Speaking of A.S. Byatt and
legends of forest maidens, ever since I read Possession I have been keen on the Breton legend of Melusina (or more poetically Mélusine).
The myth goes back a millennia with many variations on Melusina’s story and name for that matter. But the gist of tale is that Melusina is half-woman and half-serpent or fish. She is a beauty, of course, and luckily the tail only shows up only once a week.
By and by Melusina meets a handsome count (possibly prince) and agrees to marry him on the condition that she is given privacy when the wretched tail makes an appearance.
Eventually Mr. Melusina discovers the secret, they try to patch things up but after some ugly words are exchanged Melusina’s flees.
Of course all these years later noone remembers his name but Melusina is on coffee cups in Bretagne and the world over (scroll!).
 |
| Often Melusina has two tails |
 |
| Guillebert De Metz 1410 |
 |
| Take a look at Starbucks logo and tell me that's not Melusina! |
No comments:
Post a Comment