THE PENULTIMATE BOOK of Wolfram von Eschenbach’s courtly romance, Parzival (written at the turn of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries), relates the encounter between the questing hero and his half-brother Feirefiz, the powerful king of vast territories in the East. In the fourteen preceding books Wolfram describes in detail Parzival’s trials and tribulations during his journey of maturation on the way to becoming the Grail King. The poet begins book 15 by telling the audience that Parzival’s journey will end soon, but that he must first engage in a final battle, one so fierce that all those that preceded it will look like child’s play (734, lines 18–19). Parzival has just taken his leave from a grand ceremony at King Arthur’s court—a triple wedding, that in a typical Arthurian romance would signal that the narrative has arrived at its ultimate goal: the reestablishment of social stability and of peace and harmony in this secular, courtly community. As he departs from Arthur’s encampment and wanders through the surrounding forest at the break of a new day, however, Parzival is in despair. The wedding celebrations have reminded him of his own marriage and the choice he must make between two seemingly irreconcilable goals. Certain that his ongoing search for the mysterious Kingdom of the Grail will negate any possibility of a reunion with his beloved wife, Condwiramurs, he decides to leave his destiny to Fate:

Parzival’s appeal for providential guidance is answered shortly thereafter, when he emerges from the forest onto an open field and encounters a lone warrior in dazzling armor, astride a magnificently caparisoned charger. The poet describes him as “the infidel,” as wondrous, mighty, and strange (735, 8), and Parzival is struck by the figure’s exotic aura. At the same time, however, he senses an affinity with the heathen, despite the fact that their visors shield their identity from one another. Unbeknownst to Parzival, the figure that stands before him is his closest living relative, Feirefiz, the son of their common father, Gahmuret, who abandoned both their mothers—the black African Queen Belakane and the white French Queen Herzeloyde—to find glory in battle.