. This jasper stone made out of silex, which in the Apocalypse
of John is designated as the most precious stone and used as a symbol for the
supersensible world in which John entered when the angel led him “in the
spirit” up the mountain, symbolizes the striving of all Grail seekers towards
an expansion of human consciousness. From the present faint feeling of the
spiritual world via the critical assessment of concepts developed only through
contact with the physical world of the senses – that are considered to be
doubtful (relative) today – a state of consciousness is to be developed that
permits the crossing of the present cognitional borders, the limits of
knowledge. With the term saelde,
Wolfram denotes that expanded consciousness that is characterized in the Sermon
on the Mount as bliss, blessedness. John the Evangelist already showed the way
to this bliss; Titurel and the Grail family traversed this path.
We have described Titurel in our report as a
human being to whom, like John, the nature of the Trinity was revealed. After
Titurel and the Grail family, Grail impulses in human history can be traced
down to the present-day.
In the continuation of our research report,
the stages in the history of humanity will be highlighted – in connection with
the Grail symbol of the 9th century – in which human beings followed
or follow the same goals that the Grail family in Wolfram von Eschenbach’s Parzival
regarded as the aim of their earthly desires.
The path leads from John via Titurel to Rudolf
Steiner.
The continuation of our report dealing with
the Grail and this gradual development of a knowledge of the higher worlds as
symbolized by the stone jasper has the working title: From Grail Christianity to Rudolf Steiner’s Anthroposophy.**
***
[1] Not translated. English readers wishing
a more general overview can consult The Grail – A Casebook, ed. by Dhira
B. Mahoney, Garland Publishing, Inc.
* This publication never appeared 'officially'. The
** This third volume did not appear 'officially', e.g. as announced by
the Goetheanum, either. An early English version was published by the