Prologue: In the Beginning
Grails, the Grail, and the Stars
1. The Idea of the Holy Grail
2. The World of Precious Stones
3. The Crusaders' Quest
The Holy Sepulcher
4. The Frame Story
Feirefiz, Parzival, and Their Father
5. The Frame Story Ending
The Overflowing Grail
6. The Grail in the Inner Story
7. The Paradise Altar of Bamberg
Afterword
Aftermath
Appendix 1: Etymological Excursus
The Meaning of the Five Women's Names
Appendix 2: Two Medieval Texts on the Consecration of the Altar and
the Veneration of the Sepulcher
Select Bibliography
Index
George M. Roth Distinguished Professor of German at Georgetown University. He is the author of several titles, including The Heiland: The Saxon Gospel and The Owl, the Raven, and the Dove: The Religious Meaning of the Grimms' Magic Fairy Tales .
"Murphy...offers an important, thoroughly documented argument that
the Grail is a portable altar. ...This book is an invaluable
addition to Wolfram scholarship...Essential." --Syndetic
Solutions
"I think his association of the grail/stone with a portable altar
and in particular with the Paradise Altar at Bamberg is brilliant
and very convincing." --Jonathan Riley-Smith
"....readers will find Murphy's book a singular and
thought-provoking scholarly quest. In the end one is left with the
indelible impression of gems and the sense that they draw attention
to aspects of Wolfram's text that have not yet been fully
appreciated. Murphy's book points the way." --Will Hasty, H-Net
Reviews
"A convincing and well-written interpretation of the story." --imes
Literary Supplement
"Wolfram von Eschenbach was certainly not an orthodox Christian,
but a Christian after all. Yet his interpretation of the Holy Grail
and the relationship between Christianity and other religions must
have been quite provocative for his audience, as Murphy
demonstrates in his refreshingly innovative reading of Parzival .
In fact, Murphy's insightful and far-reaching interpretation of
Parzival in light of the New Testament, carefully supported by
philological
analysis, reveals Wolfram's exuberant passion and love for all
people, as perhaps best represented by the female figures in this
romance. Did Murphy find the original model of the Grail used by
Wolfram,
as he argues in the frame narrative of his investigation? There are
good reasons to embrace his conclusions, and it is a joy to follow
Murphy on his research paths from the very first to the last page
of his book." --Albrecht Classen, editor of Meeting the Foreign in
the Middle Ages
"In Murphy's reading, Wolfram's Parzival becomes at once a quest
for the actual Grail and an exploration of the deepest mysteries of
Christian sacrament and conversion. Lucid, transformative, and
generous, Gemstone of Paradise is itself the work of a master
craftsman of the symbolic arts, its purpose being to make visible
the hitherto elusive physical and spiritual beauty of Parzival's
long-sought Grail. This is a treasure of a book combining
literary
criticism, natural philosophy, and history with a sophisticated and
rigorous theology of art. It should be required reading for all
those who have ever asked the question: what is the Grail?"
--Rachel Fulton,
author of From Judgment to Passion: Devotion to Christ and the
Virgin Mary, 800-1200
"The witty and graceful voyage of discovery in this book on
Wolfram's Parzival and splendid imagery of the Holy Grail is
immediately rewarding. Murphy provides readers with an education in
literary Grail texts and mystic thought, in medieval crusading, in
the continuities and ruptures of religious thought, and in the vast
'lithotherapy' of gems. His demonstration of the meanings of the
Bamberg Paradise Altar is a thrilling example of brilliant
scholarship." --Bonnie Wheeler, editor of Arthuriana
"Very good indeed. I think his association of the grail/stone with
a portable altar and in particular with the Paradise Altar at
Bamberg is brilliant and very convincing." --Jonathan Riley-Smith,
Dixie Professor of Ecclesiastical History, Emmanuel College,
University of Cambridge
"Murphy offers an important, thoroughly documented argument that
the Grail is a portable altar. The author offers original insights
into such topics as the idea of the Grail, the significance of
gemstones and the holy Sepulcher... excellent analysis of the
Parzival elements of Wolfram's and Chretien's epics...he emphasizes
the importance of artifacts throughout. The book is an invaluable
addition to Wolfram scholarship. Summing Up: Essential."
--CHOICE
"Murphy does an excellent job weaving each of the topics covered
into a unified whole at the end. not only do you learn a lot about
the various subjects, he presents them in an appealing way, and
brings it altogether in a convincing fashion. I highly recommend
this book to anyone interested in the Grail Myth." --Mythprint
"This is a thoroughly engaging book ... a well-produced and very
readable work which may serve, too, as a stimulating introduction
to a great work of literature. ...As an overall reading of
Wolfram's work, this is a convincing and eminently readable study."
--The German Quarterly
"This is a major book, which offers creative solutions to a number
of the key questions which have preoccupied Parzival scholarship
for the last hundred years or more, and sheds new light on
Wolfram's understanding of the Grail. [Murphy's] engaged
theological reading is made to seem neither sentimental nor
anachronistic, but in tune with key parts of Wolfram's narrative."
--Speculum
"An intriguing and carefully documented investigation, this study
will be of interest to historians of art, literature, and the
crusades, as well as theologians and liturgists." --Theological
Studies
"Murphy's success is twofold. As a work of historical scholarship,
Gemstone of Paradise shows how Wolfram's story of Parzival gains
its full imaginative power only within the medieval vision that the
world is the book of God and humanity is fulfilled in the Christian
sacraments. And as a work of literary crticism, Murphy's book
renews the potential of Wolfram's vision as a text for our times,
still in need of help to imagine a way to reconciliation across
violent divisions." --Christianity and Literature
"Gemstone of Paradise stands...as one of the most important books
on Wolfram, in any language, produced in the last few decades.
...Murphy's contribution enriches our understanding of Wolfram's
text and context and is a delight for all those interested in
Wolfram and the Grail." --Monatshfte
"A marvelous and entertaining exploration of one of the most unique
and difficult manifestations of teh Holy Grail -- and one of the
most unique and difficult medieval romances in which this Grail is
contained." --H-Net Reviews
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