based his drama, is taken from many sources, the old Celtic legend of
King Arthur, his knights, and the Holy Grail being mixed with the
distinctively German legend of a knight who arrives in his boat drawn
by a swan. The version used by Wagner is supposed to be told by
Wolfram von Eschenbach, the Minnesinger, at one of the Wartburg
contests, and is in substance as follows: Henry I., King of Germany,
known as "the Fowler," arrives at Antwerp for the purpose of raising a
force to help him expel the Hungarians, who are threatening his
dominions. He finds Brabant in a condition of anarchy. Gottfried, the
young son of the late Duke, has mysteriously disappeared, and
Telramund, the husband of Ortrud, daughter of the Prince of Friesland,
claims the dukedom. The claimant openly charges Elsa, sister of
Gottfried, with having murdered him to obtain the sovereignty, and she
is summoned before the King to submit her cause to the ordeal of
battle between Telramund and any knight whom she may name. She
describes a champion whom she has seen in a vision, and conjures him
to appear in her behalf. After a triple summons by the heralds, he is
seen approaching on the Scheldt, in a boat drawn by a swan. Before the
combat Lohengrin betroths himself to Elsa, naming only the condition
that she shall never question him as to his name or race. She assents,
and the combat results in Telramund's defeat and public disgrace.

In the second act occur the bridal ceremonies, prior to which, moved
by Ortrud's entreaties, Elsa promises to obtain a reprieve for
Telramund from the sentence which has been pronounced against him. At
the same time Ortrud takes advantage of her success to instil doubts
into Elsa's mind as to her future happiness and the faithfulness of
Lohengrin.

In the next scene, as the bridal cortége is about to enter the