Trumpet-calls arouse the men from their sleep and as they offer up their morning prayer, the chorale is heard. As they wend their way to the castle, they meet two knights preceding the bed upon which the wounded Amfortas, King of the Grail, is carried. In the subsequent dialogue, Gurnemanz tells the story of the king's mishap. He is suffering from a wound that refuses to close and which has been inflicted by the sacred spear: the spear, according to the legend, with which Jesus Christ's side was pierced.
As the story goes, Klingsor, a magician, had aspired to become a knight of the Grail, but his application was refused, for only those of holy lives could watch the sacred vessel and perform its ministrations. In revenge, Klingsor studied the magic arts and created a fairy palace, which he filled with beautiful women, whose sole duty it was to seduce the Knights of the Grail. One of these women, Kundry, a mysterious creature of wonderful fascinations, had beguiled Amfortas, who thus fell into the power of Klingsor. He lost his spear and received from it a wound which will never heal so long as the spear remains in the hands of the magician.
In a vision he has been told to wait for the one who has been appointed to cure him. A voice from the Grail tells him the following mystery: "Let a guileless fool only, knowing by compassion, await him whom I have chosen."
Meanwhile, as the shield-bearers are carrying Amfortas toward the lake, the savage, mysterious Kundry is seen flying over the fields. She overtakes Gurnemanz and gives him a balm, saying that if it will not help the king, nothing in Arabia can, and then, refusing to accept thanks or reveal her identity, sinks to the ground in weariness.
The king takes the drug with gratitude. Kundry, however, scorns thanks and sneers at those about her with savage irony. Gurnemanz's companions are about to seize her, but the old knight warns them that she is living incarnate to redress the sins of a former life and that in serving the Order of the Grail she is purchasing back her own redemption.
As Gurnemanz concludes, cries are heard in the wood, and two knights, approaching, announce that a swan, the bird sacred to the Grail, that was winging its way over the lake, and which the king had hailed as a happy omen, has been shot. Parsifal, the murderer, is dragged in. When questioned by Gurnemanz, Parsifal is unaware that he has committed any offense. To every question he only answers he does not know.
When asked who is his mother, Kundry answers for him: "His mother brought him an orphan into the world, and kept him like a fool in the forest, a stranger to arms, so that he should escape a premature death; but he fled from her and followed the wild life of nature. Her grief is over, for she is dead."
After hearing this, Parsifal flies at Kundry and seizes her by the throat. Gurnemanz, however, holds him back, and Kundry sinks down exhausted.
Gurnemanz conducts Parsifal to the temple where the holy rites of the Grail are to be performed, hoping he is the redeemer whom the Grail will disclose when the love feast of the savior is celebrated.
The scene changes to the great hall of the castle and the celebration of the feast of the Grail. As the knights enter in stately procession, they sing a pious chant in unison, the march theme still sounding. As the younger squires and pages enter, a new melody is taken in three-part harmony.
The shield-bearers bring in Amfortas upon his bed, when suddenly from a vaulted niche is heard the voice of Titurel, Amfortas's aged father, and the founder of Monsalvat, now too feeble to perform the holy offices, bidding the Grail to be uncovered.
Amfortas, mourning that he, the unholiest of them, should be called, opens a golden shrine and takes out the crystal vessel. Darkness falls upon the hall, but the Grail is illuminated with constantly increasing brilliancy, while from the dome the children's voices sing, "Take My blood in the name of our love, and take My body in remembrance of me."
He summons Kundry before him and commands her to tempt him with her spells. She struggles against the task, for in her soul the powers of good and evil are always contending for the mastery. She longs for eternal sleep and rest from her evil passions, but Klingsor holds her in his power.
Parsifal enters and the scene changes to a delightful garden filled with girls of ravishing beauty in garments of flowers. They crowd about him and seek to gain his love, but in vain. He is still the "guileless fool."
Kundry appears in all her loveliness and calls Parsifal by name, the name he had heard his mother speak. He sorrowfully sinks at Kundry's feet. The enchantress bends over him, appeals to him through his longing for his mother and kisses him. Instantly, he comprehends all that he has seen and he cries, "The wound burns in my heart, oh, torment of love!" Then, quickly rising, he spurns Kundry from him. He has gained the world-knowledge.
Kundry flies to him again and passionately exclaims, "The gift of my love would make thee divine. If this hour has made thee the redeemer, let me suffer forever, but give me thy love." He spurns her again and cries, "To all eternity thou wouldst be damned with me, if for one hour I should forget my mission," but says he will save her too and demands to know the way to Amfortas.
It is Good Friday morning, and forests and fields are bright with flowers and the verdure of spring. Gurnemanz recognizes Parsifal, and Kundry washes "the dust of his long wanderings" from his feet.
Gurnemanz recognizes the sacred spear, hails him as the King of the Grail and offers to conduct him to the great hall where the holy rites are once more to be performed. Before they leave, Parsifal's first act as the redeemer is to baptize Kundry with water from the spring.
The sound of tolling bells in the distance announces the funeral of Titurel, and the scene changes to the hall where the knights are carrying the bed upon which Amfortas lies. The knights demand Amfortas shall again uncover the Grail, but he refuses and calls upon them to destroy him and then the Grail will shine brightly for them again.
Unobserved by them, Parsifal steps forward and touches the king's wound with the spear. It is immediately healed. Next, Parsifal proclaims himself King of the Grail and orders it to be uncovered.
As Amfortas and Gurnemanz kneel to do him homage, Kundry dies at his feet in the joy of repentance. Titurel rises from his coffin and bestows a benediction.
Parsifal ascends to the altar and raises the Grail. A white dove flies down from the dome of the hall and hovers over his head, while the knights chant their praise to God: "Miracle of supreme blessing, Redemption to the Redeemer."
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