Undine (mythology)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Undine by John William Waterhouse , 1872

Undine (rarely also Undene , French ondine "water spirit", " mermaid ") is a feminine, virgin water spirit . She belongs to the so - called semi - divine elementals . The name is derived from both Old High German undia (common Germanic unþī , New High German the Unde ) and Latin unda with the identical meaning "wave", for which a common Indo-European root is assumed.

The figure of Undine comes from the legend of the sex of the Stauffenberger . The subject is contained in a poem from around 1320 and has been adapted many times.

properties

According to Paracelsus , it is an elemental being , which belongs to the mythological genus nymph and embodies the element water . According to him, it can usually be discovered in forest lakes or waterfalls . Sometimes the enchanting singing of an undine can be heard over the water. Usually undines like nymphs appear as serving companions of gods .

The Undine only gets a soul when she marries a person. Undine brings death to an unfaithful husband. (In the play by Jean Giraudoux , the water spirits they know let their husband Hans die, and she cannot remember him later.)

Similar legendary figures

Some aspects of the Undine can also be found in Greek mythology . Comparable are in particular the Greek nymphs of the springs, rivers and lakes ( naiads ), furthermore the Oceanids and Nereids , for example Amphitrite . Greek water nymphs can bring mischief, for example they cause the death of Heracles ' darling Hylas . The "foam-born" Aphrodite is also closely related to the water, but unlike nymphs and undines, she is a full-fledged goddess. The motif of the seductive song can be found in the bird-shaped sirens who sit on the seashore and lure passing boatmen to their death.

In other legend circles, the water nymphs are ascribed an enchanting voice. The water song also connects Undines with magical beings such as the Loreley or the daughter of the king of the city of Ys, sunk in the sea, singing bells on the sea at night . Something comparable can be found in the legend of the magical city of Vineta , which also sank into the sea out of arrogance. There are also a number of local legends about female river spirits that have similarities with the undine figure, such as the female Danube from Vienna .

Similar beings in Slavic mythology are called Rusálka or Russalka .

reception

literature

Collection of literary adaptations:

  • Frank R. Max (ed.): Undine magic. Stories and poems by mermaids, nymphs and other water women. Reclam, Stuttgart 2009. ISBN 978-3-15-010696-9

music

Incidental music

Other classical music

Rock music

Movie

  • Fairy - a modern fairy tale (1977), directed by Vojtěch Jasný . The television film ( ZDF ) brings the Undine motif into the present.
  • Ondine (2009), writer and director: Neil Jordan . An Irish fisherman catches a girl in his fishing net who pretends to be a mermaid.
  • Undine (2020) , writer and director: Christian Petzold . "The historian Undine works as a city guide in Berlin. When her boyfriend leaves her, the curse of the old myth overtakes her. Undine has to kill the man who betrays her and return to the water."

Computer games

  • In the Tales of series, Undine appears several times as an elemental spirit ( Tales of Symphonia , Tales of Eternia ). She embodies the water and is the direct opponent of Ifrit , the elemental spirit of fire.
  • In the PS4 game Sword Art Online Lost Song you can use the undines Asuna and Sumeragi as playable characters.
  • In the indie game Undertale you meet the leader of the King's Guard, who bears the name Undyne.
  • In Star Trek Online , the non-humanoid species 8472 named by the Borg is referred to as Undines.

Anime and Manga

  • In the anime series Sword Art Online ( Japanese : ソ ー ド ア ー ト ・ オ ン ラ イ ン) the Undines (originally written ウ ン デ ィ ー ネ) are one of the nine playable races of the VRMMORPG Alfheim Online. Asuna is a well known member of this breed.

Reception of the name Undine

  • Edith Wharton , an avid Goethe reader, named the main character of her novel The Custom of the Country (1913) Undine Spragg.
  • In the Baltic seaside resort of Binz on the island of Rügen, there is the Villa Undine in the typical regional spa architecture . The location right by the sea was the inspiration for the name.
  • A building in the Mertonviertel in Frankfurt am Main, which is currently used by BaFin , bears the name Undine , probably as an allusion to the undulating, curved base line of the facade.
  • In the comic series ASH - Austrian Super Heroes is Undine one of the protagonists, under the code name Donauweibchen with their ability to control the water, along with their colleagues bureaucrat Lady Haymarket and jun Captain Austria. must avert all possible dangers from Austria.

See also

  • Melusine , a similar legendary figure (see also further literature there)
  • Rusalka (mythology) , a similar legendary figure in Slavic mythology (see there also operas and other reception)
  • Undine Syndrome , a disease

Secondary literature

  • Francoise Ferlan: Le thème d'Ondine dans la littérature et l'opéra allemands au XIXème siècle. Publications universitaires européennes, Sér. 1: Langue et littérature allemandes, 992. Lang, Bern 1987. ISBN 3-261-03692-3
  • Irmgard Roebling Ed .: Sehnsucht und Sirene. Fourteen Treatises on Water Fantasies. Centaurus, Pfaffenweiler 1992
  • Anna Maria Stuby: love, death and water woman. Myths of the Feminine in Literature. Wiesbaden 1992
  • Mona El Nawab: Ingeborg Bachmann's “Undine goes”. A historical comparison of material and motifs with Friedrich de LaMotte-Fouqué's “Undine” and Jean Giraudoux's “Ondine”. Königshausen & Neumann , Würzburg 1993 ISBN 3-88479-764-6
  • Ruth Fassbind-Eigenheer: Undine, or the wet border between me and me. Origin and literary adaptations of a water woman myth, from Paracelsus to Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué to Ingeborg Bachmann. Stuttgart theses on German studies 291. Heinz, Stuttgart 1994. Diss. Univ. Zurich 1992/93. ISBN 3-88099-295-9
  • Gabriele Bessler: About mermaids and water women. Cologne 1995
  • Andreas Kraß: Mermaids. Stories of an impossible love. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 2010, ISBN 978-3-10-038195-8 .
  • Irene Krieger: Undine, the water fairy. Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué's fairy tales from the composer's pen. Centaurus, Herbolzheim 2000. (Musikwissenschaft 6 series) ISBN 3-8255-0260-0
  • Beate Otto: Underwater Literature. Of water women and water men. Wuerzburg 2001
  • Antje Syfuss: Mermaid love. Water women in literature. Haag + Herchen, Frankfurt 2006

Web links

Commons : Undine  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ SAGEN.at - THE DANUBE WOMAN. Retrieved June 24, 2017 .
  2. ^ Karl Friedrich Hensler: The Danube female in the Gutenberg project
  3. ^ Albert Lortzing: Opera Undine
  4. ↑ Piffl Media | Undine | A film by Christian Petzold.Retrieved February 20, 2020.
  5. ↑ https://sto-de.gamepedia.com/Undinen