The Loathly Damsel

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The Loathly Damsel

Kundrie (or Kundry), the "Grail Messenger," a character who first appears in the eleventh-century romance by Chrétien de Troyes that developed the legend of the Holy Grail, Le Conte del Graal, also known as Perceval. One would imagine that the holder of the Grail would be saint-like, but Chrétien de Troyes describes her as "a damsel more hideous than could be pictured outside hell." Wolfram von Eschenbach, who elaborated on de Troyes' work, refers to her in his work as "Kundrie la Sorcière." Kundry, in Richard Wagner's music-drama "Parsifal," represents sin.

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