La structure des légendes mélusiniennes

Abstract

The analysis of corpus of medieval legends centered on an interdiction involving a mermaid enables us to bring to light a structure related to that of the folk tale as analyzed in the schemas proposed by Propp. At the same time, it allows us to demonstrate the existence of typological or genetic links between these legends. The variations offered by the texts reflect the mental outlook of the circles in which they originated, and they show clearly that the 'happy end' was grafted onto the medieval avatar of a myth that can be traced back as far as to Indian literature. We can see that a pagan theme has been taken over, adapted, and 'psychologized' by a society impregnated with Christianity- a process which entailed certain distortions, for example in the denoument. All the same, though the structure underwent changes (death, mutilation, etc.) it remained the common denominator of all these legends.