Lohengrin

For the opera by Wagner, see Lohengrin (opera).

In some German Arthurian literature, Lohengrin, the son of Parzival (Percival), is a knight of the Holy Grail sent in a boat pulled by swans to rescue a maiden who can never ask his identity. His story is a version of the Knight of the Swan legend.

Lohengrin first appears as "Loherangrin", the son of Parzival and Condwiramurs in Wolfram von Eschenbach's Parzival. Loherangrin and his twin brother Kardeiz join their parents in Munsalvaesche when Parzival becomes the Grail King; Kardeiz later inherits their father's secular lands, and Loherangrin remains in Munsalvaeshe as a Grail Knight. These knights are sent out in secret to provide lords to kingdoms who have lost their protectors, and Loherangrin is eventually called to this duty in Brabant, where the duke has died without a male heir. His daughter Elsa fears the kingdom will be lost, but Loherengrin arrives in a boat pulled by a swan and offers to defend her, though he warns her she must never ask his name. He weds the duchess and serves Brabant for years, but one day Elsa asks the fatal question. He explains his origin, and steps back onto his swan boat, never to return. Wolfram's reasons for adding the Knight of the Swan element, known at the time only from tales of Godfrey of Bouillon's ancestry, into Parzival is best known to himself, though it isn't the only altered version of a popular story he uses in his narrative (he makes Prester John the son of his character Feirefiz).

The story was picked up and expanded in the late 13th century Lohengrin by a certain "Nouhusius" or "Nouhuwius" who changes the character's name and ties the romance's Grail and Swan Knight elements into the history of the Holy Roman Empire. The story follows Wolfram closely but adds certain details (Princess Elsa's questioning of her husband occurs only after prodding by an antagonist who spreads rumors that Lohengrin isn't of noble blood) that distends the material to make a full romance. In the 15th century the story was taken up again for the anonymous Lorengel. In this version, the taboo against asking the protagonist about his mysterious origin is not extant, and Lorengel and his princess can live happily ever after.

In 1848 Richard Wagner adapted the tale into his popular opera Lohengrin, arguably the work through which Lohengrin's story is best known today. Lohengrin appears to defend Princess Elsa of Brabant from the false accusation of killing her younger brother (who turns out to be alive and returns at the end of the opera). According to Wagner Grail has imbued the Knight of the Swan with mystical powers that can only be maintained if their nature is kept secret, hence the danger of Elsa's question. The most famous piece from Lohengrin is the "Bridal Chorus" ("Here Comes the Bride"), still played at many Western weddings (excepting Jewish weddings, as Wagner was a notorious anti-Semite).

References

Wolfram von Eschenbach, A.T. Hatto (translator), Parzival, Penguin 1980. ISBN 0140443614.

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