Word of the week: undine

It might sound like the act of abstaining from food, but this noun from derived from undina (Latin unda) meaning wave, refers to mythical, elemental beings associated with water, such as mermaids, and stemming from the alchemical writings of the 16th-century Swiss physician, alchemist and philosopher Paracelsus. Later writers developed the idea of the undine into a particular water nymph such as in adaptations by the Danish fairytale writer Hans Christian Andersen and his 1837 work The Little Mermaid, and the 1811 novella Undine by Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué.

Les Ondines by Antoine Calbet (1860–1942)

Undone by the water: an undine depicted pursuing Ulysses And Umberto in an 1899 illustrated Alphabet of Celebrities

But how does the undine come up in song? Often in tales of troubled or frustrated love. Let’s start with beautiful, shimmering, finger-picked folk number by the British singer-songwriter Laura Marling from 2013:

Another lovely song with the same title, Undine, is by the Norfolk-based British-American singer-songwriter Phoebe Troup:

Mermaids meanwhile tend to inspire a fatal, or almost religious attraction but also an explicit, sexual one. Here’s Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds with Mermaids, from the album Push the Sky Away:

And finally, straight to the see with the traditional singing group, Fisherman’s Friends and their tale of caution: The Mermaid:

So then, any further undine-related examples to share from your own music library? Feel free also to share anything related whether in music or wider culture, such as from film, art, or other contexts, in comments below.

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