Parzival
Composed in the early thirteenth century, Wolfram von Eschenbach's Parzival is the re-creation and completion of the story left unfinished by its initiator Chretien de Troyes. It follows Parzival from his boyhood and career as a knight in the court of King Arthur to his ultimate achievement as King of the Temple of the Grail, which Wolfram describes as a life-giving Stone. As a knight serving the German nobility in the imperial Hohenstauffen period, the author was uniquely placed to describe the zest and colour of his hero's world, with dazzling depictions of courtly luxury, jousting and adventure. Yet this is not simply a tale of chivalry, but an epic quest for spiritual education, as Parzival must conquer his ignorance and pride and learn humility before he can finally win the Holy Grail.
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What Hacker News says
- Stories have always changed with the times. I studied medieval lit at university, so a salient example comes to mind immediately: Perceval, by Chretien. He died with it unfinished, but it nonetheless circulated, and there are no fewer than four "continuations," each quite clearly tied to the original; and further still, Wolfram von Eschenbach based his own Parzival (probably the greatest work of medieval German literature) on Chretien's work.
The only difference in modern times is that we're often leaving the original author's name attached, which is, admittedly, rather insidious.
- I sense the displeasure is due to a perception, which may well be correct, that certain cultural artifacts are recycled as a platform for propagating socio-political agendas. Emasculation and milk toast male characters, for example, seem to be de rigueur these days.
> Can't some popular stories grow and evolve ..
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolfram_von_Eschenbach#Parziva...
One of my all time favorite European works is Wolfram von Eschenbach's Parzival. He wasn't the original author of the legend of Percival, and there were other versions after him. It evolved, but that process took centuries and imo was an organic development.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Percival#Perceval
So I think the generally unspoken issue is who is doing the 'growing and evolving' (here: Corporations) and how are they evolving dearly beloved cultural works. Wolfram for example changed some bits and even inserted a short (rather amusing) interlude to vent his frustrations with women, but we can be certain there wasn't a committee with a social agenda sponsoring him to write that.
So, genuine development is definitely OK. At least in my book.
[pdf] https://ia800908.us.archive.org/24/items/Parzival/Parzival.p...
"If there is anyone who praises women better than I, I will surely not be the one to hold it against him..."
(See page 117 of the pdf to hear out this knight's complaints.)
