Welcome back to White Rose of Avalon, my Darlings.   Today’s Siren Saturday post is a look at Rusalka, the Watery Faery Woman of Slavic folklore, including tales from Russia and the Ukraine.   I want to note that the plural of Rusalka is Rusalki.   That being said, I will be referring to this Faery Woman in the singular throughout this post, as she is seen as a solitary Faery, with sightings of her being of just one Rusalka, not multiple Rusalki.   

The Rusalka has much in common with the darker stories of the Sirens, seeking to drown sailors who come into their depths.   In the case of the Rusalka, she drowns men who are unfaithful in love, as they are the only ones who can be drawn into her allure. Let’s discuss why unfaithful men are drawn in by her allure.   Most often, the Rusalka is said to appear in a body of water as a beautiful young woman who is naked.    She most often appears to married men to tempt them into adultery.   If the man comes into the body of water, she will kiss him before dragging him underneath the water to drown him.   His drowning is a punishment for being unfaithful in love, as this vengeful Faery Woman does not harm a man who is faithful to his wife!   The faithful man would never have come into the water in the first place in the old folktales.   I do want to note that how she tempts men is reminiscent of Morgan le Fay and her Val Sans Retour, where the only Knights to be trapped would be those who were unfaithful in love.    

The Rusalka makes appearances in some pop culture, but often not by that name.   The film Siren from 2019 is a modern interpretation of this legend set at a lakeside surrounded by the woods.   In this tale, the Rusalka type of Siren Faery Woman is very dangerous and seems to kill based on instinct, but she is able to control this urge with the protagonist of the film.   My husband and I watched this film together a few months ago, and it was a very interesting watch.   Another example of the Rusalka in pop culture is in season one of Once Upon a Time, as the Lake Maiden that Prince Charming encounters when trying to get magickal water in the thirteenth episode titled ‘What Happened to Frederick’ is very much depicted as a Rusalka.    The Lake Maiden is simply named Siren on the IMDb page for the episode, but the way she functions is much more in line with Rusalka, in particular, appearing from a body of water and trying to seduce an individual man.

It must be noted that the Rusalka was not always seen as evil or malevolent, but this is the common depiction since the 19th century.   She was earlier seen by the Slavic people as a Water Faery who was associated with fertility.   The early version of Rusalka would help to nourish the crops with water, thus promoting the fertility of the land.   It is very common for there to be a comparison between the Rusalka and the Sirens of Greek myth (as noted throughout this post), the Nixie of German folklore, and even the Faery Queen Goddess Melusine of French and German lore!   I will say that I do not see the Melusine connection as much personally, as Melusine is not a Water Faery who tempts and drowns men.   Instead, she is a Water Faery who is punished for an attack on her father (in revenge for his betrayal of her mother) by having to spend Saturdays in Mermaid form.   She does marry a human Nobleman, and they have several children, but she leaves her husband when he betrays her trust and spies on her on a Saturday (as that was the one thing she asked before marriage, to never see her on Saturdays).   Of course, she would still visit her children and would even become a Banshee-like figure crying at the oncoming death of those in her bloodline.   This is a very abridged version of her tale, and I have several posts on her for more, but I wanted to show why I do not see Melusine as being so closely related to the Rusalka.

I want to finish off this post with a discussion of how the Rusalka can be related to unrest spirits.   Other than being seen as a Faery Woman who has always been Fae in nature, some believe that a young woman who drowned in suicide or was murdered by drowning could become a Rusalka tied to the body of water in which she drowned.   This is said to be the case when the reason for these drownings was related to being unhappy in love (suicide because of unhappy marriages and murder due to becoming pregnant with unwanted children).   I do think that this connection to unrest spirits who have been hurt by love is an interesting connection to make to the Rusalka.   It also makes sense that they would seek vengeance against those who are unfaithful in love!

I hope you have enjoyed learning a bit about the Rusalka.   What is the most interesting aspect of the Rusalka to you?   Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!      

Note on Image: The image at the top of the post is a beautiful Rusalka artwork.   I found the image on https://medium.com/@pedrobonatto/rusalka-reimagining-a-slavic-folk-tale-2d697dafcd22.    

LINK TO AVALONIAN ROSE FAERY MYSTERIES PATREON: https://patreon.com/AvalonianRoseFaeryMysteries?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink

Further Reading/Watching

• Mermaids: The Myths, Legends, & Lore by Skye Alexander
• The Fairy Bible by Teresa Moorey
• A New Dictionary of Fairies by Morgan Daimler
• The Romance of the Faery Melusine translated by Gareth Knight
• Once Upon a Time (2011)
• Siren (2019)