
Mélusine () or Melusine or Melusina is a figure of
European folklore, a
female spirit of fresh water in a
holy well
A holy well or sacred spring is a well, Spring (hydrosphere), spring or small pool of water revered either in a Christianity, Christian or Paganism, pagan context, sometimes both. The water of holy wells is often thought to have healing qualitie ...
or river. She is usually depicted as a woman who is a
serpent or
fish
A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...
from the waist down (much like a
lamia or a
mermaid). She is also sometimes illustrated with wings, two tails, or both. Her legends are especially connected with the northern and western areas of France, Luxembourg, and the
Low Countries
The Low Countries (; ), historically also known as the Netherlands (), is a coastal lowland region in Northwestern Europe forming the lower Drainage basin, basin of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta and consisting today of the three modern "Bene ...
.
The
Limburg-Luxemburg dynasty (which ruled the
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...
from 1308 to 1437 as well as
Bohemia
Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...
and
Hungary
Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...
), the
House of Anjou and their descendants the
House of Plantagenet
The House of Plantagenet (Help:IPA/English, /plænˈtædʒənət/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''plan-TAJ-ə-nət'') was a royal house which originated from the Medieval France, French county of Anjou. The name Plantagenet is used by mo ...
(kings of England), and the French
House of Lusignan (kings of
Cyprus
Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...
from 1205–1472, and for shorter periods over
Cilician Armenia
The Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, also known as Cilician Armenia, Lesser Armenia, Little Armenia or New Armenia, and formerly known as the Armenian Principality of Cilicia, was an Armenians, Armenian state formed during the High Middle Ages b ...
and
Jerusalem
Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...
) are said in folk tales and
medieval literature
Medieval literature is a broad subject, encompassing essentially all written works available in Europe and beyond during the Middle Ages (that is, the one thousand years from the fall of the Western Roman Empire ca. AD 500 to the beginning of t ...
to be descended from Melusine. The story combines several major legendary themes, such as the
Nereids
In Greek mythology, the Nereids or Nereides ( ; ; , also Νημερτές) are sea nymphs (female spirits of sea waters), the 50 daughters of the 'Old Man of the Sea' Nereus and the Oceanids, Oceanid Doris (Oceanid), Doris, sisters to their bro ...
,
Naiad
In Greek mythology, the naiads (; ), sometimes also hydriads, are a type of female spirit, or nymph, presiding over fountains, wells, springs, streams, brooks and other bodies of fresh water.
They are distinct from river gods, who embodied ...
, water
nymph
A nymph (; ; sometimes spelled nymphe) is a minor female nature deity in ancient Greek folklore. Distinct from other Greek goddesses, nymphs are generally regarded as personifications of nature; they are typically tied to a specific place, land ...
or mermaid, the earth being (
terroir
(; ; from ''terre'', ) is a French language, French term used to describe the environmental factors that affect a crop's phenotype, including unique environment contexts, farming practices and a crop's specific growth habitat. Collectively, th ...
), 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

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 their spinning
coudrette. He 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. He goes into detail and depth about the relationship of Melusine and Raymondin, their 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
A chapbook is a type of small printed booklet that was a popular medium for street literature throughout early modern Europe. Chapbooks were usually produced cheaply, illustrated with crude woodcuts and printed on a single sheet folded into 8, 1 ...
. 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, Elinas, the
King
King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...
of
Albany (an old name for
Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
or the Kingdom of Alba), goes out
hunting
Hunting is the Human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, and killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to obtain the animal's body for meat and useful animal products (fur/hide (sk ...
in the
forest
A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...
to cope with the death of his wife with whom he has one son named Nathas. Elinas comes across the Well of Thirst where he meets a beautiful
fay named Pressine. The two fall in love and when Elinas
proposes to Pressine, she agrees, but only if he swears to never see her when she births or bathes their children; Elinas promises and he and Pressine marry. Later, Pressine gives birth to
triplet girls named Melusine, Melior, and Palatine. When Nathas informs his father the news, he breaks his promise, causing Pressine to leave the kingdom with their three daughters and move to the lost Isle of
Avalon.
The three sisters grow up in Avalon, their mother bringing them atop a mountain every morning to look at the kingdom that would have been their home. On their fifteenth birthday, Melusine, the eldest, asks her mother why she and her sisters had been taken from Alba. Upon hearing of their father's broken promise, Melusine seeks revenge and convinces her sisters to aid her. Using their
magical powers, Elinas' daughters lock him, with his riches, in a mountain called Brandelois. Pressine becomes enraged when she learns what her daughters have done for despite breaking his promise, Elinas was her husband and the triplets' father. To punish her daughters for
killing their own father, Pressine imprisons Palatine in the same mountain as Elinas, seals Melior inside a
castle
A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...
for all her life, and banishes Melusine, the instigator, from Avalon and also
cursing her to
take the form of a two-tailed serpent from the waist down every
Saturday
Saturday is the day of the week between Friday and Sunday. No later than the 2nd century, the Romans named Saturday ("Saturn's Day") for the god Saturn. His planet, Saturn, controlled the first hour of that day, according to Vettius Valens. T ...
. If a man ever marries Melusine, he must never see her on Saturdays: if he keeps the oath, Melusine will live a contented life with him, but if he breaks it and violates her privacy, she will stay a serpent and appear to the Noble House in her monstrous form and spend three days lamenting whenever a descendant dies or the fortress changes hands.
Melusine settles in a forest of Coulombiers by a stream near
Poitiers
Poitiers is a city on the river Clain in west-central France. It is a commune in France, commune, the capital of the Vienne (department), Vienne department and the historical center of Poitou, Poitou Province. In 2021, it had a population of 9 ...
(or
Poitou
Poitou ( , , ; ; Poitevin: ''Poetou'') was a province of west-central France whose capital city was Poitiers. Both Poitou and Poitiers are named after the Pictones Gallic tribe.
Geography
The main historical cities are Poitiers (historical ...
in some versions) in
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
. The distraught
Count
Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...
Raymondin of Poitiers comes across Melusine after accidentally killing his uncle. Melusine consoles Raymondin and when he proposes to her, she lays down a condition just as her mother had done: that he must never see her on a Saturday. For ten years Raymondin keeps his promise, and Melusine bears him ten sons (which some versions describe as being
deformed yet still loved by their parents) and organizes the construction of marvelous castles, giving her husband wealth, land, and power. However, Raymondin is eventually goaded by his family and grows suspicious of Melusine always spending Saturday by herself and never attending
Mass
Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...
. He breaks his promise and peeks into her chamber, where he sees Melusine bathing in half-serpent form. He keeps his transgression a secret, until one of their now-adult sons
murders his brother. In front of his court, the grieving Raymondin blames Melusine and calls her a "serpent." She then assumes the form of a
dragon
A dragon is a Magic (supernatural), magical legendary creature that appears in the folklore of multiple cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but European dragon, dragons in Western cultures since the Hi ...
, provides him with two
magic rings, and flies off, never to be seen again. She returns only at night to nurse her two youngest children, who are still infants.
Analysis
In
folkloristics
Folklore studies (also known as folkloristics, tradition studies or folk life studies in the UK) is the academic discipline devoted to the study of folklore. This term, along with its synonyms, gained currency in the 1950s to distinguish the ac ...
, 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
In folkloristics, "The Animal as Bridegroom" refers to a group of folk and fairy tales about a human woman marrying or being betrothed to an animal. The animal is revealed to be a human prince in Shapeshifting#Monstrous bride/bridegroom, disguise o ...
).
As in tales of
swan maidens,
shapeshifting
In mythology, folklore and speculative fiction, shapeshifting is the ability to physically transform oneself through unnatural means. The idea of shapeshifting is found in the oldest forms of totemism and shamanism, as well as the oldest existen ...
and flight on wings away from oath-breaking husbands figure in stories about Mélusine. According to
Sabine Baring-Gould
Sabine Baring-Gould (; 28 January 1834 – 2 January 1924) of Lew Trenchard in Devon, England, was an Anglican priest, hagiographer, antiquarian, novelist, folk song collector and eclectic scholar. His bibliography consists of more than 1,240 pu ...
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
Lohengrin () is a character in German Arthurian literature. The son of Parzival (Percival), he is a knight of the Holy Grail sent in a boat pulled by swans to rescue a maiden who can never ask his identity. His story, which first appears in Wo ...
" in
Wolfram von Eschenbach
Wolfram von Eschenbach (; – ) was a German knight, poet and composer, regarded as one of the greatest epic poets of medieval German literature. As a Minnesinger, he also wrote lyric poetry.
Life
Little is known of Wolfram's life. Ther ...
's ''
Parzival
''Parzival'' () is a medieval chivalric romance by the poet and knight Wolfram von Eschenbach in Middle High German. The poem, commonly dated to the first quarter of the 13th century, centers on the Arthurian hero Parzival (Percival in English) ...
''.
Jacques Le Goff
Jacques Le Goff (; 1 January 1924 – 1 April 2014) was a French historian and prolific author specializing in the Middle Ages, particularly the 12th and 13th centuries.
Le Goff championed the Annales School movement, which emphasizes long-term ...
considered that Melusina represented a fertility figure: "she 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
Poitou ( , , ; ; Poitevin: ''Poetou'') was a province of west-central France whose capital city was Poitiers. Both Poitou and Poitiers are named after the Pictones Gallic tribe.
Geography
The main historical cities are Poitiers (historical ...
and the
Low Countries
The Low Countries (; ), historically also known as the Netherlands (), is a coastal lowland region in Northwestern Europe forming the lower Drainage basin, basin of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta and consisting today of the three modern "Bene ...
, as well as Cyprus, where the French
Lusignan
The House of Lusignan ( ; ) was a royal house of French origin, which at various times ruled several principalities in Europe and the Levant, including the kingdoms of Jerusalem, Cyprus, and Armenia, from the 12th through the 15th centuries du ...
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
Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European literature, European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'' (18 ...
who told a Melusine tale in ''
Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border
''Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border'' is an anthology of Border ballads, together with some from north-east Scotland and a few modern literary ballads, edited by Walter Scott. It was first published by Archibald Constable in Edinburgh in 1 ...
'' (1802–1803) stating that "the reader will find the fairy of
Normandy
Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy.
Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...
, 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 he should never attempt to intrude upon her privacy, was of this latter class. She bore the count many children, and erected for him a magnificent castle by her magical art. Their harmony was uninterrupted until the prying husband broke the conditions of their union, by concealing himself to behold his wife make use of her enchanted bath. Hardly had Melusina discovered the indiscreet intruder, than, transforming herself into a dragon, she departed with a loud yell of lamentation, and was never again visible to mortal eyes; although, even in the days of
Brantôme, she was supposed to be the protectress of her descendants, and was heard wailing as she sailed upon the blast round the turrets of the
castle of Lusignan the night before it was demolished.
In Luxembourg
The
Counts of Luxembourg
The County of Luxembourg (; ) was a State of the Holy Roman Empire. It arose from medieval '' Lucilinburhuc'' ("Little Fortress") Castle in the present-day City of Luxembourg, purchased by Siegfried, Count of the Ardennes in 963. His descen ...
also claimed descent from Melusine through their ancestor
Siegfried
Siegfried is a German-language male given name, composed from the Germanic elements ''sig'' "victory" and ''frithu'' "protection, peace".
The German name has the Old Norse cognate ''Sigfriðr, Sigfrøðr'', which gives rise to Swedish ''Sigfrid' ...
.
When in 963 A.D. Count Siegfried of the
Ardennes
The Ardennes ( ; ; ; ; ), also known as the Ardennes Forest or Forest of Ardennes, is a region of extensive forests, rough terrain, rolling hills and ridges primarily in Belgium and Luxembourg, extending into Germany and France.
Geological ...
(''Sigefroi'' in French; ''Sigfrid'' in Luxembourgish) bought the feudal rights to the territory on which he founded his capital city of
Luxembourg
Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...
, his 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 their wedding, she magically created the Castle of Luxembourg on the
Bock
Bock () is a strong German beer, usually a dark lager.
History
The style now known as ''Bock'' was first brewed in the 14th century in the Hanseatic town of Einbeck in Lower Saxony.
The style was later adopted in Bavaria by Munich brewers ...
rock (the historical center point of Luxembourg City). On her terms of marriage, she too required one day of absolute privacy each week. Eventually Sigfrid was tempted by curiosity and entered her apartment on Saturday, when he saw her in her bath and discovered her to be a mermaid. He cried out in surprise, and Melusina and her 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 her mouth. Anyone brave enough to take the key will free her and win her as his bride. Also every seven years, Melusine adds a stitch to a linen chemise; if she finishes the chemise before she can be freed, all of Luxembourg will be swallowed by the rock. In 1997, Luxembourg issued a postage stamp commemorating her.
In Germany

In his
Table Talk,
Martin Luther
Martin Luther ( ; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, Theology, theologian, author, hymnwriter, professor, and former Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. Luther was the seminal figure of the Reformation, Pr ...
mentioned Melusina of Lucelberg (Luxembourg), whom he 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
Paracelsus (; ; 1493 – 24 September 1541), born Theophrastus von Hohenheim (full name Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim), was a Swiss physician, alchemist, lay theologian, and philosopher of the German Renaissance.
H ...
's writings on
elementals and especially his description of water spirits. This, in turn, inspired
Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué's
novella
A novella is a narrative prose fiction whose length is shorter than most novels, but longer than most novelettes and short stories. The English word ''novella'' derives from the Italian meaning a short story related to true (or apparently so) ...
''Undine'' (1811), and a collaboration on the subject with composer
E. T. A. Hoffmann, in which Fouqué wrote the libretto for Hoffman's opera
''Undine'' (1816). Other adaptations and references of Fouqué's story are found in works such as
Hans Christian Andersen
Hans Christian Andersen ( , ; 2 April 1805 – 4 August 1875) was a Danish author. Although a prolific writer of plays, travelogue (literature), travelogues, novels, and poems, he is best remembered for his literary fairy tales.
Andersen's fai ...
's fairy tale
The Little Mermaid
"The Little Mermaid" (), sometimes translated in English as "The Little Sea Maid", is a fairy tale written by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. Originally published in 1837 as part of a collection of fairy tales for children, the story foll ...
(1837),
Antonín Dvořák
Antonín Leopold Dvořák ( ; ; 8September 18411May 1904) was a Czech composer. He frequently employed rhythms and other aspects of the folk music of Moravia and his native Bohemia, following the Romantic-era nationalist example of his predec ...
's opera ''
Rusalka
In Slavic folklore, the rusalka (plural: rusalki; , plural: русалки; , plural: ''rusałki'') is a female entity, often malicious toward mankind and frequently associated with water. It has counterparts in other parts of Europe, such as th ...
'' (1901), and
Jean Giraudoux
Hippolyte Jean Giraudoux (; ; 29 October 1882 – 31 January 1944) was a French novelist, essayist, diplomat and playwright. He is considered among the most important French dramatists of the period between World War I and World War II.
His wo ...
'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 he will kiss her three times on three consecutive days, she will be freed. However, on each day she becomes more and more monstrous, until the young man flees in terror without giving her the final kisses. He later marries another girl, but the food at their wedding feast is mysteriously poisoned with serpent venom and everyone who eats it dies.
Other Germanic water sprites include
Lorelei
The Lorelei ( ; or , or ; also found as ''Loreleï'', ''Lore Lay'', ''Lore-Ley'', ''Lurley'', ''Lurelei'' and ''Lurlei'' throughout history) is a , steep slate rock on the right bank of the River Rhine in the Rhine Gorge (or Middle Rhine) at ...
and the
nixie.
In Britain
Melusine is one of the pre-Christian water-faeries who were sometimes responsible for
changeling
A changeling, also historically referred to as an auf or oaf, is a human-like creature found throughout much of European folklore. According to folklore, a changeling was a substitute left by a supernatural being when kidnapping a human being. ...
s. The "
Lady of the Lake
The Lady of the Lake (, , , , ) is a title used by multiple characters in the Matter of Britain, the body of medieval literature and mythology associated with the legend of King Arthur. As either actually fairy or fairy-like yet human enchantres ...
", who spirited away the infant
Lancelot
Lancelot du Lac (French for Lancelot of the Lake), alternatively written as Launcelot and other variants, is a popular character in the Matter of Britain, Arthurian legend's chivalric romance tradition. He is typically depicted as King Arthu ...
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
Gerald of Wales (; ; ; ) was a Cambro-Norman priest and historian. As a royal clerk to the king and two archbishops, he travelled widely and wrote extensively. He studied and taught in France and visited Rome several times, meeting the Pope. He ...
,
Richard I of England
Richard I (8 September 1157 – 6 April 1199), known as Richard the Lionheart or Richard Cœur de Lion () because of his reputation as a great military leader and warrior, was King of England from 1189 until his death in 1199. He also ru ...
was fond of telling a tale that he 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 his wife only attended church infrequently, and always left in the middle of Mass. One day he had four of his men forcibly restrain his wife as she rose to leave the church. She evaded the men and, in full view of the congregation, flew out of the church through its highest window. She was Melusine, daughter of Satan. She carried her two youngest sons away with her. One of the remaining sons was the ancestor of the later
Counts of Anjou
The Count of Anjou was the ruler of the County of Anjou, first granted by King Charles the Bald, Charles the Bald of West Francia in the 9th century to Robert the Strong. Ingelger and his son, Fulk the Red, were viscounts until Fulk assumed the t ...
, whose violent tempers were the result of their demonic background.
A similar story became attached to his mother
Eleanor of Aquitaine
Eleanor of Aquitaine ( or ; ; , or ; – 1 April 1204) was Duchess of Aquitaine from 1137 to 1204, Queen of France from 1137 to 1152 as the wife of King Louis VII, and Queen of England from 1154 to 1189 as the wife of King Henry II. As ...
, as seen in the 14th-century romance ''
Richard Coer de Lyon''. In this fantastical account,
Henry II
Henry II may refer to:
Kings
* Saint Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor (972–1024), crowned King of Germany in 1002, of Italy in 1004 and Emperor in 1014
*Henry II of England (1133–89), reigned from 1154
*Henry II of Jerusalem and Cyprus (1271–1 ...
's wife is not named Eleanor but Cassodorien, and she always leaves Mass before the elevation of the Host. They have three children: Richard (presumably the later
King Richard I
Richard I (8 September 1157 – 6 April 1199), known as Richard the Lionheart or Richard Cœur de Lion () because of his reputation as a great military leader and warrior, was King of England from 1189 until his death in 1199. He also ru ...
, "The Lionheart"), John (presumably the later
King John), and a daughter named Topyas. When Henry forces Cassodorien to stay in Mass, she flies through the roof of the church carrying her daughter, never to be seen again.
Related legends
''
The Travels of Sir John Mandeville'' recounts a legend about
Hippocrates
Hippocrates of Kos (; ; ), also known as Hippocrates II, was a Greek physician and philosopher of the Classical Greece, classical period who is considered one of the most outstanding figures in the history of medicine. He is traditionally referr ...
' daughter. She was transformed into a hundred-foot-long
dragon
A dragon is a Magic (supernatural), magical legendary creature that appears in the folklore of multiple cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but European dragon, dragons in Western cultures since the Hi ...
by the goddess
Diane, and is the "lady of the manor" of an old castle. She emerges three times a year, and will be turned back into a woman if a knight kisses her, making the knight into her 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 (known as the ''fier baiser'' ("Proud/Fearsome Kiss")) also appears in the
Arthurian romance
The Matter of Britain (; ; ; ) is the body of medieval literature and legendary material associated with Great Britain and Brittany and the legendary kings and heroes associated with it, particularly King Arthur. The 12th-century writer Geoffr ...
entitled
Le Bel Inconnu and the
Northumbria
Northumbria () was an early medieval Heptarchy, kingdom in what is now Northern England and Scottish Lowlands, South Scotland.
The name derives from the Old English meaning "the people or province north of the Humber", as opposed to the Sout ...
n
ballad
A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Eur ...
of
The Laidly Worm of Spindleston Heugh. This motif forms a variant, or subset, of the motif of the
Loathly Lady
The loathly lady (, Motif D732 in Aarne–Thompson classification system, Stith Thompson's motif index), is a tale type commonly used in medieval literature, most famously in Geoffrey Chaucer's ''The Wife of Bath's Tale''. The motif is that of a ...
disenchanted, (and thus returned to her comely form) by the action of a hero brave enough to approach her, despite her fearsomely ugly appearance.
References in the arts and popular culture
Arts
*
Philip the Good
Philip III the Good (; ; 31 July 1396 – 15 June 1467) ruled as Duke of Burgundy from 1419 until his death in 1467. He was a member of a cadet line of the Valois dynasty, to which all 15th-century kings of France belonged. During his reign, ...
's 1454
Feast of the Pheasant
The Feast of the Pheasant () was a banquet given by Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy on 17 February 1454 in Lille, now in France. Its purpose was to promote a crusade against the Turks, who had taken Constantinople the year before. The crus ...
featured as one of the lavish 'entremets' (or table decorations) a mechanical depiction of Melusine as a dragon flying around the castle of
Lusignan
The House of Lusignan ( ; ) was a royal house of French origin, which at various times ruled several principalities in Europe and the Levant, including the kingdoms of Jerusalem, Cyprus, and Armenia, from the 12th through the 15th centuries du ...
.
*
Felix Mendelssohn
Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic music, Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions inc ...
wrote his concert overture ''
The Fair Melusine'' in 1834 after seeing
Conradin Kreutzer's opera ''Melusina'' the previous year.
* 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 her 1834 collection ''The Zenana''. Here she is representative of the female poet. An analysis can be found in .
*
Marcel Proust
Valentin Louis Georges Eugène Marcel Proust ( ; ; 10 July 1871 – 18 November 1922) was a French novelist, literary critic, and essayist who wrote the novel (in French – translated in English as ''Remembrance of Things Past'' and more r ...
's main character compares Gilberte to Melusine in ''Within a Budding Grove'' (1919). She 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".
*
Margaret Irwin's fantasy novel ''These Mortals'' (1925) revolves around Melusine leaving her father's palace, and having adventures in the world of humans.
*
Dorothy L. Sayers
Dorothy Leigh Sayers ( ; 13 June 1893 – 17 December 1957) was an English crime novelist, playwright, translator and critic.
Born in Oxford, Sayers was brought up in rural East Anglia and educated at Godolphin School in Salisbury and Somerv ...
'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".
* In ''
Our Lady of the Flowers'',
Jean Genet
Jean Genet (; ; – ) was a French novelist, playwright, poet, essayist, and political activist. In his early life he was a vagabond and petty criminal, but he later became a writer and playwright. His major works include the novels '' The Th ...
twice says that Divine, the main character, is descended from "the siren Melusina".
*
Maleficent
Maleficent ( or ) is a fictional character who first appears in Walt Disney Productions' animated film, ''Sleeping Beauty (1959 film), Sleeping Beauty'' (1959). Maleficent is the self-proclaimed "Dark lord, Mistress of All Evil" based on the Wic ...
, the villain of Disney's ''
Sleeping Beauty
"Sleeping Beauty" (, or ''The Beauty Sleeping in the Wood''; , or ''Little Briar Rose''), also titled in English as ''The Sleeping Beauty in the Woods'', is a fairy tale about a princess curse, cursed by an evil fairy to suspended animation in fi ...
'' (1959), is theorized by some scholars and historians to have been based on Mélusine, especially in the
2014 live-action film of the same name.
*
The Wandering Unicorn is a 1965
fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures.
The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...
novel by
Manuel Mujica Lainez, based on the legend of Melusine, and narrated from her perspective.
*
Rosemary Hawley Jarman
Rosemary Hawley Jarman (27 April 1935 – 17 March 2015) was an English novelist and writer of short stories. Her first novel in 1971 shed light on King Richard III of England.
Life
Jarman was born in Worcester, England, Worcester. She was educa ...
used a reference from
Sabine Baring-Gould
Sabine Baring-Gould (; 28 January 1834 – 2 January 1924) of Lew Trenchard in Devon, England, was an Anglican priest, hagiographer, antiquarian, novelist, folk song collector and eclectic scholar. His bibliography consists of more than 1,240 pu ...
's ''Curious Myths of the Middle Ages'' that the
House of Luxembourg
The House of Luxembourg (; ; ) or Luxembourg dynasty was a royal family of the Holy Roman Empire in the Late Middle Ages, whose members between 1308 and 1437 ruled as kings of Germany and Holy Roman emperors as well as kings of Bohemia, List of r ...
claimed descent from Melusine in her 1972 novel ''The King's Grey Mare'', making
Elizabeth Woodville
Elizabeth Woodville (also spelt Wydville, Wydeville, or Widvile; c. 1437Karen Lindsey, ''Divorced, Beheaded, Survived'', p. xviii, Perseus Books, 1995. – 8 June 1492), known as Dame Elizabeth Grey during her first marriage, was Queen of Engla ...
's family claim descent from the water-spirit. This element is repeated in
Philippa Gregory
Philippa Gregory (born 9 January 1954) is an English historical novelist who has been publishing since 1987. The best known of her works is ''The Other Boleyn Girl'' (2001), which in 2002 won the Romantic Novel of the Year Award from the Roman ...
's novels ''
The White Queen'' (2009) and ''
The Lady of the Rivers
''The Lady of the Rivers'' is a 2011 historical novel by Philippa Gregory, part of her series ''The Cousins' War''. The story is narrated by Jacquetta of Luxembourg, mother of Elizabeth Woodville, and covers the reign of the Lancastrian King Hen ...
'' (2011), but with
Jacquetta of Luxembourg
Jacquetta of Luxembourg (1415/1416 – 30 May 1472) was a prominent figure in the Wars of the Roses. Through her short-lived first marriage to the Duke of Bedford, brother of King Henry V, she was firmly allied to the House of Lancaster. Howe ...
telling Elizabeth that their descent from Melusine comes through the
Dukes of Burgundy
Duke of Burgundy () was a title used by the rulers of the Duchy of Burgundy, from its establishment in 843 to its annexation by the Crown lands of France, French crown in 1477, and later by members of the House of Habsburg, including Holy Roman E ...
.
* The main character
Marie de France
Marie de France (floruit, fl. 1160–1215) was a poet, likely born in France, who lived in England during the late 12th century. She lived and wrote at an unknown court, but she and her work were almost certainly known at the royal court of Kin ...
in ''
Matrix
Matrix (: matrices or matrixes) or MATRIX may refer to:
Science and mathematics
* Matrix (mathematics), a rectangular array of numbers, symbols or expressions
* Matrix (logic), part of a formula in prenex normal form
* Matrix (biology), the m ...
'' (2021) by
Lauren Groff is mentioned to be descended from “the fairy Melúsine.”
* The 2023 album ''Mélusine by''
Cécile McLorin Salvant uses songs to illustrate the tale.
See also
*
Echidna (mythology)
In Greek mythology, Echidna (; , ) was a monster, half-woman and half-snake, who lived alone in a cave. She was the mate of the fearsome monster Typhon and was the mother of many of the most famous monsters of Greek myth.
Genealogy
Echidna's fam ...
, Greek mythological serpent woman, mother of monsters
*
Shahmaran, Benevolent serpent-woman from Anatolian and Iranian mythology
*
Oronsen
Queen Oronsen is an orisha from
Yoruba mythology. She was the spouse of Olowo Rerengejen. The annual Igogo festival in Owo is celebrated in her honour.
A Series Of Excerpts From The Oral Records Of Owo
References
See also
*Melus ...
, African goddess who hides her true nature from her mortal husband
*
Legend of the White Snake
*
Morgen (mythological creature)
Morgens, morgans, or mari-morgans are Welsh mythology, Welsh and Breton mythology, Breton water deity, water spirits that drown men.
Etymology
The name may derive from Mori-genos or Mori-gena, meaning "sea-born. The name has also been rendered as ...
*
Nixie (folklore)
The Nixie, Nixy, Nix, Näcken, Nicor, Nøkk, or Nøkken (; , ; ; Norwegian ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; or ) are humanoid, and often shapeshifting water spirits in Germanic mythology and folklore.
Under a variety of names, they are common to the stories ...
*
Naiad
In Greek mythology, the naiads (; ), sometimes also hydriads, are a type of female spirit, or nymph, presiding over fountains, wells, springs, streams, brooks and other bodies of fresh water.
They are distinct from river gods, who embodied ...
*
Potamides
*''
Partonopeus de Blois''
*
Urvashi
Urvashi (, ) is the most prominent apsara mentioned in the Hindu scriptures like the ''Vedas'', the epics ''Ramayana'' and ''Mahabharata'', as well as the ''Puranas''. She is regarded as the most beautiful of all the apsaras, and an expert danc ...
*
Yuki-onna
*''
Knight of the Swan''
Literature
* Essays on the ''Roman de Mélusine'' (1393) of
Jean d'Arras.
* On the many translations of the romance, covering French, German, Dutch, Castilian, and English versions.
* A scholarly edition of the important medieval French version of the legend by Jean d'Arras.
*
*
*
Letitia Elizabeth Landon
Letitia Elizabeth Landon (14 August 1802 – 15 October 1838) was an English poet and novelist, better known by her initials L.E.L.
Landon's writings are emblematic of the transition from Romanticism to Victorian literature. Her first major b ...
, Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1835 (1834).
[ ]
*
References
External links
"Melusina" legends about mermaids, water sprites, and forest nymphs who marry mortal men, translated and/or edited by
D. L. Ashliman at the
University of Pittsburgh
The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is composed of seventeen undergraduate and graduate schools and colle ...
*
Jean D'Arras, ''Melusine'' Archive.org
*
{{Authority control
Fictional characters introduced in the 14th century
European legendary creatures
Fictional Scottish people
Medieval legends
French legendary creatures
European dragons
Nixies (folklore)
Mermaids
Folklore of the Benelux
Folklore of Luxembourg
ATU 400-459
Lamia