by Hermann Hesse · 1930
In a medieval German monastery, the ascetic young scholar Narcissus recognizes that his gifted student Goldmund is not made for the cloistered life of the mind, and sets him free to wander. Goldmund roams the countryside as a lover, artist, and vagabond, pursuing sensual experience and the mystery of a maternal, life-giving world, before the two friends reunite. The novel counterpolarizes intellect and art, spirit and nature, in a meditation on the paths a soul may take toward meaning.