Red Hair & The Red Knight

Interestingly red hair pops up in relation to the medieval Parzival romance, written by the poet Wolfram von Eschenbach. Perhaps unsurprisingly in comes in the form of the Red Knight, a prominent character in the epic.

All dazzling red was his armour, the eye from its glow gleamed red:

Red was his horse swift-footed, and the plumes that should deck his head,

Of samite red its covering, redder than flame his shield;

Fair-fashioned and red his surcoat; and the spear that his hand would wield

Was red, yea, the shaft and the iron; and red at the knight's desire

Was his sword, yet the blade's fair keenness was not dimmed by the raging fire.

And the King of Cumberland, stately, in his mailed hand did hold

A goblet, with skill engraven, and wrought of the good red gold-

From the Table Round he had reft it - All red was his shining hair

Yet white was his skin...

The Ninth Century and the Holy Grail

In the book Parzival A Knightly Epic Volume 1 (of 2) (English Edition) this redness of hair and its possible relation to the Angevin royal line is commented upon (we've mentioned before on this blog the fact that many of the Plantagenet royals were said to have had red hair);

Red hair was a distinguishing characteristic of the Angevin Counts. Fulk I. derived his name of Rufus from this peculiarity, which was inherited by many of his descendants, among them Fulk V., his son Geoffrey Plantagenet, and his grandson Henry Fitz-Empress. The writer of the Parzival strongly insists on Ither's red hair [Ither von Gahevies was the name of the Red Knight].

Whilst looking into this I also came across another interesting mention of red hair. In the book The Grail Legend it mentions a tale concerning the apostle Thomas;

Another legend which was widely known and very popular in those days and which contained a similar description of a wonderful temple palace was that of Prester John which bore many resemblances to the story of Alexander. In it the temple-tomb in India where Thomas the Apostle was buried is described as a magnificent palace of gold and precious stones, illuminated by two carbuncles. The Apostle himself, with red hair and beard, lay in the tomb uncorrupted and as fresh in appearance as if he were asleep, occasionally moving his hand when devout worshippers brought offerings.