The Secret of Mélusine
The Legend of the water nymph Mélusine was popular in medieval Europe. It is best known now from a prose romance by Jean d"Arras "The Roman de Mélusine" 1392-94, which blends fantasy and some factual accounts of Crusader activities in the Near East, It especially praises the writer"s patrons, the Lusignan family who proudly claimed that their dynasty was descended from the seductive legendary nymph with a terrible secret.
Raymond of Poitou was in a hunting party in the forest when he became separated from his companions.
He found himself in a softly lit place in the depths, lost and bewildered, listening to the sound of flowing water. There was a sparkling fountain and a woman splashing about in it. He inquired who she was and in a melodious voice she said her name was Mélusine. Raymond was bedazzled by her unearthly beauty.
Day became night and the forest creatures looked on as the huntsman fell in love in the moonlight with the sylvan nymph. Now Raymond didnt know that Mélusine was a nymph, an undine, beings that if they marry a mortal man can acquire a soul & achieve salvation but he was mightily glad when she accepted his proposal of marriage.
Mélusine asked Raymond to accept one condition of their union,one simple promise he must make to her-that he NEVER see her on a saturday. That day was to be private to her. The condition seemed bizarre to him but he accepted.
After they married and were living an aristocratic life in Poitou, Mélusine asked her husband to build a castle for her near the secret fountain where they first met. On every saturday she would retreat there.
Down through the years Mélusine gave birth to eight sons; unfortunately all of them were blighted by minor deformities but they grew up to be strong knights and some fought in the Crusades.
Mélusine continued to disappear to her castle in the forest while her husband became increasingly suspicious that she had a secret lover. There were whispering rumours about the the Lady"s strange behavior. Finally Raymond made his way to her Retreat one saturday, furtively entering and searching the rooms. Nothing could he find until he heard water splashing from an upper chamber. He peeped through the keyhole of a closed door and saw his wife bathing herself. She was as beautiful as that day long ago when he first set eyes on her but suddenly to his horror,looking down beneath her waist he saw the features of a serpent. Mélusine lay in the bath tub writhing & coiling a scaly great tail.
Raymond, although disturbed, returned home and decided not to reveal to his wife that he knew her secret.
Time passed until one dark day Raymond learned that two of his sons had been involved in a tragedy; one of them went berserk and killed the other. Raymond, distraught with grief, cried out at Mélusine,cursing her as a demonic thing, responsible for all the misfortune that afflicted their children. He admitted how he had spied on her seeing her true serpentine nature. Mélusine stood before him, howled a terrible cry and then turned into a dragon which in a fiery fury flew away never to be seen again.
There is a story that appeals to me and complements this one, found in another popular medieval book
"The Travels of Sir John Mandeville"
It tells of a legend about a woman transformed into a hundred foot long dragon. She has her own castle
and will be turned back into a woman if a knight kisses her and the lucky knight will then become her consort and ruler of extensive territory. However all the knights who ventured to her castle fled in fear and disgust at the sight of the hideous dragon. This appears to me to be an amusing inversion of the typical st. George
type legend.
The Alchemists, who inhabited a world somewhere between Magic and Science often wrote about their theories and experiments using a number of cyphers & symbols. There was the serpent Uroboros swallowing its own tail, a green lion devouring the sun, unicorns and the phoenix. They referred to
a double tailed mermaid as a "melusine". Below is my interpretation based on an illustration in a 17th century
alchemical textbook. This "siren of the philosophers" was called "Anima Mundi", It was believed there
was an intrinsic connection between all living things in the world. This female figure personified the idea.
It shows the power of mythic symbols that one carrying mystical qualities for alchemists can also become
a corporate logo for selling coffee.
The picture at the top of the page is a painting called "Melusine Triptychon" by Heinrich Vogeler.
( Wikimedia Commons ) He was a member of the Jugendstil group, This is from c1910.
The picture of Mélusine spied on in her bath is a book illumination from c1450. It is in the Biblioteque Nationale, Paris.
Raymond of Poitou was in a hunting party in the forest when he became separated from his companions.
He found himself in a softly lit place in the depths, lost and bewildered, listening to the sound of flowing water. There was a sparkling fountain and a woman splashing about in it. He inquired who she was and in a melodious voice she said her name was Mélusine. Raymond was bedazzled by her unearthly beauty.
Day became night and the forest creatures looked on as the huntsman fell in love in the moonlight with the sylvan nymph. Now Raymond didnt know that Mélusine was a nymph, an undine, beings that if they marry a mortal man can acquire a soul & achieve salvation but he was mightily glad when she accepted his proposal of marriage.
Mélusine asked Raymond to accept one condition of their union,one simple promise he must make to her-that he NEVER see her on a saturday. That day was to be private to her. The condition seemed bizarre to him but he accepted.
After they married and were living an aristocratic life in Poitou, Mélusine asked her husband to build a castle for her near the secret fountain where they first met. On every saturday she would retreat there.
Down through the years Mélusine gave birth to eight sons; unfortunately all of them were blighted by minor deformities but they grew up to be strong knights and some fought in the Crusades.
Mélusine continued to disappear to her castle in the forest while her husband became increasingly suspicious that she had a secret lover. There were whispering rumours about the the Lady"s strange behavior. Finally Raymond made his way to her Retreat one saturday, furtively entering and searching the rooms. Nothing could he find until he heard water splashing from an upper chamber. He peeped through the keyhole of a closed door and saw his wife bathing herself. She was as beautiful as that day long ago when he first set eyes on her but suddenly to his horror,looking down beneath her waist he saw the features of a serpent. Mélusine lay in the bath tub writhing & coiling a scaly great tail.
Raymond, although disturbed, returned home and decided not to reveal to his wife that he knew her secret.
Time passed until one dark day Raymond learned that two of his sons had been involved in a tragedy; one of them went berserk and killed the other. Raymond, distraught with grief, cried out at Mélusine,cursing her as a demonic thing, responsible for all the misfortune that afflicted their children. He admitted how he had spied on her seeing her true serpentine nature. Mélusine stood before him, howled a terrible cry and then turned into a dragon which in a fiery fury flew away never to be seen again.
There is a story that appeals to me and complements this one, found in another popular medieval book
"The Travels of Sir John Mandeville"
It tells of a legend about a woman transformed into a hundred foot long dragon. She has her own castle
and will be turned back into a woman if a knight kisses her and the lucky knight will then become her consort and ruler of extensive territory. However all the knights who ventured to her castle fled in fear and disgust at the sight of the hideous dragon. This appears to me to be an amusing inversion of the typical st. George
type legend.
The Alchemists, who inhabited a world somewhere between Magic and Science often wrote about their theories and experiments using a number of cyphers & symbols. There was the serpent Uroboros swallowing its own tail, a green lion devouring the sun, unicorns and the phoenix. They referred to
a double tailed mermaid as a "melusine". Below is my interpretation based on an illustration in a 17th century
alchemical textbook. This "siren of the philosophers" was called "Anima Mundi", It was believed there
was an intrinsic connection between all living things in the world. This female figure personified the idea.
It shows the power of mythic symbols that one carrying mystical qualities for alchemists can also become
a corporate logo for selling coffee.
The picture at the top of the page is a painting called "Melusine Triptychon" by Heinrich Vogeler.
( Wikimedia Commons ) He was a member of the Jugendstil group, This is from c1910.
The picture of Mélusine spied on in her bath is a book illumination from c1450. It is in the Biblioteque Nationale, Paris.
Comments
Post a Comment