Melusine

While I was looking up “terpsichory”, I came across “Melusine”. I decided to share the Wikipedia explanation. I just liked the idea of such a strange creature, hope you think so too.

For other uses, see Melusine (disambiguation).

Mélusine (French: [melyzin]) or Melusine or Melusina is a figure of European folklore, a female spirit of fresh water in a holy well or river. She is usually depicted as a woman who is a serpent or fish from the waist down (much like a lamia or a mermaid). She is also sometimes illustrated with wings, two tails, or both. Her legends are especially connected with the northern and western areas of France, Luxembourg, and the Low Countries.

Fairy tales?

From Pinterest Lady Cottinghams Pressed Fairy Book, by Terry Jones, illustrated by Brian Froud.

Have you seen this book? It’s a really strange and funny book illustrated with squished fairys. The story is that a little girl  who accidentally snaps a fairy in her book, and then gradually collects more and more in her book. They are the essence of the fairys, their spirits, and incredibly cheeky looking.

Each illustration has notes of the capture alongside them. As Lady Cottingham grows up her writing improves and her speculation about the fairy world and the intensions of the “wee folk” gets more involved. I really enjoyed it.