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Undines (; also ondines) are a category of
elemental An elemental is a mythic supernatural being that is described in occult and alchemy, alchemical works from around the time of the European Renaissance, and particularly elaborated in the 16th century works of Paracelsus. According to Paracelsu ...
beings associated with water, stemming from the alchemical writings of
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 ...
. Later writers developed the undine into a 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 ...
in its own right, and it continues to live in modern literature and art through such adaptations as Danish
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 1837 "
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 ...
" and the 1811 novella '' Undine'' by Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué.


Etymology

The term ''Undine'' first appears in the alchemical writings of
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 ...
, a Renaissance
alchemist Alchemy (from the Arabic word , ) is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practised in China, India, the Muslim world, and Europe. In its Western form, alchemy is first ...
and physician. It derives from the
Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
word ''unda'', meaning "wave", and first appears in Paracelsus' ''
A Book on Nymphs, Sylphs, Pygmies, and Salamanders, and on the Other Spirits ''A Book on Nymphs, Sylphs, Pygmies, and Salamanders, and on the Other Spirits'' () is a treatise by the Swiss lay theologian and philosopher Paracelsus, published posthumously in 1566. It is about elemental beings and their place in a Christi ...
'', published posthumously in 1566. ''Ondine'' is an alternative spelling, and has become a female given name.


Elementals

Paracelsus believed that each of the four
classical element The classical elements typically refer to Earth (classical element), earth, Water (classical element), water, Air (classical element), air, Fire (classical element), fire, and (later) Aether (classical element), aether which were proposed to ...
s
earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all ...
,
water Water is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula . It is a transparent, tasteless, odorless, and Color of water, nearly colorless chemical substance. It is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known liv ...
,
air An atmosphere () is a layer of gases that envelop an astronomical object, held in place by the gravity of the object. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A stellar atmosph ...
and
fire Fire is the rapid oxidation of a fuel in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction Product (chemistry), products. Flames, the most visible portion of the fire, are produced in the combustion re ...
is inhabited by different categories of elemental spirits, liminal creatures that share our world:
gnome A gnome () is a mythological creature and diminutive spirit in Renaissance magic and alchemy, introduced by Paracelsus in the 16th century and widely adopted by authors, including those of modern fantasy literature. They are typically depict ...
s, undines,
sylph A sylph (also called sylphid) is an air spirit stemming from the 16th-century works of Paracelsus, who describes sylphs as (invisible) beings of the air, his elementals of air. A significant number of subsequent literary and occult works have be ...
s and
salamanders Salamanders are a group of amphibians typically characterized by their lizard-like appearance, with slender bodies, blunt snouts, short limbs projecting at right angles to the body, and the presence of a tail in both larvae and adults. All t ...
respectively. According to Paracelsus (as paraphrased by occultist Manly P. Hall), the spiritual inhabitants of the elements are "invisible, spiritual counterparts of visible Nature... many resembling human beings in shape, and inhabiting worlds of their own, unknown to man because his undeveloped senses were incapable of functioning beyond the limitations of the grosser elements".


Description and common attributes

Undines are almost invariably depicted as being female, which is consistent with the ancient Greek idea that water is a female element. They are usually found in forest pools and waterfalls, and their beautiful singing voices are sometimes heard over the sound of water. The group contains many species, including
nereid 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 Oceanid Doris, sisters to their brother Nerites. They ofte ...
es, limnads,
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 ...
es,
mermaid In folklore, a mermaid is an aquatic creature with the head and upper body of a female human and the tail of a fish. Mermaids appear in the folklore of many cultures worldwide, including Europe, Latin America, Asia, and Africa. Mermaids are ...
s and potamides. What undines lack, compared to humans, is an
immortal soul Christian mortalism is the Christian belief that the human soul is not naturally immortal and may include the belief that the soul is "sleeping" after death until the Resurrection of the Dead and the Last Judgment, a time known as the intermedi ...
. Marriage with a human shortens their lives on Earth, but earns them an immortal human soul, a view which was professed by Paracelsus. The offspring of a union between an undine and a man are humans with a soul, but also with some kind of aquatic characteristic, called a watermark. Moses Binswanger, the protagonist in Hansjörg Schneider's ''Das Wasserzeichen'' (1997), has a cleft in his throat, for instance, which must be periodically submerged in water to prevent it from becoming painful.


Paracelsus

The
ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...
philosopher
Empedocles Empedocles (; ; , 444–443 BC) was a Ancient Greece, Greek pre-Socratic philosopher and a native citizen of Akragas, a Greek city in Sicily. Empedocles' philosophy is known best for originating the Cosmogony, cosmogonic theory of the four cla ...
( – ) was the first to propose that the four classical elements were sufficient to explain everything present in the world. Paracelsus's view of elemental spirits may have grown out of the folklore that a very human-like race of spirits exists in a different "plane" from humans, according to Celticist
Henry Jenner Henry Jenner (8 August 1848 – 8 May 1934) was a British scholar of the Celtic languages, a Cornwall, Cornish cultural activist, and the chief originator of the Cornish language revival. Jenner was born at St Columb Major on 8 August 1848. H ...
. Thus in the " astral plane" (or "Chaos", in Paracelsian jargon) for each of the four elements, earth, air/wind, fire, and water, there resided four types of spiritual beings, a view held by Paracelsus according to his ''Liber de Nymphis''. These spirits are like unto human beings, but not endowed with
immortal soul Christian mortalism is the Christian belief that the human soul is not naturally immortal and may include the belief that the soul is "sleeping" after death until the Resurrection of the Dead and the Last Judgment, a time known as the intermedi ...
s. But Undines ("water women", "water people") in particular are able to consort with humans more than the spirits of other elements, and are most capable of entering into marriage with a human male, thus earning a kernel of the immortality. The children born to her will be imparted with human souls as well. For this reason, the Undines (also called Nymphs) yearn to marry a human husband. If a man has an Undine/Nymph for a wife, he must be careful not to offend her in the presence of water, or she will return to her element. This motif of the husband's calumny causing Undine's departure also occurs in Fouquet's novella (and Hoffmann's opera). Undine's husband Huldbrand had been forewarned not to do so, but he rekindles his unfaithful relationship with Bertalda, he commits the insult, and she splashes away beneath the Danube. Paracelsus also emphasizes that even if the sylph/undine has returned to water, the marriage still remains valid, and she cannot be presumed to be dead, another theme exploited by Fouquet's novella: thus, as her husband's transgression necessitates her departure into the watery world, she makes the insistence on her husband that his vow of fidelity still remains in place, and breaking it would have deadly consequence. And she continues to remind to her husband to remain faithful, in the form of a message in a dream between the swan song. According to Paracelsus, the Undine will still receive her place on the
Day of Judgment The Last Judgment is a concept found across the Abrahamic religions and the '' Frashokereti'' of Zoroastrianism. Christianity considers the Second Coming of Jesus Christ to entail the final judgment by God of all people who have ever lived, res ...
, i.e., she will still preserve the immortal soul she earned through marriage. David Gallagher argues that, although they had Paracelsus as a source, 19th and 20th-century German authors found inspiration for their many versions of undine in classical literature, particularly
Ovid Publius Ovidius Naso (; 20 March 43 BC – AD 17/18), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a younger contemporary of Virgil and Horace, with whom he i ...
's ''
Metamorphoses The ''Metamorphoses'' (, , ) is a Latin Narrative poetry, narrative poem from 8 Common Era, CE by the Ancient Rome, Roman poet Ovid. It is considered his ''Masterpiece, magnum opus''. The poem chronicles the history of the world from its Cre ...
'', especially given the transformation of many of their undines into springs: Hyrie (book VII) and Egeria (book XV) are two such characters.


Cultural references

Later writers embellished Paracelsus' undine classification by developing it into a water nymph in its own right. The romance '' Undine'' by Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué, published in 1811, is based on a passage in Paracelsus' ''Book on Nymphs'' in which he relates how an undine can acquire an immortal soul by marrying a human, although it likely also borrows from the 17th-century Rosicrucian novel '' Comte de Gabalis''. ''Ondine'' was the title of one of the poems in Aloysius Bertrand's collection '' Gaspard de la Nuit'' of 1842. This poem inspired the first movement of
Maurice Ravel Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism in music, Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composer ...
's 1908 piano suite '' Gaspard de la nuit''. The character of Mélisande from
Maurice Maeterlinck Maurice Polydore Marie Bernard Maeterlinck (29 August 1862 – 6 May 1949), also known as Count/Comte Maeterlinck from 1932, was a Belgian playwright, poet, and essayist who was Flemish but wrote in French. He was awarded the 1911 Nobel Prize in ...
's symbolist play '' Pelléas et Mélisande'' has been seen as an Undine figure.
Debussy Achille Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionism in music, Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influe ...
,
Sibelius Jean Sibelius (; ; born Johan Julius Christian Sibelius; 8 December 186520 September 1957) was a Finnish composer of the late Romantic and early modern periods. He is widely regarded as his country's greatest composer, and his music is often ...
, Fauré, and Schoenberg all wrote music adaptions of the play. The 1939 play '' Ondine'' by French dramatist
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 ...
is also based upon Fouqué's novella, as is '' Ondine'', a ballet by composer
Hans Werner Henze Hans Werner Henze (1 July 1926 – 27 October 2012) was a German composer. His large List of compositions by Hans Werner Henze, oeuvre is extremely varied in style, having been influenced by serialism, atonality, Igor Stravinsky, Stravinsky, Mu ...
and choreographer
Frederick Ashton Sir Frederick William Mallandaine Ashton (17 September 190418 August 1988) was a British ballet dancer and choreographer. He also worked as a director and choreographer in opera, film and revue. Determined to be a dancer despite the oppositio ...
with
Margot Fonteyn Dame Margaret Evelyn de Arias Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire, DBE ( Hookham; 18 May 191921 February 1991), known by the stage name Margot Fonteyn (), was an English ballerina. She spent her entire career as a dancer with th ...
as Undine. Austrian author
Ingeborg Bachmann Ingeborg Bachmann (; 25 June 1926 – 17 October 1973) was an Austrian poet and author. She is regarded as one of the major voices of German-language literature in the 20th century. In 1963, she was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature b ...
, a friend of Henze's who collaborated with him frequently, attended the premiere of the ballet in London, and published her short story "Undine geht" in the collection ''Das dreißigste Jahr'' (1961), in which Undine "is neither a human nor a water spirit, but an idea". Fouqué's ''Undine'' also exerted an influence on
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 "
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), and H.D. plays on this identification in her autobiographical novel '' HERmione'' (1927). Burton Pollin notes the popularity of the tale in the English-speaking world: translations in English appeared in 1818 and 1830, and a "superior version" was published by American churchman Thomas Tracy in 1839 and reprinted in 1824, 1840, 1844, and 1845; he estimates that by 1966 almost a hundred English versions had been printed, including adaptations for children.
Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic who is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales involving mystery and the macabre. He is widely re ...
was profoundly influenced by Fouqué's tale, according to Pollin, which may have come about through Poe's broad reading of
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 ...
and
Samuel Taylor Coleridge Samuel Taylor Coleridge ( ; 21 October 177225 July 1834) was an English poet, literary critic, philosopher, and theologian who was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lake Poets with his friend William Wordsworth ...
: Scott had derived the character of the White Lady of Avenel (''
The Monastery ''The Monastery: a Romance'' (1820) is a historical novel by Walter Scott, one of the Waverley novels. Set in the Scottish Borders in the 1550s on the eve of the Scottish Reformation, it is centred on Melrose Abbey. Composition and sources Scot ...
'', 1820) from ''Undine'', and a passage by Coleridge on ''Undine'' was reprinted in Tracy's 1839 edition. French composer Claude Debussy included a piece called "Ondine" in his collection of piano preludes written in 1913 (Preludes, Book 2, No. 8). A poem by Seamus Heaney titled "Undine" appears in his 1969 collection ''Door into the Dark.'' The poem is narrated from the first-person perspective of the water nymph itself. Japanese pianist Yukie Nishimura composed a piece of piano music titled ''Undine'' in late 1980s. The composer Carl Reinecke wrote the "Sonata Undine" for flute and piano, opus 167, first published in 1882.


In pop culture

In an issue of DC Comics "The Super Friends" (issue #14 published 1978), the heroes battle a group of people calling themselves "The Elementals". When The Elementals are defeated, they reveal that they are elemental spirits who have possessed humans, in an attempt to become heroes to do good and earn souls. The Elementals call themselves Gnome, Sylph, Salamander, and Undine. Undine ( ウンディーネ) is mentioned in the
VOCALOID is a singing Speech synthesis, voice synthesizer software product. Its signal processing part was developed through a joint research project between Yamaha Corporation and the Music Technology Group at Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona. The s ...
song "" by Utata-P. In 1972 the American rock Band Blue Oyster Cult's debut album, the song "Workshop of Telescopes" mentions Undine "By silverfish imperatrix, whose incorrupted eye Sees through the charms of doctors and their wives, By salamander, drake, and the power that was Undine." The band is known for its references to alchemy in other songs. In the 1993 video game ''
Secret of Mana ''Secret of Mana'', originally released in Japan as is a 1993 action role-playing game developed and published by Square for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It is the sequel to the 1991 game ''Seiken Densetsu'', released in North Ameri ...
'', Undine is the first spirit the player encounters. In the Japanese manga ''
Aria In music, an aria (, ; : , ; ''arias'' in common usage; diminutive form: arietta, ; : ariette; in English simply air (music), air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrument (music), instrumental or orchestral accompan ...
'' and its numerous anime adaptations, gondola operators are referred to as "Prima Undine". In the 2002 video game ''Touhou Koumakyou: The Embodiment of Scarlet Devil'', a spell card called Water Sign "Princess Undine" is used by Patchouli Knowledge. Another Japanese manga and anime series, Black Clover by Yuki Tabata, depicts a Water Spirit by the name of Undine who is contracted to the Queen of the Heart Kingdom. There is also a Fire Spirit, Salamander, who used to be partnered with Fana of the Eye of the Midnight Sun before she was released from her enchantment. Salamander then transferred to Captain Fuegoleon of the Crimson Lion Kings. One of the main characters, Yuno, a member of the Golden Dawn, has the Wind Spirit Sylph, who he names Bell. Currently there is no Earth Spirit that has been revealed, but the manga is ongoing. Species 8472, introduced in '' Star Trek: Voyager'', became known as the Undine in ''
Star Trek Online ''Star Trek Online'' is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game developed by Cryptic Studios based on the ''Star Trek'' franchise. The game is set in the 25th century, 30 years after the events of '' Star Trek: Nemesis''. ''Star Trek O ...
''. The main protagonist of the 2015 webcomic '' Sleepless Domain'' is named Undine Wells, and is a
magical girl is a Genre#Subgenre, subgenre of primarily Japanese fantasy media (including anime, manga, light novels, and live-action media) centered on young girls who possess magical abilities, which they typically use through an ideal alter ego into wh ...
with the ability to control water. She is a member of Team Alchemical, a group of magical girls collectively themed around the
classical element The classical elements typically refer to Earth (classical element), earth, Water (classical element), water, Air (classical element), air, Fire (classical element), fire, and (later) Aether (classical element), aether which were proposed to ...
s of alchemical tradition; her teammates' names also allude to other elemental spirits from Paracelsus' writings. The 2015 video game ''
Undertale ''Undertale'' is a 2015 role-playing video game created by American indie developer Toby Fox. The player controls a child who has fallen into the Underground: a large, secluded region under the surface of the Earth, separated by a magical b ...
'' (and its alternate universe sequel, ''
Deltarune ''Deltarune'' is an episodic role-playing video game in development by Toby Fox as a follow-up to his 2015 video game ''Undertale''. In the game, the player controls a human teenager, Kris, who is destined to save the world together with Susie ...
'') contains a character named Undyne, a fish-like woman who is likely named after the undine. In 2017 Ryan Jude Novelline created a gown that he displayed at
New York Comic Con The New York Comic Con is an annual New York City fan convention dedicated to comics, Western comics, graphic novels, anime, manga, video games, cosplay, toys, Film, movies, and television. It was first held in 2006. With an attendance of 200,00 ...
based on the story of Undine. Bats, a song on
Tori Amos Tori Amos (born Myra Ellen Amos; August 22, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. She is a classically trained musician with a mezzo-soprano vocal range. Having already begun composing instrumental pieces on piano, Amos won a full ...
' 2017 album titled Native Invader, heavily references Undines of the Sea. The eponymous Undine Barge Club of Philadelphia is an amateur rowing club on
Boathouse Row Boathouse Row is a historic site which is located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on the east bank of the Schuylkill River just north of the Fairmount Water Works and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. It consists of a row of fifteen boathouses housi ...
in Philadelphia. '' Undine'' is the title and the main character of a 2020 German movie directed by Christian Petzold. In modern China, Hillstream Loaches (from the family Gastromyzontidae) are referred to as "river elves" or "water sprites" ("河妖" pronounced: hay-yao, direct Mandarin-to-English translation); the philosopher and historian Peracelsus wrote of "undines" from the Far-East. Likely, the first western record of the loaches and newts of Asia. They are now popular as cherished pets in the Americas and Europe. Once again, referred to as "Undines" by their admirers.


Ondine's curse

Congenital central hypoventilation syndrome, a rare medical condition in which those affected lack autonomic control of their breathing and are hence at risk of suffocation while sleeping, is also known as Ondine's curse. Ondine, the eponymous heroine of Giraudoux's play, tells her future husband Hans, whom she has just met, that "I shall be the shoes of your feet... I shall be the breath of your lungs". Ondine makes a pact with her uncle, the King of the Ondines, that if Hans ever deceives her he will die. After their honeymoon Hans is reunited with his first love, the Princess Bertha, and Ondine leaves him, only to be captured by a fisherman six months later. On meeting Ondine again on the day of his wedding to Bertha, Hans tells her that "all the things my body once did by itself, it does now only by special order... A single moment of inattention and I forget to breathe". Hans and Ondine kiss, and he dies. Critics have pointed out that medical texts on the syndrome frequently misinterpret Ondine as a vengeful or malevolent character; in the play, Ondine is not responsible for the curse and tries to save Hans.


See also

*
Ekendriya An elemental is a mythic supernatural being that is described in occult and alchemical works from around the time of the European Renaissance, and particularly elaborated in the 16th century works of Paracelsus. According to Paracelsus and hi ...
* Gwragedd Annwn *
Mami Wata Mami Wata, Mammy Water, or similar is a mermaid, water spirit, and/or goddess in the folklore of parts of Western Africa, Eastern Africa, and Southern Africa. Historically, scholars trace her origins to early encounters between Europeans and ...
*
Melusine Mélusine () or Melusine or Melusina is a figure of European folklore, a nixie (folklore), female spirit of fresh water in a holy well or river. She is usually depicted as a woman who is a Serpent symbolism, serpent or Fish in culture, fish fr ...
*
Mermaid In folklore, a mermaid is an aquatic creature with the head and upper body of a female human and the tail of a fish. Mermaids appear in the folklore of many cultures worldwide, including Europe, Latin America, Asia, and Africa. Mermaids are ...
*
Morgens Morgens, morgans, or mari-morgans are Welsh and Breton 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 Muri-gena or Murigen. The name may also be c ...
*
Neck The neck is the part of the body in many vertebrates that connects the head to the torso. It supports the weight of the head and protects the nerves that transmit sensory and motor information between the brain and the rest of the body. Addition ...
*
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 ...
*
Selkie Selkies are mythological creatures that can shapeshift between seal and human forms by removing or putting on their seal skin. They feature prominently in the oral traditions and mythology of various cultures, especially those of Celtic and ...
* Siren


References


Citations


Bibliography

* * * * * * **-- (1928); edited for the web by Mario Lampié (2009), via Internet Archive. * * * * * * * * * * * *


External links

{{Authority control Elementals Female legendary creatures Water spirits Romani folklore