Knight of the Swan

The Swan Knight saga is an handed down in several versions medieval legend from the space of the Burgundian Netherlands. She received different formations in the literature ( as the narrative poem " The Knight of the Swan " by Konrad von Würzburg) and served a number of dynasties in the Lower Rhine as a genealogical origin saga. In the historicism of the 19th century it provided Richard Wagner 's music drama to the plot template Lohengrin.

Epic forms

The oldest evidence for Sage goes back to the 12th century and link the Swan Knight with the Swan children Sage and the genealogy of the house of Bouillon. In the French Chanson du Chevalier au Cigne et les Enfances de Gaudefroy de Bouillon the Swan Knight Elyas is the grandfather of Godfrey of Bouillon. In the late Middle Ages, the material was re- edited and based on numerous chapbooks. Since about 1500 published prints and translations into Dutch, English and Spanish, among others in Antwerp, Salamanca, London and Paris. In the German literature, the Swan Knight saga is linked to the Gralsthematik so in Parzival by Wolfram von Eschenbach, who calls the swan knight Lohengrin. The German versions bring the Swan Knight saga without the swan children Sage.

Central components

Genealogical references

In the French versions of the 12th century, the Swan Knight Elyas appears as grandfather of Godfrey of Bouillon and the central action takes place at the time of Emperor Otto in Nijmegen on the Lower Rhine. The family itself seems to have not taken the Swan Knight saga claim for themselves. The transfer of the Swan Knight saga on Brabant made ​​due to the ducal title of Lower Lorraine or the close relationship of the houses Bouillon and Brabant. The older Brabant historians such as Jacob van Maerlant or Jan van Boendale rejected the origin Sage and favored instead the lineage of the Dukes of Brabant by the Trojans. Unlike the houses Bouillon -Boulogne and the Brabant Kleve with the Swan Castle and the related houses with Kleve funds and Rieneck used an intensive Swan Memoria. In addition, other noble houses led their descent to the Swan Knight back.