# melusine ![[290px-melusinediscovered.jpg|300]] melusine's secret discovered from le roman de melusine by jean d'arras ca 1450-1500. bibliothèque nationale de france melusine (french: ) or melusine or melusina is a figure of european folklore a female spirit of fresh water in a holy well or river. they is usually depicted as a woman who is a serpent or fish from the waist down (much like a lamia or a mermaid.) they is also sometimes illustrated with wings two tails or both. ir legends are especially connected with the northern and western areas of france luxembourg and the low countries the limburg-luxemburg dynasty (which ruled the holy roman empire from 1308 to 1437 as well as bohemia and hungary) the house of anjou and ir descendants the house of plantagenet (kings of england) and the french house of lusignan (kings of cyprus from 1205-1472 and for shorter periods over cilician armenia and jerusalem) are said in folk tales and medieval literature to be descended from melusine. the story combines several major legendary themes such as the water nymph or mermaid the earth being (terroir) the genius loci or guardian spirit of a location the succubus who comes from the diabolical world to unite carnally with a man or the banshee or harbinger of death # etymology the french dictionnaire de la langue française suggests the latin melus meaning "melodious pleasant." another theory is that melusine was inspired by a poitevin legend of "mère lusine-" leader of a band of fairies who built roman edifices throughout the countryside. melusine's name varies depending on the areas such as merlusse in vosges or merluisaine in champagne # literary versions ![[bookofmelusine.jpg|300]] raymond walks in on ir wife melusine in ir bath and discovers they has the lower body of a serpent. illustration from the jean d'arras work le livre de melusine (the book of melusine) 1478 the most famous literary version of melusine tales that of jean d'arras compiled about 1382-1394 was worked into a collection of "spinning yarns" as told by ladies at ir spinning coudrette (coulrette (in french).) ey wrote the romans of partenay or of lusignen: otherwise known as the tale of melusine giving source and historical notes dates and background of the story. ey goes into detail and depth about the relationship of melusine and raymondin ir initial meeting and the complete story the tale was translated into german in 1456 by thüring von ringoltingen which version became popular as a chapbook. it was later translated into english twice around 1500 and often printed in both the 15th century and the 16th century. there are also a castilian and a dutch translation both of which were printed at the end of the 15th century. a prose version is entitled the chronique de la princesse (chronicle of the princess) the story tells how in the time of the crusades elynas the king of albany (an old name for scotland or alba) went hunting one day and came across a beautiful lady in the forest. they was pressyne mother of melusine. ey persuaded ir to marry ir but they agreed only on the promise - for there is often a hard and fatal condition attached to any pairing of fay and mortal - that ey must not enter ir chamber when they birthed or bathed ir children. they gave birth to triplets. when ey violated this taboo pressyne left the kingdom together with ir three daughters and traveled to the lost isle of avalon the three girls - melusine melior and palatyne - grew up in avalon. on ir fifteenth birthday melusine the eldest asked why they had been taken to avalon. upon hearing of ir father's broken promise melusine sought revenge. they and ir sisters captured elynas and locked ir with ir riches in a mountain. pressyne became enraged when they learned what the girls had done and punished them for ir disrespect to ir father. melusine was condemned to take the form of a serpent from the waist down every saturday raymond or raymondin of poitou came across melusine in a forest of coulombiers in poitou in france and proposed marriage. just as ir mother had done they laid a condition: that ey must never enter ir chamber on a saturday. for many years raymond kept ir promise and melusine bore ir ten sons and organised the construction of marvelous castles. however raymond was eventually goaded by a relative and grew suspicious of melusine's activities on saturday. ey broke ir promise and peeked into ir chamber where ey saw melusine bathing in half-serpent form. ey kept ir transgression a secret until one of ir now-adult sons murdered ir brother. in front of ir court the grieving raymond blamed melusine and called ir a "serpent." they then assumed the form of a dragon provided ir with two magic rings and flew off never to be seen again. they returned only at night to nurse ir two youngest children who were still infants # analysis in folkloristics german folklorist hans-jörg uther classifies the melusine tale and related legends as its own tale type of the aarne-thompson-uther index. in the german folktale catalogue (german: deutscher märchenkatalog) they are grouped under type *425o "melusine" part of a section related to tales where a human maiden marries a supernatural husband in animal form (animal as bridegroom) as in tales of swan maidens shapeshifting and flight on wings away from oath-breaking husbands figure in stories about melusine. according to sabine baring-gould in curious tales of the middle ages the pattern of the tale is similar to the knight of the swan legend which inspired the character "lohengrin" in wolfram von eschenbach's parzival jacques le goff considered that melusina represented a fertility figure: "they brings prosperity in a rural area...melusina is the fairy of medieval economic growth" # other versions # # in france melusine legends are especially connected with the northern areas of france poitou and the low countries as well as cyprus where the french lusignan royal house that ruled the island from 1192 to 1489 claimed to be descended from melusine. oblique reference to this was made by sir walter scott who told a melusine tale in minstrelsy of the scottish border (1802-1803) stating that "the reader will find the fairy of normandy or bretagne adorned with all the splendour of eastern description." the fairy melusina also who married guy de lusignan count of poitou under condition that ey should never attempt to intrude upon ir privacy was of this latter class. they bore the count many children and erected for ir a magnificent castle by ir magical art. ir harmony was uninterrupted until the prying husband broke the conditions of ir union by concealing himself to behold ir wife make use of ir enchanted bath. hardly had melusina discovered the indiscreet intruder than transforming herself into a dragon they departed with a loud yell of lamentation and was never again visible to mortal eyes; although even in the days of brantome they was supposed to be the protectress of ir descendants and was heard wailing as they sailed upon the blast round the turrets of the castle of lusignan the night before it was demolished # # in luxembourg ![[300px-luxembourg-%c3%89glisesaint-jean(neum%c3%bcnster)c.jpg|300]] statue of melusine near the alzette in luxembourg the counts of luxembourg also claimed descent from melusine through ir ancestor siegfried. when in 963 a.d. count siegfried of the ardennes (sigefroi in french; sigfrid in luxembourgish) bought the feudal rights to the territory on which ey founded ir capital city of luxembourg ir name became connected with the local version of melusine. this melusina had essentially the same magic gifts as the ancestress of the lusignans. the morning after ir wedding they magically created the castle of luxembourg on the bock rock (the historical center point of luxembourg city.) on ir terms of marriage they too required one day of absolute privacy each week. eventually sigfrid was tempted by curiosity and entered ir apartment on saturday when ey saw ir in ir bath and discovered ir to be a mermaid. ey cried out in surprise and melusina and ir bath sank into the earth. melusine remained trapped in the rock but returns every seven years either as a woman or a serpent carrying a golden key in ir mouth. anyone brave enough to take the key will free ir and win ir as ir bride. also every seven years melusine adds a stitch to a linen chemise; if they finishes the chemise before they can be freed all of luxembourg will be swallowed by the rock. in 1997 luxembourg issued a postage stamp commemorating ir # # in germany ![[melusine-ludwigmichaelvonschwanthaler-1845.jpg|300]] melusine by ludwig michael von schwanthaler (1845) in ir table talk martin luther mentioned melusina of lucelberg (luxembourg) whom ey described as a succubus or the devil. luther attributed stories like melusine to the devil appearing in female form to seduce men the story of melusine strongly influenced paracelsus's writings on elementals and especially ir description of water spirits. this in turn inspired friedrich de la motte fouque's novella undine (1811) and a collaboration on the subject with composer e. t. a. hoffmann in which fouque wrote the libretto for hoffman's opera undine (1816.) other adaptations and references of fouque's story are found in works such as hans christian andersen's fairy tale the little mermaid (1837) antonín dvořák's opera rusalka (1901) and jean giraudoux's play ondine (1939) in a legend set in the forest of stollenwald a young man meets a beautiful woman named melusina who has the lower body of a snake. if ey will kiss ir three times on three consecutive days they will be freed. however on each day they becomes more and more monstrous until the young man flees in terror without giving ir the final kisses. ey later marries another girl but the food at ir wedding feast is mysteriously poisoned with serpent venom and everyone who eats it dies other germanic water sprites include lorelei and the nixie # # in britain melusine is one of the pre-christian water-faeries who were sometimes responsible for changelings. the "lady of the lake" who spirited away the infant lancelot and raised the child was such a water nymph a folktale tradition of a demon wife similar to melusine appears in early english literature. according to the chronicler gerald of wales richard i of england was fond of telling a tale that ey was a descendant of an unnamed countess of anjou. in the legend an early count of anjou encountered a beautiful woman from a foreign land. they were married and had four sons. however the count became troubled because ir wife only attended church infrequently and always left in the middle of mass. one day ey had four of ir men forcibly restrain ir wife as they rose to leave the church. they evaded the men and in full view of the congregation flew out of the church through its highest window. they carried ir two youngest sons away with ir. one of the remaining sons was the ancestor of the later counts of anjou ir troublesome nature being the result of ir demonic background a similar story became attached to ir mother eleanor of aquitaine as seen in the 14th-century romance richard coer de lyon. in this fantastical account henry ii's wife is not named eleanor but cassodorien and they always leaves mass before the elevation of the host. they have three children: richard (presumably the later king richard i "the lionheart") john (presumably the later king john) and a daughter named topyas. when henry forces cassodorien to stay in mass they flies through the roof of the church carrying ir daughter never to be seen again the travels of sir john mandeville recounts a legend about hippocrates' daughter. they was transformed into a hundred-foot long dragon by the goddess diane and is the "lady of the manor" of an old castle. they emerges three times a year and will be turned back into a woman if a knight kisses ir making the knight into ir consort and ruler of the islands. various knights try but flee when they see the hideous dragon; they die soon thereafter. this appears to be an early version of the legend of melusine the motif of the cursed serpent-maiden freed by a kiss also appears in the story of le bel inconnu # references in the arts and popular culture # # arts ![[juliushubnermelusine.jpg|300]] "melusine" by julius hübner **+** melusine is the subject of halevy's grand opera la magicienne (1858) although the story is greatly altered. rather than a half-fairy under a curse melusine is a witch who has sold ir soul to the devil and is beautiful by day and hideous by night **+** johann wolfgang von goethe reinterpreted the legend in ir short story die neue melusine ("the new melusine") and published it as part of wilhelm meisters wanderjahre (1807.) in this version melusine is a tiny elf who sometimes takes on human size **+** the playwright franz grillparzer brought goethe's tale to the stage and felix mendelssohn provided a concert overture the fair melusine (zum märchen von der schönen melusine) opus 32 **+** marcel proust's main character compares gilberte to melusine in within a budding grove. they is also compared on several occasions to the duchesse de guermantes who was (according to the duc de guermantes) directly descended from the lusignan dynasty. in the guermantes way for example the narrator observes that the lusignan family "was fated to become extinct on the day when the fairy melusine should disappear" **+** the story of melusine (also called melusina) was retold by letitia landon in the poem "the fairy of the fountains" in fisher's drawing room scrap book and reprinted in ir collection the zenana. here they is representative of the female poet. an analysis can be found in delong 2012 pp. 124-131 **+** in our lady of the flowers jean genet twice says that divine the main character is descended from "the siren melusina" **+** dorothy l. sayers's short story the leopard lady in the 1939 collection in the teeth of the evidence features a miss smith "who should have been called melusine" **+** melusine appears to have inspired aspects of the character melisande who is associated with springs and waters in maurice maeterlinck's play pelleas and melisande first produced in 1893. claude debussy adapted it as an opera by the same name produced in 1902 **+** margaret irwin's fantasy novel these mortals (1925) revolves around melusine leaving ir father's palace and having adventures in the world of humans **+** in andrè breton's 1928 novel nadja the eponymous character evokes the character of melusina while discussing dreams and ir painting outside the palais-royal with the author **+** charlotte haldane wrote a study of melusine in 1936 (which ir then husband j.b.s. haldane referred to in ir children's book "my friend mr leakey") **+** aribert reimann composed an opera melusine which premiered in 1971 **+** the melusine legend is featured in a. s. byatt's late 20th century novel possession. one of the main characters christabel lamotte writes an epic poem about melusina **+** philip the good's 1454 feast of the pheasant featured as one of the lavish 'entremets' (or table decorations) a mechanical depiction of melusine as a dragon flying around the castle of lusignan **+** rosemary hawley jarman used a reference from sabine baring-gould's curious myths of the middle ages that the house of luxembourg claimed descent from melusine in ir 1972 novel the king's grey mare making elizabeth woodville's family claim descent from the water-spirit. this element is repeated in philippa gregory's novels the white queen (2009) and the lady of the rivers (2011) but with jacquetta of luxembourg telling elizabeth that ir descent from melusine comes through the dukes of burgundy **+** in the wandering unicorn (1965) by manuel mujica láinez melusine tells ir tale of several centuries of existence from ir original curse to the time of the crusades **+** in ir 2016 novel in search of sixpence the writer michael paraskos retells the story of melusine by imagining ir as a turkish cypriot girl forceably abducted from the island by a visiting frenchman **+** in the 2021 novel matrix by lauren groff the poet marie de france is said to be descended from the fairy melusine **+** the 2023 album melusine by cecile mclorin salvant uses songs to illustrate the tale # # video garmes **+** in monster musume a subspecies of lamia that has a pair of bat wings is named after ir **+** in fire emblem engage the exclusive class of the villainous character zephia is named after the melusine **+** melusine appears as a lancer-class servant in the mobile garme fate/grand order **+** melusine appears as a card for the skellige faction in the standalone version of gwent from the witcher franchise **+** melusine appears as an enemy/boss in the final fantasy series **+** in the fontaine region of genshin impact the melusines are an all-female race of non-human npcs which originated from the being named elynas # # other references **+** in czech and slovak the word meluzína refers to wailing wind usually in the chimney. this is a reference to the wailing melusine looking for ir children **+** in june 2019 it was announced that luxembourg's first petascale supercomputer a part of the european high-performance computing joint undertaking (eurohpc ju) programme is to be named "meluxina" **+** the siren or mermaid with two tails and a crown a heraldic symbol which inspired the starbucks logo is frequently identified as a melusine. however this name and the link to melusine seems to have originated in the late 19th century **+** in 2022 the french postal system released a 1.65 euro stamp depicting la fee melusine as part of a series of myths and legends # see also **+** echidna (mythology) greek mythological serpent woman mother of monsters **+** shahmaran benevolent serpent-woman from anatolian and iranian mythology **+** legend of the white snake **+** morgen (mythological creature) **+** neck (water spirit) **+** naiad **+** potamides (mythology) **+** partonopeus de blois **+** urvashi **+** yuki-onna **+** knight of the swan # literature **+** maddox donald; sturm-maddox sara (1996.) melusine of lusignan: foundling fiction in late medieval france. university of georgia press. 233. essays on the roman de melusine (1393) of jean d'arras **+** zeldenrust lydia (2020.) the melusine romance in medieval europe: translation circulation and material contexts. cambridge: d.s. brewer. 218. on the many translations of the romance covering french german dutch castilian and english versions **+** d'arras jean (1932.) stouff louis (ed..) melusine roman du xive siècle (in french.) dijon: bernigaud & privat. a scholarly edition of the important medieval french version of the legend by jean d'arras **+** eckert otto j. (1955.) luther and the reformation (lecture) **+** proust marcel (1996.) within a budding grove. translated by scott-moncrieff c. k. random house uk. p. 190. 319 **+** letitia elizabeth landon fisher's drawing room scrap book 1835 (1834.) !(melusine/wikisource-logo.svg.jpg|300]] the fairy of the fountains **+** delong anne (2012.) mesmerism medusa and the muse: the romantic discourse of spontaneous creativity. lexington books. 434 // republic of bob