Parsifal

Parsifal, mythic figure associated with Arthurian legend. Parsifal, or Sir Percivale, first appears as a prince embarked on a sacred quest for the Holy Grail in the collection of Welsh tales based on earlier tradition, known as the Mabinogion. The first work devoted entirely to the Parsifal legend is Perceval le Gallois by the 12th-century French poet Chrétien de Troyes; in this unfinished poem, Parsifal locates the Grail and heals its dying custodian. In Parzival, an epic by the 13th-century German poet Wolfram von Eschenbach, the story is given more precise form; it is on this that the German composer Richard Wagner based his opera Parsifal. The Morte d'Arthur by the 15th-century English writer Sir Thomas Malory depicts Parsifal as a knight of King Arthur's Round Table, who, with Sir Galahad and Sir Bors, finds the Holy Grail.