Wolfram von Eschenbach, Parzival (Bern, 1467), adapted by Johann Stemhein of Konstanz and commissioned by Jörg Fribürger. Manuscript. Cod. AA 91, Bürgerbibliothek, Bern, Switzerland
“Gawain and The Perilous Bed & Gawain Overcoming the Lion”
A two-page spread from the Berner Parzival showing Gawain’s epic quest, a fully original creation of Wolfram. In his side quest, Gawain enters a marvelous castle to seek the love of three maidens; but, in doing so he encounters the perilous bed, which wheels Gawain around as he is pelted by rocks—a mechanical and supernatural encounter! Still disoriented, the famous knight is then challenged by a lower-class man wielding a giant club. While not outwardly monstrous, his audacity to attack Gawain is monstrous. The unchivalrous man quickly retreats when he is outmatched, but he releases a starved, monstrous lion upon Gawain. Gawain bests the giant lion by chopping its leg off, but he is gravely wounded in return. However, the knight is resurrected, in a sense, by the three fair maidens.
Gawain’s story is important here as it mirrors his original famous tale where he faces the Green knight, and Parzival’s own quest; where a knight is faced with an impossible challenge, and reborn as a better man through the trial.
Sean Peek