DOCSLIB.ORG

Introduction

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Introduction Introduction Et lors fist un moult doulereux plaint et un moult grief souspir, puis sault en l’air et laisee la fenestre et trespasse le vergier, et lors se mue en une serpente grant et grosse et longue de la longeur de.xv. piéz. Et sachiéz que la pierre sur quoy elle passa a la fenestre y est encores, et y est la fourme du pié toute escripte.1 Thenne she bygan to gyue a sore syghe, & therwith flawgh in to thayer out of the wyndowe, transfigured lyke a serpent grete & long in xv foote of length. And wete it well that on the basse stone of the wyndowe apa- reth at this day themprynte of her foote serpentous.2 Melusine’s footprint, which Jean d’Arras swore in his own day was yet visible on a certain windowsill in the castle of Mervent, was only the first of many impressions this fairy woman would go on to make on late medieval literature, symbolism, and visual culture. Her figure draws on the archetype of the super- natural woman, well-attested in art and myth among the ancient and classical worlds of the Mediterranean basin and Near and Middle East, where primor- dial goddesses and other munificent and terrible beings could assume a part- serpent, part-bird, or part-piscine form.3 The medieval Melusine shares much with legendary water-women who proliferate through former Celtic-speaking lands and who may have evolved from lamiae, mermaids, naiads, oceanids, and other figures of Greek and Roman myth.4 Tales of these extraordinary fe- males persist through the early Middle Ages. Medieval Latin collections such as Walter Map’s De Nugis Curialium [Courtiers’ Trifles] (ca.1200) and the Otia Imperialia [Recreation for an Emperor], compiled by Gervase of Tilbury in the early thirteenth century, offer tales of fairy women who sought noble marriag- es but, when exposed to the holy rites of the Eucharist, changed shape and disappeared from human purview. Thus it is not entirely remarkable that, at 1 Jean d’Arras, Mélusine ou La Noble Histoire de Lusignan, ed. Jean-Jacques Vincensini (Paris: Le Livre de Poche, 2003), 704. 2 A. K. Donald, ed., Melusine: Compiled (1382–1394 AD) by Jean D’Arras, Englisht about 1500, Part I, Early English Text Society ES. 68 (London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co., 1895, rpt. 2002), 320. 3 Gillian M. E. Alban, Melusine the Serpent Goddess in A. S. Byatt’s Possession and in Mythology (Lanham: Lexington Books, 2003). 4 Diane Purkiss, At the Bottom of the Garden: A Dark History of Fairies, Hobgoblins, and Other Troublesome Things (New York: New York University Press, 2000), 50–51. © Koninklijke Brill NV, LEIDEN, 2017 | doi 10.1163/9789004355958_002 2 Introduction some point in the Poitou region of western France, this story pattern is im- posed on a local nymph or goddess figure, la mére Lusine, and allies her with the fortunes of the mighty Lusignan family, a medieval dynasty whose sons controlled fortresses including Lusignan and Parthenay, fought in the Cru- sades, and served as kings of Cyprus and Jerusalem.5 What is remarkable is that in the lengthy historical romance of Jean d’Arras, completed in 1393, Melusine springs to life as a vividly realized half-fairy woman who is also an impressive medieval chatelaine, matriarch, and foundress of the Lusignan line. When discovered in the form of a monstrous half-serpent, after many years of happy marriage and the birth of several sons, she assumes the dragon-like form described above and, in so doing, burns herself indelibly into the medieval European imagination. The fascination with Melusine rests in large part on her parallels with other shape-shifting, water- or earth-associated females who have made persistent appearances in literature and legend worldwide. Women with ophidian, pi- scine, or other features reminiscent of dragon-kind slither through the foun- dational stories of any number of cultures, from the islands of Japan to the creation myths of the first peoples of the Americas.6 The snake- or fish-woman (sometimes both together) has occupied a salient strand of Western literature and myth from the first recorded instances, including the Sumerian Tiamat in her dragon form, the half-viper Echidna mentioned in Hesiod, and the Greek 5 Léo Désaivre explores her origins in “Le mythe de la mère Lusine (Meurlusine, Merlusine, Mellusigne, Mellusine, Mélusine, Méleusine): Étude critique et bibliographique,” in Mémoires de la Société de statistique, sciences, lettres et arts du département des Deux-Sèvres, 2nd series, vol. 2, no. 1 (1882): 81–302; so does Josef Kohler, Der Ursprung der Melusinen- sage: Eine ethnologische Untersuchung (Leipzig: E. Pfeiffer, 1895), 1–10, and Robert L. No- lan, “An Introduction to the English Version of Melusine,” (PhD diss., New York University, 1971). 6 Mary Pope Osborne, Mermaid Tales from Around the World (New York: Scholastic, 1993) col- lects several examples. The mermaid is a popular and personal subject of investigation, as demonstrated by, in a very small sampling of recent works, Theodore Gachot, Mermaids: Nymphs of the Sea (London: Aurum Press, 1996), Amanda Adams, A Mermaid’s Tale: A Per- sonal Search for Love and Lore (Nanoose Bay: Greystone Books, 2006), and Syke Alexander, Mermaids: The Myths, Legends, and Lore (Avon, MA: Adams Media, 2012). The pervasiveness of this image lends itself to psychoanalytical exploration, most memorably by Carl Jung, The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious, trans. R. F. C. Hull (New York: Pantheon Books, 1959); see, as just one recent example, Gillian Pothier, “The Submerged Feminine: The Sym- bol of the Mermaid in the Human Psyche” (master’s thesis, Pacifica Institute, 2011). The bibliography to this volume offers a list of studies on Melusine and her analogues that have been fundamental to critical scholarship on her texts and her legacy..
Load more

Recommended publications
  • This Thesis Has Been Submitted in Fulfilment of the Requirements for a Postgraduate Degree (E.G. Phd, Mphil, Dclinpsychol) at the University of Edinburgh
    This thesis has been submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for a postgraduate degree (e.g. PhD, MPhil, DClinPsychol) at the University of Edinburgh. Please note the following terms and conditions of use: • This work is protected by copyright and other intellectual property rights, which are retained by the thesis author, unless otherwise stated. • A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. • This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the author. • The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the author. • When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given. Desire for Perpetuation: Fairy Writing and Re-creation of National Identity in the Narratives of Walter Scott, John Black, James Hogg and Andrew Lang Yuki Yoshino A Thesis Submitted to The University of Edinburgh for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of English Literature 2013 Abstract This thesis argues that ‘fairy writing’ in the nineteenth-century Scottish literature serves as a peculiar site which accommodates various, often ambiguous and subversive, responses to the processes of constructing new national identities occurring in, and outwith, post-union Scotland. It contends that a pathetic sense of loss, emptiness and absence, together with strong preoccupations with the land, and a desire to perpetuate the nation which has become state-less, commonly underpin the wide variety of fairy writings by Walter Scott, John Black, James Hogg and Andrew Lang.
    [Show full text]
  • Wiccan Handbook
    DPC DRAGON PALM CIRCLE Wiccan Handbook WiccanHandbook DRAGON PALM CIRCLE Wiccan Handbook Dragon Palm Circle Sevierville, TN 4th Edition July 2002 Compiled by Dreamweaver 1st edition January 1998 2nd edition March 2000 3rd edition August 2001 Table of Contents Introduction i Day 17 Lunar Magick 17 C H A P T E R 1 Lunar Cycles 17 Wiccan Rede 1 Lunar Month 18 Blessing for a Child 2 Witches Rune 2 Witches Creed 2 Charge of the Goddess 3 C H A P T E R 2 Signs 5 Number, planets, and signs 5 Number system for letters 6 C H A P T E R 3 Wiccan Rede 7 Three Fold Law 7 Wiccan Code of Chivalry 7 C H A P T E R 4 Calling Quarters 10 C H A P T E R 5 Colors 12 C H A P T E R 6 Herbs, stones, and colors 13 Eleminals 16 C H A P T E R 7 Introduction This is a book of information that include laws, poems, and what different things mean. This book is not a book to learn Wicca, but a handbook that contains some things that can be useful in putting together spells and rituals. The Wiccan Handbook This handbook has been put together to give you information you may need in forming rituals and participating in rituals. This will not include everything, but enough to get you started. Note about edition: Items are added and taken away depending upon the usefulness of the items. This is a good book to have in Circles for the Rede and Rune.
    [Show full text]
  • This Electronic Thesis Or Dissertation Has Been Downloaded from Explore Bristol Research
    This electronic thesis or dissertation has been downloaded from Explore Bristol Research, http://research-information.bristol.ac.uk Author: O Lynn, Aidan Anthony Title: Ghosts of War and Spirits of Place Spectral Belief in Early Modern England and Protestant Germany General rights Access to the thesis is subject to the Creative Commons Attribution - NonCommercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International Public License. A copy of this may be found at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode This license sets out your rights and the restrictions that apply to your access to the thesis so it is important you read this before proceeding. Take down policy Some pages of this thesis may have been removed for copyright restrictions prior to having it been deposited in Explore Bristol Research. However, if you have discovered material within the thesis that you consider to be unlawful e.g. breaches of copyright (either yours or that of a third party) or any other law, including but not limited to those relating to patent, trademark, confidentiality, data protection, obscenity, defamation, libel, then please contact [email protected] and include the following information in your message: •Your contact details •Bibliographic details for the item, including a URL •An outline nature of the complaint Your claim will be investigated and, where appropriate, the item in question will be removed from public view as soon as possible. Ghosts of Place and Spirits of War: Spectral Belief in Early Modern England and Protestant Germany Aidan Anthony O’Lynn A dissertation submitted to the University of Bristol in accordance with the requirements for the award of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Arts School of History August 2018 Word Count: 79950 i Abstract This thesis focuses on themes of place and war in the development of ghostlore in Early Modern Protestant Germany and England.
    [Show full text]
  • Georgetown University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in German
    “‘ON THE VERGE OF HEARING’: EPISTEMOLOGY AND THE POETICS OF LISTENING IN THE HUMAN-NIXIE ENCOUNTER IN GERMAN LITERATURE” A Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences of Georgetown University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in German By Deva Fall Kemmis Hicks, M.A. Washington, DC April 18, 2012 Copyright 2012 by Deva Fall Kemmis Hicks All Rights Reserved ii “‘ON THE VERGE OF HEARING’: EPISTEMOLOGY AND THE POETICS OF LISTENING IN THE HUMAN-NIXIE ENCOUNTER IN GERMAN LITERATURE” Deva Fall Kemmis Hicks, M.A. Thesis Advisor: G. Ronald Murphy, Ph.D. ABSTRACT This dissertation examines selected texts of German literature in which a human being gains access to knowledge outside human scope by means of an encounter with the water nixie, seen in her mythological variations as siren, water sprite, undine, melusine, nymph, or mermaid. Texts to be considered include Das Nibelungenlied (ca. 1200), Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s “Der Fischer” (ca. 1779), Franz Kafka’s “Das Schweigen der Sirenen” (1917), Ingeborg Bachmann’s “Undine Geht” (1961), and Johannes Bobrowski’s “Undine” (1964). In each of these texts it is not the eyes that play the central role in the epistemological character of the human-nixie encounter, but the ears. In this project I argue that the human posture of attentive listening that precedes the encounter with the nixie indicates a state of readiness that leads to a moment of extraordinary awareness, in which the epistemological experience is transformational. Further, I suggest that poetry plays a pivotal role in the moment of epiphany, or of transformational knowing, for the reader.
    [Show full text]
  • Melusine Machine
    MELUSINE MACHINE The Metal Mermaids of Jung, Deleuze and Guattari [Received January 28th 2018; accepted July 28th 2018 – DOI: 10.21463/shima.12.2.07] Cecilia Inkol York University, Toronto <[email protected]> ABSTRACT: This article takes the image of the feminine water spirit or mermaid as the focus of its philosophical contemplation, using her image as a map to traverse the thought- realms of Jung, Deleuze and Guattari. The feminine, watery symbol in this elaboration acts as the glue that enjoins the ideas of Jung with Deleuze and Guattari and reveals the imbrication of their ideas. Through their streams of thought, the mermaid is formulated as an emblem of technology, as a metaphor that makes reference to the unconscious and its technological involutions, her humanoid-fish form providing an image of thought or way of talking about the transformation of form, and the flitting, swimming valences at work in the unconscious. KEYWORDS: Jung, Deleuze, Guattari, mermaid, nixie, unconscious, technology Introduction This article pivots around a particular image — the feminine water spirit, embodied in her forms of mermaid, nixie 1 or water sprite — through the thought-architectures of the philosophers Jung, Deleuze and Guattari; it traces the filaments that connect these philosophers to this feminine image, as well as to one another, unfurling the imbrication and lineage of their ideas. Within the thought-structures of Deleuze, Guattari and Jung, her fluid figure is elucidated as an emblem of technology, as a metaphor that refers to the unconscious and its technological involutions; her humanoid-fish form providing an image of thought or way of talking about the transformation of form, and the flitting, swimming valences at work in the unconscious.
    [Show full text]
  • Fairies, Kingship, and the British Past in Walter Map's De Nugis Curialium and Sir Orfeo
    UC Berkeley UC Berkeley Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title Fairies, Kingship, and the British Past in Walter Map's De Nugis Curialium and Sir Orfeo Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8zh4b6x4 Author Schwieterman, Patrick Joseph Publication Date 2010 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California Fairies, Kingship, and the British Past in Walter Map’s De Nugis Curialium and Sir Orfeo by Patrick Joseph Schwieterman A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in English in the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley Committee in charge: Professor Maura Nolan, Chair Professor Jennifer Miller Professor John Lindow Fall 2010 Fairies, Kingship, and the British Past in Walter Map’s De Nugis Curialium and Sir Orfeo © 2010 by Patrick Joseph Schwieterman Abstract Fairies, Kingship, and the British Past in Walter Map’s De Nugis Curialium and Sir Orfeo by Patrick Joseph Schwieterman Doctor of Philosophy in English University of California, Berkeley Professor Maura Nolan, Chair My dissertation focuses on two fairy narratives from medieval Britain: the tale of Herla in Walter Map’s twelfth-century De Nugis Curialium, and the early fourteenth-century romance Sir Orfeo. I contend that in both texts, fairies become intimately associated with conceptions of the ancient British past, and, more narrowly, with the idea of a specifically insular kingship that seeks its legitimization within that past. In Chapter One, I argue that Map’s longer version of the Herla narrative is his own synthesis of traditional materials, intended to highlight the continuity of a notion of British kingship that includes the pygmy king, Herla and Henry II.
    [Show full text]
  • 'Fairy' in Middle English Romance
    'FAIRY' IN MIDDLE ENGLISH ROMANCE Chera A. Cole A Thesis Submitted for the Degree of PhD at the University of St Andrews 2014 Full metadata for this item is available in St Andrews Research Repository at: http://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/ Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/10023/6388 This item is protected by original copyright This item is licensed under a Creative Commons Licence ‘FAIRY’ IN MIDDLE ENGLISH ROMANCE Chera A. Cole A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the School of English in the University of St Andrews 17 December 2013 i ABSTRACT My thesis, ‘Fairy in Middle English romance’, aims to contribute to the recent resurgence of interest in the literary medieval supernatural by studying the concept of ‘fairy’ as it is presented in fourteenth- and fifteenth-century Middle English romances. This thesis is particularly interested in how the use of ‘fairy’ in Middle English romances serves as an arena in which to play out ‘thought-experiments’ that test anxieties about faith, gender, power, and death. My first chapter considers the concept of fairy in its medieval Christian context by using the romance Melusine as a case study to examine fairies alongside medieval theological explorations of the nature of demons. I then examine the power dynamic of fairy/human relationships and the extent to which having one partner be a fairy affects these explorations of medieval attitudes toward gender relations and hierarchy. The third chapter investigates ‘fairy-like’ women enchantresses in romance and the extent to which fairy is ‘performed’ in romance.
    [Show full text]
  • Test Abonnement
    L E X I C O N O F T H E W O R L D O F T H E C E L T I C G O D S Composed by: Dewaele Sunniva Translation: Dewaele Sunniva and Van den Broecke Nadine A Abandinus: British water god, but locally till Godmanchester in Cambridgeshire. Abarta: Irish god, member of the de Tuatha De Danann (‘people of Danu’). Abelio, Abelionni, Abellio, Abello: Gallic god of the Garonne valley in South-western France, perhaps a god of the apple trees. Also known as the sun god on the Greek island Crete and the Pyrenees between France and Spain, associated with fertility of the apple trees. Abgatiacus: ‘he who owns the water’, There is only a statue of him in Neumagen in Germany. He must accompany the souls to the Underworld, perhaps a heeling god as well. Abhean: Irish god, harpist of the Tuatha De Danann (‘people of Danu’). Abianius: Gallic river god, probably of navigation and/or trade on the river. Abilus: Gallic god in France, worshiped at Ar-nay-de-luc in Côte d’Or (France) Abinius: Gallic river god or ‘the defence of god’. Abna, Abnoba, Avnova: goddess of the wood and river of the Black Wood and the surrounding territories in Germany, also a goddess of hunt. Abondia, Abunciada, Habonde, Habondia: British goddess of plenty and prosperity. Originally she is a Germanic earth goddess. Accasbel: a member of the first Irish invasion, the Partholans. Probably an early god of wine. Achall: Irish goddess of diligence and family love.
    [Show full text]
  • Monsters, Monstrosities, and the Monstrous in Culture and Society
    Monsters, Monstrosities, and the Monstrous in Culture and Society Edited by Diego Compagna University of Applied Sciences Munich, Germany Stefanie Steinhart University of Klagenfurt, Austria Series in Sociology Copyright © 2019 Vernon Press, an imprint of Vernon Art and Science Inc, on behalf of the author. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of Vernon Art and Science Inc. www.vernonpress.com In the Americas: In the rest of the world: Vernon Press Vernon Press 1000 N West Street, C/Sancti Espiritu 17, Suite 1200, Wilmington, Malaga, 29006 Delaware 19801 Spain United States Series in Sociology Library of Congress Control Number: 2018964960 ISBN: 978-1-62273-536-5 Product and company names mentioned in this work are the trademarks of their respective owners. While every care has been taken in preparing this work, neither the authors nor Vernon Art and Science Inc. may be held responsible for any loss or damage caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by the information contained in it. Every effort has been made to trace all copyright holders, but if any have been inadvertently overlooked the publisher will be pleased to include any necessary credits in any subsequent reprint or edition. Cover design by Vernon Press. Cover image by Stefan Keller from Pixabay. Table of contents List of Figures vii Introduction ix Diego Compagna University of Applied Sciences Munich, Germany Stefanie Steinhart University of Klagenfurt, Austria Gender, Biopolitics, Feminist & Queer Theory 1 1.
    [Show full text]
  • Diplomarbeit
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by OTHES DIPLOMARBEIT Titel der Diplomarbeit „Die Fee – Metamorphosen einer Figur. Prozesse narrativen Gestaltwandels an ausgewählten Beispielen vom Mittelalter bis zur Gegenwart.“ Verfasserin Gabriele Sammer angestrebter akademischer Grad Magistra der Philosophie (Mag.phil.) Wien, im Juni 2012 Studienkennzahl lt. Studienblatt: A 332 Studienrichtung lt. Studienblatt: Diplomstudium Deutsche Philologie Betreuer: Univ.-Prof. Dr. Roland Innerhofer 2 Für meine Eltern, für immer in Liebe und Dankbarkeit sowie für meine Großeltern. Für unerschöpfliche Liebe und Geduld danke ich S. 3 4 INHALTSVERZEICHNIS 1. Einleitung .............................................................................................................................. 7 2. Überlegungen zur Theorie und Begriffsbestimmung ..................................................... 15 2.1. Omnipräsenz einer Heterogenität .................................................................................. 15 2.2. De Figura – Konzeption und Definition ........................................................................ 19 2.3. Plastizität, Performativität und Dynamik: Bewegte Figur – Figur in Bewegung ......... 27 2.4. Figur als Szene der Verwandlung – Metamorphose ..................................................... 29 3. Basistypus Fee – eine Spurensuche ................................................................................... 36 3.1. Mythologische Spuren und polymorphe Variationsbreiten..........................................
    [Show full text]
  • Melusine and the Fear of Disorder in Medieval European Society
    University of Northern Colorado Scholarship & Creative Works @ Digital UNC 2021 Undergraduate Presentations Research Day 2021 2021 Melusine and the Fear of Disorder in Medieval European Society Alani Casiano Follow this and additional works at: https://digscholarship.unco.edu/ug_pres_2021 Melusine and the Fear of Disorder in Medieval European Society Alani Casiano, ENG 380 - 001: Rebels, Outlaws and Outcasts, Department of English Melusine's secret discovered, from Le Roman de Mélusine by Jean d'Arras, ca 1450–1500. Bibliothèque nationale de France. Abstract Methodology ▪ This clearly illustrates how by drawing a connection between women and magic, the novel is depicting medieval society's perceptions of women and Man and woman, natural and unnatural, holy and sinful, human and monster. These • close reading of Melusine; Or, The Noble History of Lusignan by Jean d’Arras their seemingly unnatural, magical, and sinful nature which serves as the dualities pervade the work of Jean d’Arras’ Melusine; Or, The Noble History of Lusignan. • examination of secondary sources regarding the views of medieval society “other” to and a threat to men. Written in France in the 14th century, this novel tells the story of how the Lusignan concerning women, magic, sin, the monstrous, and the interactions between • Women were also considered “physically weaker, emotionally less stable, less fortress and noble house were founded by Melusine, a woman who was both human these concepts intelligent, and less rational than men…[making them] more susceptible to demonic and fairy. The conflict between these various dualities shape the rise and fall of the influences (magic) or temptation (sin).” Because of this, there was “a deeply rooted magical, hybrid, female Melusine and her husband - the human, male Raymondin.
    [Show full text]
  • A Context for Understanding Jean D'arras's Mélusine Ou La Noble Histoire De Lusignan
    Brigham Young University BYU ScholarsArchive Theses and Dissertations 2007-02-28 Hidden Doublings: A Context for Understanding Jean d'Arras's Mélusine ou la Noble Histoire de Lusignan Kathryn Rimmasch Brigham Young University - Provo Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd Part of the French and Francophone Language and Literature Commons, and the Italian Language and Literature Commons BYU ScholarsArchive Citation Rimmasch, Kathryn, "Hidden Doublings: A Context for Understanding Jean d'Arras's Mélusine ou la Noble Histoire de Lusignan" (2007). Theses and Dissertations. 1103. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/1103 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. by Brigham Young University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Brigham Young University BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY GRADUATE COMMITTEE APPROVAL committee and by majority vote has been found to be satisfactory. ________________________ ______________________________________ Date ________________________ ______________________________________ Date ________________________ ______________________________________ Date BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY As chair of the candidate’s graduate committee, I have read the format, citations and bibliographical style are consistent and acceptable and fulfill university
    [Show full text]