Welcome back to White Rose of Avalon, my Darlings.   For this week’s Femme Fatale Friday blog post, I am going to examine Rusalka and Lorelei as Mermaids from Russian and Germanic lore, respectively!   Of course, I have written about each before, but it has been a while, and I wanted to further examine these intriguing Water Faeries.

Now, when most people think of these two types of Water Faeries, often the first thing that comes to mind is how dangerous they are.   Both the Lorelei and the Rusalka are known to kill men, hence the association with danger.   However, these Germanic and Russian Mermaids are much more than would meet the eye!

The Lorelei is known as the Mermaid of the Rhine River in Germany, and she is often known to sing a Siren’s Song to lure men to crash their ships on the rocky shores of the River.   In fact, she even shares her name with a rock located at the edge of the River.   There are many who consider the Lorelei to be of a class of German Water Faeries known as Nixies, with the Lorelei being specific to the Rhine River.   There is also much debate over whether or not there is one Lorelei or many, and even over whether she originated as a Mermaid.   In some of the most popular stories about Lorelei, she began as a young woman who drowned herself in despair after her lover died in the water!   So, this leads to the interpretation that she may be a sort of Mermaidy Spirit of Vengeance, wanting to kill men who she perceived to have been responsible for the death of her lover.

This leads to the ideal segue into discussing the Rusalka, a Russian (and more broadly Slavic, but known by other names in other regions) Mermaid.   You see, the Rusalka, or Rusalki in plural, is also often described as having been a drowned woman who then goes about drowning men!   However, there is a much deeper story at play here, for there are many scholars who think of the Rusalka as having been a very important part of Pagan Slavic practices, as a fertility figure.   It was thought that these Mermaids were seen as the ones who gave life-giving waters to the land, allowing the crops to be fertile.   This is largely because the darker and scarier versions of their tales were not spread until the 19th century!   I know that in recent years, this is something that is now being remembered and celebrated by Slavic Pagans and Folk practitioners, once again.   To touch on the darker stories, I will state that the Rusalka is known to lure a man to come into the water with her.   She will appear to a man walking alone near her River or body of water, as a lovely naked woman with only long hair to cover her body.   However, she is known to appear to married men, for she is there to test their loyalty to their wives.   So, the men who are truly in danger of being drowned by her are the ones who are unfaithful!   Which, again, I see as more of a Mermaidy Spirit of Vengeance than a truly evil figure.   I want to finish my discussion of Rusalki by noting a couple of the ways they differ from the Lorelei.   The Rusalki are known to appear in groups, often when outside of the water.   Furthermore, if women seek to petition the Rusalka, she is known to like offerings, often of ribbons and flowers, according to Judika Illes in the Encyclopedia of Spirits.

This is your reminder that even the most dangerous of Watery Faeries is much deeper than the fearful image that has been passed down.   Mermaids of all sorts are of the water, meaning they have a connection to both the water’s healing and life-giving properties and its dangers.   Water can heal, and water can kill, so Water Faeries often represent both sides!   

I hope that you have enjoyed this brief exploration of the Lorelei and the Rusalka.   Do you have a relationship with either of these Mermaids?   Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

Note on Image: The image at the top of the post is the painting Rusalki (“The Mermaids”) by Ivan Kramskoi.   I found the art on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rusalka.     

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

Further Reading

• Encyclopedia of Spirits by Judika Illes
• Mermaids: The Myths, Legends, & Lore by Skye Alexander