Although Pillet was interested in the subject he determined to contract librettist Paul Foucher and Dietsch to create the work.
Pope John Paul II | Paul McCartney | Paul Simon | Paul Newman | Pope Paul VI | St Paul's Cathedral | Paul | Jean-Paul Sartre | Peter Paul Rubens | Paul Robeson | Paul Anka | St. Paul | Paul Hindemith | Paul Revere | Paul Weller | Paul Klee | Saint Paul | Paul Kelly | Paul Cézanne | John Paul Jones | Paul Ryan | Paul Gauguin | Paul Oakenfold | Jean Paul Gaultier | Paul the Apostle | Paul Keating | Paul Auster | Pope John Paul I | Paul Martin | Paul Whiteman |
The libretto by Paul Foucher and H. Révoil was based on Walter Scott's The Pirate as well as Captain Marryat's The Phantom Ship and other sources, although Wagner thought it was based on his scenario for Der fliegende Holländer, which he had just sold to the Opera.