Welcome to day one of Legendary Love Week at White Rose of Avalon, my Darlings.   Today’s post is about Melusine and her husband Raymond!   Since the first day of this theme week fell on a Siren Saturday, the topic of the Faery Queen Melusine and her husband seemed like an ideal starting point.

Melusine first met Raymond when she was a Lady of the Fountain in a Forest.   She was working at this Fountain, known as the Fountain of Thirst when Raymond happened by in great distress.   What began as Melusine teasingly taunting Raymond for not acknowledging the presence of herself and the other Ladies of the Fountain soon turned into concern.   Being a Faery Queen of great power, Melusine knew what had happened, that Raymond had suffered a great tragedy when his beloved Uncle (who was a powerful Count) had died in a hunting accident that was technically his fault.

Melusine is able to snap Raymond out of his nearly catatonic state of despair and give him instructions that would pave the way for Raymond’s future happiness.   She tells him how to behave when returning to his Uncle’s Court, how to interact with his cousin (who would become the next Count), and gifts him with powerful rings that will bless his endeavors!   Raymond did as instructed and returned to Melusine for further insights.   Melusine gave him more tasks to complete, a common Faery trope of needing to complete tasks to gain rewards from the Faery Woman.   This allowed Raymond to acquire a large swath of land and become a Count in his own right, with Melusine marrying him and becoming his lucky charm!

Melusine made Raymond promise to do one thing before they wed, to never see her on a Saturday.   She assured him that she would not be doing anything disrespectful on that day (like adultery for instance), but that she needed complete privacy.   Raymond readily agreed to this odd request, and their Wedding Feast lasted two weeks at the place where the Castle of Lusignan would one-day stand (after Melusine constructed it during their first year of marriage)!

On their Wedding Night, Melusine conceived their first son, Urian, born the day that the Castle was completed.   In total, Melusine bore Raymond ten sons, all handsome and well-formed, but all of their sons also had a strange deformity in their appearance.   Even with the deformities, the men were well-respected and did great deeds, bringing Melusine and Raymond much parental pride!   Melusine also continued to build many great structures on Raymond’s lands, proving her massive fertility, both as a mother and as a Builder Faery.

One Saturday, after many happy years together, Raymond’s brother made him fear what Melusine did on that day.   In paranoia, Raymond spied on Melusine when she was bathing in a lavish tub in a bathhouse she had constructed on the property.   It was then that Raymond saw the truth, Melusine spent her Saturdays as a Serpent from the waist down, as she was a Faery who was cursed to spend Saturdays in her Mermaid form!   Raymond instantly regretted his discovery, because he did not want to lose his wife.

Melusine did not leave him after this incident, even though she knew, because he did not reveal her secret.   However, that did not remain true for long.   After one of their sons committed an atrocity by burning down an Abbey and killing many monks, including one of his own brothers, Raymond confronted Melusine.   He called her a monster and revealed her secret publicly!   This was when Melusine sadly left the man she loved and the town that she built to return to Avalon and live out her days watching over her family.   In fact, she turned into a Dragon and flew away after a sad farewell to Raymond!

Melusine would continue to visit and teach her two youngest children, but Raymond never saw her again.   She wailed sad cries for three days before his death, mourning the loss of the husband she still loved!   Clearly, this is a very bittersweet ending to this first love story of the week, but I had to include it.  

I hope you have enjoyed this short look at Melusine and Raymond’s love story.   If you want to learn more about Melusine, I am currently working on an Online Class all about her that I hope to open enrollment for in just over a month.   What is your favorite thing about Melusine and Raymond’s story?   Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

Note on Image: The image at the top of the post is a medieval artwork of Melusine and Raymond’s Wedding.   I found the artwork on https://blogs.loc.gov/international-collections/2017/06/the-water-spirit-melusina/.  

LINK TO AVALONIAN ROSE FAERY MYSTERIES PATREON: patreon.com/AvalonianRoseFaeryMysteries

Further Reading

• Melusine by Jean d’Arras