Melusine - was she a mermaid, a water sprite, a fairy queen, a dragon princess or a forest nymph?

Melusine de VER has also been known as Melusina, Melouziana de Scythes, Maelasanu, and The Dragon Princess. She entered literary history in the book Roman de Melusine written in 1393 by Jean d'Arras. The story is a mix of fiction and fact, commissioned by the Duke de Berry, a French noble who was brother to King Charles V, and uncle of King Charles VI. It was meant to be a family history and to uphold the proprietary claims to Lusignan and Anjou. In this story Melusine's mother was a Presine fairy who charmed Elinas, the king of Scotland. The result was their daughter Melusine. Half fairy and half princess, Melusine wandered over to the Continent and eventually met up with Rainfroi in the forests Anjou. They met while he was out boar hunting. Overcome with her beauty, he took her hand in marriage, and many adventures ensued. As a result of this book, Melusine was subsequently featured in medieval tales across Europe, variously depicted as a mermaid, a water sprite, a fairy queen, a fairy princess, a dragon princess, and a forest nymph. She came to represent any magial creature who marries a mortal man. Most royal houses in Europe have claimed lineage to the real Melusine, so she has been the subject of great speculation.

Encyclopedia Mythica: The Story of Melusine

The fairy, Melusine, was the daughter of the fairy Pressyne and King Elynas of Albany. She became the fairy Queen of the forest of Colombiers in the French region of Poitou. One day, she and two of her subjects were guarding their sacred fountain when a young man, Raymond of Poitiers, burst out of the forest. Melusine spent the night talking with Raymond, and by dawn, they were betrothed, but with one condition. Melusine requested that Raymond promise that he would never see her on a Saturday. He agreed, and they were married. Melusine brought her husband great wealth and prosperity. She built the fortress of Lusignan so quickly that it appeared to be made by magic. Over time, Melusine built many castles, fortresses, churches, towers and towns, each in a single night, throughout the region. She and Raymond had ten children, but each child was flawed. The eldest had one red eye and one blue eye, the next had an ear larger than the other, another had a lion's foot growing from his cheek, and another had but one eye. The sixth son was known as Geoffrey-with-the-great tooth, as he had a very large tooth. In spite of the deformities, the children were strong, talented and loved throughout the land.

One day, Raymond's brother visited him and made Raymond very suspicious about the Saturday activities of his wife. So the next Saturday, Raymond sought his wife, finding her in her bath where he spied on her through a crack in the door. He was horrified to see that she had the body and tail of a serpent from her waist down. He said nothing until the day that their son, Geoffrey-with-the-great tooth, attacked a monastery and killed one hundred monks, including one of his brothers. Raymond accused Melusine of contaminating his line with her serpent nature, thus revealing that he had broken his promise to her.

As a result, Melusine turned into a fifteen-foot serpent, circled the castle three times, wailing piteously, and then flew away. She would return at night to visit her children, then vanish. Raymond was never happy again. Melusine appeared at the castle, wailing, whenever a count of Lusignan was about to die or a new one to be born. It was said that the noble line which originated with Melusine will reign until the end of the world. Her children included the King of Cyprus, the King of Armenia, the King of Bohemia, the Duke of Luxembourg, and the Lord of Lusignan

In the Realm of the Ring Lords (Nexus Magazine)

One of history's best known Grail Fairies was Princess Melusine, daughter of the Pictish King, Elinas of Alba - a descendant of the 2nd-century King Vere of Caledonia, Lord of the Dragon. In the year 733, Melusine (maintaining the family heritage) married Rainfroi de Vere, Prince of Anjou, and among their offspring was Count Maelo, the commander of Emperor Charlemagne's army. From Maelo's own marriage to Charlemagne's sister sprang the Vere Counts of Guisnes who, as previously mentioned, were the reputed Elf Kings and became England's Great Chamberlains and Earls of Oxford.

In the Arthurian and Magdalene traditions of the Ladies of the Lake (as discussed in Bloodline of the Holy Grail), Melusine was a "fountain fey" - an enchantress of the Underwood. Her fountain at Verrières en Forez was called Lusina (meaning "Light-bringer"), from which derived the name of the Royal House of Lusignan - the Crusader Kings of Jerusalem. The Fount of Melusine was said to be located deep within a thicket wood in Anjou, and Melusine was often depicted as a mermaid - as she is still beguilingly portrayed in an old painting at Count Dracula's Bran Castle in Romania.

In the 12th-century, Melusine's descendant, Robert de Vere, 3rd Earl of Oxford and legal pretender to the Earldom of Huntingdon, was appointed as King Richard I's Steward of the forest lands of Fitzooth. As Lord of the Greenwood and titular Herne of the Wild Hunt, he was a popular people's champion of the Sidhé heritage - as a result of which he was outlawed for taking up arms against King John. It was he who, subsequently styled Robin Fitzooth, became the prototype for the popular tales of Robin Hood.