Gramoflanz

A king in Wolfram’s Parzival who ruled the fortress city of Rosche Sabins after his father Irot. His counterpart in Chrétien de Troyes’s Perceval is Guiromelant.

Gromflanz’s prowess was so great that he refused to fight less than two knights at any one time. In one battle, he killed Duke Cidegast of Logres. Cidegast’s widow, Orgeluse (Orguelleuse), then dedicated her life to finding a new husband who could exact revenge on Gramoflanz. She eventually settled on Gawain, and Gawain challenged Gramoflanz to a duel by stealing a garland from one of Gramoflanz’s trees. They arranged to fight on the field at Joflanze.

At the scheduled date, Gawain fought a long battle with Perceval, thinking he was Gramoflanz, and the real duel had to be rescheduled while Gawain recovered. Later, Gramoflanz fought against Perceval, thinking it was Gawain, and lost. Exasperated, he demanded - and rescheduled for the third time - a fight with the real Gawain.

Meanwhile, Gramoflanz had fallen in love with Gawain’s sister Itonje, who was recently released from her imprisonment at Castle of Marvels. He courted her through letters and gifts, and she eventually reciprocated his love. Realizing that any outcome of the Gawain/Gramoflanz battle would result in sorrow for Itonje, Itonje’s lady Bene (who had been acting as a go-between for Itonje and Gramoflanz), Arthur, and King Brandelidelin (Gramoflanz’s maternal uncle) conspired to convince Orgeluse, Gawain, and Gramoflanz to drop the feud. They succeeded, and Gramoflanz and Itonje were happily married.

Gramoflanz appears in the stories of Der Pleier as one of Arthur’s knights, and his credits include the war against King Ekunaver of Kanadic and the siege of Tandernas.