Nightbringer | The Arthurian Online Encyclopedia

Feirefiz of India

Feirefiss

In Wolfram’s Parzifal, Perceval’s heathen half-brother – the son of Gahmuret and his first wife, Queen Belacane of Zazamanc. Since he had one white and one black parent, Feirefiz was a pie-bald. Appropriately, his name seems to be a variation of vairs fiz, meaning “partly-colored son”.

Feirefiz, being one of the House of Anjou, was a magnificent knight. While Perceval was winning honor and acclaim in Britain, Feirefiz was enjoying a comparable set of adventures in Heathendom, saving lands – such as Janfuse and Thabronit – winning the love of queens – such as Ekuba and Secundille – and assembling an impressive suite of kings, counts, and dukes in his service.

In time, he traveled to Britain to find his father, not aware that his father had been dead for some time. He encountered Perceval and the two fought a magnificent, exhausting battle before Perceval’s sword broke, pausing the duel long enough for the two warriors to identify each other and rejoice at their acquaintance.

Feirefiz accompanied Perceval to the Grail Castle of Munsalvæsche and was in attendance when Perceval was anointed the Grail King. At the ceremonies, it was discovered that Feirefiz could not see the Grail because he was a heathen; Feirefiz decided to receive baptism so that he might see the Grail and so that he might be worthy to marry the Grail MaidenRepanse de Schoye.

After he was Christened, he and Repanse were married. The two departed to rule India, where they had a son, the legendary Prester John.


Source
Parzival | Wolfram von Eschenbach, 1200–1210