The Maids, the Myths, the Legends: Melusine

As the incredible history nerd and lover of all things mermaid that I am, the “Maids, Myths, and Legends” series on my blog will explore the mystical mermaid folklore from many different cultures from around the world. This particular post is the second of its kind, and you can follow this link if you would like to read the first post studying Ea, the Ancient Babylonian god of magic.

This week, we will be looking at the rich and detailed story of Melusine, a feminine spirit found in legends throughout Europe, especially in France, Luxembourg, Albania, and Germany. Melusine may be one of the most easily recognized mermaids around the world, thanks to the popularization of her image on world-famous-coffee-house-based-out-of-Seattle: Starbucks, but the story behind this fairy-creature is lesser known. In fact, even Starbucks itself may not even realize the extent of the Melusine’s impact on their success!

This article from 1912pike.com, Starbucks’ blog and news site, discusses the meaning behind the Starbucks Siren. Based on the article, it seems that not even Starbucks itself knows about the influence of the European myth of the Melusine, and instead they attribute their branding to the Greek myth of a siren. The sirens of ancient Greek mythology have been badly skewed by modern day’s society, and despite often being depicted as mermaid-like creatures—sirens were not mermaids at all! Instead, the sirens that Odysseus encounters between Aeaea and Scylla were described as half-bird, half-woman hybrids whose beautiful songs lured sailors to their deaths.

I hope to discuss the misappropriation of sirens in their very own post, which will be linked to here in the future, but until then, you can read this quick article from Brittanica.com about the siren of Greek mythology if you’re interested!

So, if the Starbucks is not really a siren, and if sirens are not really mermaids, then what is the story of the Melusine, and what does she have anything to do with this?

Well, I’m glad you asked!

The stories of the Melusine can be found all over the medieval histories of Europe, and though the tale of her tail varies from place to place, the version that I will shortly tell you comes from Luxembourg. Throughout the different cultures, she is depicted as either half-woman, half-snake or half-woman, half-fish—often with the two tails seen in the Starbucks logo. If you would like to read different versions of her story, you can follow this link for the stories of Melusine on pitt.edu.

Count Siegfried once got lost while hunting, when he heard the most beautiful voice singing in the wilderness. After following the voice, the count saw the most beautiful maiden he had ever seen, Melusine, and he asked her to be his wife. She agreed, as long as her new husband would agree to never see her on Saturdays. Siegfried agreed, and they lived happily together for a long time. One day, however, Siegfried’s friends planted seeds of distrust in his heart about his wife’s secrets, so to pacify his doubts, Siegfried spied on his wife one Saturday through the keyhole of her bedroom. Inside, he found his wife combing her hair while in the bathtub, splashing the water with her fish tail, which comprised the bottom half of her body! Unable to hold his surprise, the count let out a cry of shock. When Melusine heard that her husband had betrayed her and discovered her secret, she jumped out of her window into the river below, and sank deep into the depths of the earth.