This novel is about Narziss, a teacher at Mariabronn, a monastery in medieval Germany. Brilliant and severe, he feels that Goldmund, his favourite pupil, will never be a scholar or a monk. Narziss helps Goldmund realize that they must each fulfill themselves in different ways. Through their story Hesse provides an insight into universal dilemmas and man's role on earth. A story of medieval monastic Germany with elements of the Dionysian and the ascetic. It has been conjectured that there is an autobiographical flavour to this masterpiece of universal dilemmas and humankind's role on earth. Translation by Geoffrey Dunlop.