Search/Recent Changes
DBTropes
...it's like TV Tropes, but LINKED DATA!

Undine

 Undine
type
 TVTItem
 Undine
label
 Undine
 Undine
page
 Undine
 Undine
comment
 Published in 1811, Undine is an early German fairytale novella by Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué. The story follows Undine, a water spirit who marries a human knight in order to gain an immortal soul.Advertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_mobile_ad_1'); })The events of the story begin when Huldbrand, a knight on a quest to explore the local Lost Woods, stumbles upon a fisherman who invites him back to his hut. The fisherman introduces Huldbrand to his wife and foster daughter Undine, who appeared mysteriously on their doorstep the day after they lost their own infant daughter in the lake. The knight is immediately taken with the beautiful, tempestuous young woman.Huldbrand seeks to depart the next day, but is prevented by a storm that floods the land around the hut, much to Undine's delight. The two grow closer over the course of the knight's stay and are married when a priest "conveniently" washes up on their shore. The next morning, Undine confesses to Huldbrand she is actually a water spirit: elemental embodiments of water who live carefree lives, but lack souls and thus cease to exist after they die. The only way for such beings to gain a soul is to marry a human. Knowing this, Undine's parents sent her to live among humans in the hopes she could marry one and be able to ascend to heaven when she died. Huldbrand is shocked by this revelation, but reaffirms his love for her.Advertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_mobile_ad_2'); })The flood waters recede and Huldbrand, Undine, and the priest travel back to the city. Their return is met with celebration as Huldbrand was presumed dead. Bertalda, the woman Huldbrand was courting before, is intially disappointed he returned with a wife, but cannot help liking Undine. Undine's uncle pays her a visit and informs her Bertalda is the long-lost child of the fisherman and his wife. Bertalda is furious to learn her birth parents are lowly peasants, and behaves so poorly that both her noble foster parents and her birth parents disown her. In spite of her uncle's warnings, Undine invites her to live with them. Huldbrand slowly begins to shift his affection to Bertalda, and they both start treating Undine with contempt.The three of them are taking a boat trip on the Danube river when Undine's uncle appears and torments the party with storms and waves. Undine magically calms each of the these attacks, but Huldbrand grows increasingly resentful of her. Ignoring Undine's previous warnings never to reproach her in the presence of water spirits, he accuses her of sorcery and demands she be gone. Undine's relatives reclaim her and she vanishes into the river. Huldbrand and Bertalda temporarily grieve her loss before deciding to get married to each other. On the night of the wedding, Bertalda has the seal Undine placed on the well removed. Compelled by her nature to kill the knight for his unfaithfulness, Undine enters the castle through the now unsealed well, finds Huldbrand, and kills him with a kiss. At the knight's funeral, a weeping woman in white follows the procession. She kneels at the knight's grave and dissapears, leaving a spring of water in her place that encircles the burial plot before flowing down into the lake.Advertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_mobile_ad_3'); })This probably sounds similar to other stories about magical water ladies seeking a soul by marrying human men. Undine served as inspiration for The Little Mermaid and also was followed-up on by "Herr Mannelig", The Unknown Sea, and The Fisherman and his Soul.The title and titular character are references to mythological water nymphs of European tradition called undines or ondines. Many undine stories depict the water spirit in question seeking to gain a soul through marriage to a human man, with this novella serving as the Trope Codifier.Originally written in German, Undine has been translated into multiple languages, including a 1909 English version translated by William Leonard Courtney and illustrated by Arthur Rackham.The story has also been adapted into operas, ballets, plays, films, and depicted in numerous works of art.It can be read online here.Provides Examples Of
 Undine
fetched
 2022-02-21T09:12:29Z
 Undine
parsed
 2022-02-21T09:12:29Z
 Undine
isPartOf
 DBTropes
 Undine / int_name
type
 ItemName
 Undine / int_name
comment
 Undine / int_name
featureApplicability
 1.0
 Undine / int_name
featureConfidence
 1.0
 Undine
hasFeature
 Undine / int_name
 Undine / int_name
itemName
 Undine

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

 Undine
hasFeature
 Mermaid Media / int_d5307f62