Art collaboration between Adalbert Mueller and August Gaber.
Undine is a fairy-tale novella (Erzählung) by Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué in which Undine, a water spirit, marries a knight named Huldebrand in order to gain a soul. It is an early German romance.
Illustration of Undine from 1909 ~ Arthur Rackham
Art collaboration between Adalbert Mueller and August Gaber
The story is descended from Melusine, the French folktale of a water-sprite who marries a knight on condition that he shall never see her on Saturdays when she resumes her mermaid shape. It was also inspired by works by the occultist Paracelsus.
Illustration of Undine from 1909 ~ Arthur Rackham
Art collaboration between Adalbert Mueller and August Gaber
An unabridged English translation of the story by William Leonard Courtney and illustrated by Arthur Rackham was published in 1909. George Macdonald thought Undine "the most beautiful" of all fairy stories, while Lafcadio Hearn referred to Undine as a "fine German story" in his essay "The Value of the Supernatural in Fiction".
Illustration of Undine from 1909 ~ Arthur Rackham
Art collaboration between Adalbert Mueller and August Gaber
In the 1830s, the novella was translated into Russian dactylic hexameter verse by the Romantic poet Vasily Zhukovsky. This verse translation became a classic in its own right and later provided the basis for the libretto to Tchaikovsky's operatic adaptation. The novella has since inspired numerous similar adaptions in various genres and traditions.
Illustration of Undine from 1909 ~ Arthur Rackham
Art collaboration between Adalbert Mueller and August Gaber
Love and light,
Trace
xoxo
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