The Melusina, or Melusine, is a mythical creature found in early Celtic and Medieval folklore. She was a part woman and part serpent, her top half that of a gorgeous woman, with the body of a snake. The fantasy of such a monster is extremely old. Melusina is derived from Celtic water faeries or nymphs that were believed to be changelings.
World of water
They might be deceiving to unsuspecting guys with their lovely song, and lure them in their magical world of water. They were sometimes known as mermaids and sirens. This ancient water Goddess became rather well known in the Middle Ages especially in North France and England. The most popular Medieval fantasy of the Melusina, is that with Elynas, the King of Albania, along with the beautiful Fae, Pressina. One afternoon while King Elynas was searching, he came across a river where he stopped to have a drink. He heard a girl singing and this is when he discovered the Fae Pressina.
He persuaded her to marry him and she agreed, on one condition, that he never enter her room when she gave birth or bathed her children.For when he did, there will be horrible and potential fatal consequences. Pressina ended up giving birth to triplets, all women named Melusina, Melior, and Plantina. Upon hearing the terrific news, King Elynas burst into the room to see his new baby girls while Pressina was bathing them. She cried out that he broke his promise and she took her three women and fled to Avalon.
After the three women had grown in their teens, Melusina asked her mother why they were living in Avalon. So Pressina told her the story of what her father did, and this enraged Melusina. So she and her sisters decided to catch King Elynas and lock him in a mountain. When Pressina heard of this, she became so angry, she chased Melusina to the kind of a serpent from the waist down each Saturday, until she should meet a man who would marry her under the condition of never seeing her on a Saturday, and he ought to keep his promise.
Pidä mielessä
So Melusina went out on her hunt for this guy that will marry her. One day in the woods, she came across a man, Raymond of Poitou, while she was sitting by a lake. Raymond became enchanted by her beauty and asked for her hand in marriage. Melusina said yes on one condition, he wasn’t permitted to see her bathe on Saturdays, under any conditions. He agreed and they married soon thereafter. They had many children, and on one Saturday night while Melusina was bathing, her husband decided to have a peek in her because of the constant teasing he got from his brothers.
What he saw amazed and scared him and he didnt say anything about it. Until one day after he’d lost in a struggle, when Melusinsa attempted to comfort him, he pushed away her calling her a serpent and contaminator of the human race. He instantly regretted what he said, and Melusina left to roam the forests. In other myths it is said that she turned into a dragon and flew off never to be seen again. Although this myth is Medieval in character, the faery soul Melusina is considerably older.
There have been Pictish carvings found of a water Goddess/Woman with that of a serpent reduced body. The Melusina and her myths resonate with me due to my love of fantasy and faeries, and my love of water. A strong element that the ancients respected. So it is reasonable that they’d have deities of the seas, lakes and rivers.