Week 5 Melusine/Great Old Hunter

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What I found interesting about Tuesday’s readings is that all three texts are intertwined. “The Legend of Melusine” and “The Faery at the Fountain” are the same story with “The Legend of Melusine” providing more of a general overview of the tale. Both stories mention that Raymond and his uncle (The Count of Poiters) were on a boar hunting trip in Colombier which accidentally ended in The Count dying by the hand of Raymond. This relates to “The Great Old Hunter” who is, Aimery the Count of Poiters, and ends with him giving his intent to go boar hunting in Colombier the following day, possibly the day he dies (pg 15). It was fun piecing these together in chronological order and building almost a movie in my head.

Although these texts don’t mention it, there are a few ways they relate to the character traits of mermaids/sirens. “The Legend of Melusine” and “The Faery at the Fountain” both describe Melusine as extremely beautiful, to the point where it’s “love at first sight” for Raymond and even lessens his guilt of killing of his uncle, “His former sadness, his remorse, even his exhaustion he threw off in exasperation.” (The Faery at the Fountain pg 27). “The Faery at the Fountain” describes Raymond possibly being deceived by Melusine, “If some of this was inclined towards deception, he did not notice but followed her willingly” (pg 28). Going back to “The Great Old Hunter” it says “She sang a lay so beautiful and sweet That birds who came to hear her song Soon after sang it too… Whose eyes, wide open, great and singular, are the best rulers of a bird” (pg 13). This relates to Sirens as we know are a hybrid between woman and bird and sing beautiful “lays” as mentioned in “Odysseus and the Sirens”.

One thing I found interesting was how Melusine is depicted as being involved in some sort of sorcery, “Dear friend, I give you these two wands whose stones have special virtue…preserves from accidental death by weapons…gives victory in any dispute or combat” (The Faery at the Fountain pg 28). In the same text she says, “you must promise not only to take me as your wife, but never again to doubt – you understand, never, sir knight – that I would conduct myself honestly and in a Christian manner, beyond any sorcery” (pg26). Even though she denies her involvement in sorcery, it sounds like sorcery to me.

Week 5: Medieval Melusine

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When looking over the reading from this week, the ‘Legend of Melusina’ chapter was quite interesting to read. The depiction of the relationship in between Elinas and Fay was quite interesting. When Elinas first sees her at the fountain, he is dealing with the grief of losing his wife. He is taken by her beauty and she had made him promise to never never see her at the time of her “lying-in”. When he did she left and took her three daughters will her, to a high mountain in Albania. I found it so interesting that when her daughter Melunisa came of age, she asked what her father had did, and then he pledged vengeance against him, which is where the story really begins. Melunisa then proceeds to get her sisters to join her in vengeance and they go to his castle to take him and all of his wealth, and inclose him with a charm. When her mother discovers this, she sentences Melunisa to become a serpent every Saturday for the rest of her being, and could find a husband who wouldn’t see her on Saturdays. In my head, I would have thought that the mother might be glad that Melunisa had done this to the King, but instead she is punished. I feel as this really shows the character of the mother, as she did not want revenge, unlike her daughter Melunisa. When she finds Raymond, he is so taken with her he agrees to these terms, until he breaks them. On page 88 when it says “But it was not the horror that seized him at the sight, it was the infinite anguish at the reflection that through his breach of faith he might lose his lovely wife for ever.” I found this quote to be specially sad and contribute to the story line. Raymond was not disturbed by the sight of his wife with a tail, but he was in pain over the fact that he knew he was going to lose her. This took me by surprise, because so far in all the readings, people have only ever been disturbed by the sight of something like this, something un-human. Raymond was different, he loved his wife so much that even though he might’ve been “un-human” at times, it didn’t matter to him. He knew he breached the trust and the oath between them on Saturdays, and he died. He would’ve rather been dead than without her, and call me crazy but I thought this story was beautifully romantic.

Week 5: Melusina

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In this weeks reading of “The Penguin: Book of Mermaids” by Cristina Bacchilega and “The Romance of Faery Melusine”, we read the tragic story about Melusina. Although I did not fully understand it during my first read through, I couldn’t help but notice that this was essentially a cautionary tale about Karma. When her step-father broke his promise to Melusina’s mother and laid eyes on her when he was not supposed to, Melusina opted for revenge. She took her step-fathers money and charm and imprisoned him. This made her mother angry, resulting in Melusina being cursed in a similar way to how Melusina’s mother was originally cursed. Melusina went out, got married to a charming man named Raymond (or Raymondin), but was eventually met with a terrible fate when Raymond saw her in her serpent form when he wasn’t supposed to.

I found a lot of symbolism in the story of Melusina. The most obvious one was the fact that Melusina becomes a serpent from the waist down on Saturdays. I am not sure if this is relevant, but Saturday is the holy day for a lot of religions. In a lot of religions also, serpents are great symbols of evil, deception, and demonic creatures. The idea of Melusina being half serpent is also interesting because she claims she is “as faithful a Christian” (25) as Raymond. Turning into a serpent as a result of her wrongdoings is an excellent example of karma. She eventually had a happy life with the exception of her curse, which ultimately ruined her life in the same way the curse ruined her mothers marriage.

There seemed to be a strong theme regarding beauty and chivalry/masculinity as well. The story of the hunter shows a connection to chivalry and masculinity, which is interesting to read after the story of Melusina. Noble men are drawn to “things that lead them further into unknown… [seeking] in all directions the extension of their physical and spiritual power” (12). It is chivalrous to seek knowledge of the unknown, similar to how Odysseus longed to hear the siren song. Raymond was a chivalrous man who unintentionally committed a horrible act. Karma got him for his actions the same way karma got Melusina. He had a mostly happy life with a beautiful woman after his wrongdoing, but his wife ended up being cursed.

Week 5: Melusine and the Environment

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The reading this week was very interesting in the way that it talked about human’s connection with nature. There were multiple times throughout the first chapters where the story described a mutually beneficial relationship between the environment and people. The first instance I noticed of it was in “The Great Old Hunter” where the author mentions that: “Man developed without dissociating or abstracting himself from the world. In short, he knew how to love it, to give and to take in many ways, as he needed” (Lebey, p.12). Humans, men specifically, at this time were able to peacefully coexist with the world. They were not taking excessively from the land but living in harmony with it. This quote explains that this was a process because men “developed” into learning their position and did not just automatically know how to respect the environment. While humans are benefiting from the resources that the environment provides, the environment is benefiting from the love and care of humans. I found this interesting because there is not often any mention of love or giving when discussing the environment. Many modern stories do not acknowledge the respect that the environment is owed and there is hardly any reference to giving back to it in any sort of way. Another moment that stood out to me that revealed a lot about the relationship with the environment was in the description of the wands that Melusine gave to her husband. The wands were made from the elements and contained stones that would help whoever had them with living and battles. These wands were a literal manifestation of what the foundations of the world can help men with. Melusine explains that the core of the stones “is also influenced by what we imagine, and the stones do the rest” (Lebey, p. 28). My understanding of this is that the stones worked depending on the intention of the person using them, so to want to do something that is out of line with nature, in general, would end with not the best results. While the Earth is giving these gifts to someone, they are not meant to be used in a way that would be detrimental to the environment. The environment provides for people but in return requires respect, care, and honesty. 

Melusina, The Christian Siren

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In this week’s reading of The Romance of The Faery Melusine, I found myself surprised by the empathy and warmth the story showed towards the female belonging to the natural world. In the stories of sirens/mermaids we’ve examined that were told through a Christian lens, not only the creatures, but women as a species, have been scorned and made to be seen as inherently wicked or “the world’s most imperfect creature(s)…” (Merpeople, a Human History, Scribner). The female visage was exposed and warped by the church into a symbol for debauchery and sin, and the stories they peddled of feminine monsters were anything but kind.

However, Melusine’s story is the first exception we’ve come across in this course.

Melusine is a holy woman, asserting multiple times in the text that she “is as faithful a Christian as you are” (25), that she “will conduct [herself] honestly and in a Christian manner.” (26), and even claims that she, “next to God,” (25), can help Raymondin best out of his precarious situation.

In this way, Melusine goes from a wicked woman to be wary of, to a lady who acts under the watchful gaze of God, deserving of empathy and love. The story makes emphasis of this piety to fashion a bridge between mythical scaly women and Christianity; once made to be the antithesis of one another, now taken into acceptance—conditionally.

Melusine’s heed of God’s will is what makes her acceptable, otherwise, she would be just another siren.

But this begs the question: Why did the author seek to design a derivative of a mermaid that is now deserving of reverence and sympathy?

Week 5: Legend of Melusina

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“The Legend of Melusina” seems to be the first tale we have studied this far where a hybrid only takes its shape one a week, in this case on Saturday’s. Not only did that surprise me, but so did Raymond’s reaction when uncovered Melusina’s secret. I honestly expected a more negative reaction because of her ability to shape shift into various forms. It is said that “It was not horror that seized him at the sight, it as infinite anguish at the reflection that through his breach of faith he might lose his lovely wife forever”(p. 88). This story is the first time a mermaid has been seen for her true self by a man, and it seems as if the relationship between them is more genuine than in what we have studied in the past. I bring this up based on my original curiosity surrounding the idea of gender roles and femininity. I am interested to see how dynamics change through different works of literature and what this has to do with the type of hybrid creature, or the fact that she is mostly human? By that I mean if it was more than just Saturday that she became hybrid, would that change the way the story goes?

Melusine and the Importance of Privacy and Personal Boundaries

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In this weeks story, Melusine and her relationship with Raymondin highlight the importance of respecting someones personal boundaries and their privacy. When Melusine and Raymondin first meet, the two outline certain expectations and objectives for their relationship. This includes never seeing each other on a Saturday. In this scene, Melusine explicitly says, “You must swear by all holy sacraments as  a christian that on each Saturday, from sundown till the following day, never – and I will say it again so there is no doubt about it – never must you try to see me in any way whatever, nor seek to know where I am” (pg. 27). This isn’t a simple request or suggestion. Instead there’s a heavy weight of responsibility to Melusine’s words, especially through using the term ‘holy sacraments’. This implies that to break this oath is akin to breaking a promise to God, which usually carry severe punishments. She didn’t say this once, but twice in order to further emphasize this clause in their agreement. This statement is unbreakable and leaves no wiggle room for potential change in the future. With all this laid out, Raymondin agrees to marry her. The two share a prosperous life together and are deeply committed to each other which makes Raymondin’s betrayal of their promise and Melusine’s privacy all the more heart breaking. When Raymondin uncovered this secret, he didn’t bear it alone, but instead revealed it to all those who were in the castle. Because of this public spectacle and exposing of her secret, she would never again get to be with Raymondin as husband and wife. This reveal captures the nature of secrets: once revealed, the circumstances surrounding the secret will forever be altered. Had Raymondin kept the discovery to himself, Melusine would have been able to die as a mortal Christian woman besides him. By violating these boundaries, these actions lead to the downfall of both their happiness and contentment, which shows the importance of treating boundaries in relationships with respect and continued acknowledgement. 

Knight, G. The Romance of the Faerie Melusine. Skylight Press, 2011.

Week 5: Melusin(e/a)

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What I found most interesting this week was the difference between the Melusine origin story in the Penguin book versus the story told in the Romance of the Faery Melusine. In the Penguin Book of Mermaids, it states that Melusine (called Melusina in this book), has a serpent tale and does not appear as a mermaid. However, as we see in the Romance of the Faery Melusine, she is represented as a mermaid. In fact, the entire room that she hides in on Saturdays is made up for a mermaid–containing sand, water, shells, and coral. I think that this is because of the Christian Church. As we learned in the first chapter of the Merpeople book, the Christian Church chose the image of the mermaid for their own deviant needs (to belittle women and bring more followers to the church). This book, at least from the chapters we read, seems to have big Christian themes and God/Jesus is constantly mentioned. For instance, on page 12: “In those days men identified with things that could lead them further into the unknown; they sought in all directions the extension of their physical and spiritual power. So they believed and so they lived, sure of themselves and strong at one moment, at the next deflated and weak, falling to their knees for restoration from another source, the Lord Jesus Christ. And things, animals or people, trees or weapons, were more themselves… And the law of God prevailed over all.” These not so subtle mentions of Christian ideology are important because they give us context to who may have written this text, and where this text may have originated from. Clearly, it was written during a time where many were religious and believed in God. These men mentioned in this quote rely on Jesus Christ, and believe God is almighty. There are many mentions of God in this text–I will not list them all as it would be boring and extended–-but some important ones are “I am as faithful a Christian as you are” (p. 25), “before God and in the face of ourselves, and will marry you as soon as you wish in a church” (p. 26), “Could it be the Devil?” (p. 121), and “Pray devotedly to Our Lord to relieve my sufferings and shorten the time of my ordeal” (p. 144). These quotes further reveal the Christian beliefs of the time. In addition, Melusine is depicted combing her hair and using a mirror–which are associated with vanity (which I believe came from the Christian Church). She is also sexualized, as the Christian Church did with their mermaids: “flawless figure of a woman, forever young… her bent back magnificent in profile, her breasts raised… the exquisite flesh” (p.125). While the Penguin Book says that Christian framework makes her a more positive character aligned with water, I am not sure this is so true. I feel like this story was adopted to further demonize women, as liars and deceivers (as she was not truthful about what happened on Saturdays). Not only this, but Raymondin accuses Melusine of having damned children, and that she is a phantom and her children are as well, which could maybe imply that women can bear devilish fruit (but it could not be the man’s fault).

Melsuina and Shrek Crossover?

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When reading this story I saw different themes tied to the environment, religion, power, and women as demonic and as beautiful. I may be wrong or childish to interpret such a deep story with such deep meaning in an immature way but I see correlations to Dreamworks Shrek and “The Legend of Melusina” story.

To summarize, Shrek is a story of an ogre who rescues a supposed damsel in distress due to the command of a wretched king who desires the prince. However, the most beautiful princess Fiona, possessed a secret that no one knew and no one could figure out, for the sake of her safety. The story goes on and it is revealed that when the sun sets, the beautiful princess turns into an ogre from dusk to dawn. The curse followed that once Fiona found true love and received a true love’s kiss she would be able to take the form of her true love. The story goes on but those details are not as relevant as the ones I have previously discussed.

When reading this summary I hope that you also make the connections that I made to the Melusina story. After researching I was not able to find a definite explanation for these connections but I believe it is important to understand, that there is a possibility for adaptations and interpretations. Here are the connections I found:

  1. Like Fiona, Melusina was cursed to possess “monster-like” qualities. These qualities earn them titles of fearful, horrific, etc.
  2. Melusina is cursed to reveal a half-snake and half-human body every Saturday and Fiona is cursed to transform into an ogre after every sundown.
  3. Both females struggle with their curses and fail to conceal them from their lovers.
  4. The revelation of their bodies of duality stunts the relationship between Melusina and her love as well as Fiona and her lover. This is due to both of the woman’s concealment of their curse.
  5. Both females derive from places of power, as Fiona is a princess and Melusina derives her power from her faery ties.
  6. The story of Melusina can go two ways, with her husband being sad by her appearance or being disgusted by it. In the Shrek story, Shrek accepts Fiona for her appearance yet is saddened that she concealed the truth, and Lord Farquad ( her other possible husband) is disgusted by her and her appearance.

This may seem like a far reach but I found it interesting to investigate both of these stories and attempt to find their connections to one another.

Week 5: Legend of Melusina

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The reading this week of “Legend of Melusina” from The Penguin Book of Mermaids was most intriguing to me because it required me to focus on close reading. After reading the story for the first time, I was slightly confused. After reading the story again and taking a closer look, I was able to understand it more.

Melusina is half snake and half woman and is still depicted as beautiful and powerful, similar to mermaids and sirens. I was able to relate Melusina’s story to those that we have covered previously in class, specifically the stories of the sirens. Where Melusina’s story differs is how Raymondin did not flee immediately when he found out about Melusina’s second form. The story of the sirens tells us how men did not want to hear their song out of fear that it would kill them. Raymondin sees Melusina in her second form and only fears that he will be losing his wife. “But it was not a horror that seized him at the sight, it was infinite anguish at the reflection that through his breach of faith he might lose his lovely wife forever” (88). This quote explains how Raymondin was feeling and further allows me to compare and contrast this story to the story of the sirens. The sirens would make men flee from them if said men were aware of the power of their song and did not want to face a possible death. In this story, Melusina is the one who is fleeing from her husband. Melusina’s fear of her husband finding out about this second form had come true, forcing her to depart from her life. I believe that Melusina faced the most fear in this story. This is a very interesting point to me because typically these half-beings are the ones inflicting more fear onto others.