Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of
Speaker 1: My Heart Radio. Hi, my name is Robert Lamb and
Speaker 1: this is the Monster Fact, a short form series from
Speaker 1: Stuff to Blow Your Mind, focusing in on mythical creatures,
Speaker 1: ideas and monsters in time. This Friday on Weird House Cinema,
Speaker 1: Joe and I will discuss the seventy three horror film
Speaker 1: The Laurelize Grasp, in which a bloodthirsty immortal woman emerges
Speaker 1: from the depths of the Rhine River in Germany to
Speaker 1: take on a monstrous reptilian form and tear the hearts
Speaker 1: from mortal victims. The movie is rife with allusions to
Speaker 1: Germanic mythology, and yet the actual origins of the Laurel
Speaker 1: Monster can be found not in myth but in German
Speaker 1: romanticism of the nineteenth century. Now. To be sure, global
Speaker 1: traditions of mermaid It's in sirens are quite ancient, but
Speaker 1: this particular water spirit seems to only date back to
Speaker 1: German poet Clemens Brentano's eighteen hundred poem lor Ley. It
Speaker 1: tells the tale of a doomed woman named lor Ley, who,
Speaker 1: convicted of sorcery, throws herself off a high cliff and
Speaker 1: into the river Rhine. German poet Hendra Kaina also wrote
Speaker 1: a popular poem of Loralai and described her haunting of
Speaker 1: the cliffs as follows. The fairest of maidens is sitting
Speaker 1: up there a beautiful delight. Her golden jewels are shining.
Speaker 1: She's combing her golden hair. She holds a golden comb,
Speaker 1: singing along as well an enthralling and spell binding melody
Speaker 1: in his little boat. The boatman is seized by it
Speaker 1: with a savage woe. He does not look upon the
Speaker 1: rocky ledge, but rather high up into the heavens. I
Speaker 1: think that the waves will devour the boatman and boat
Speaker 1: in the end. And this by her songs sheer power,
Speaker 1: fair lore Lie has done with Highna's lyrics, we are
Speaker 1: clearly within the domain of sirens and mermaids. Now. These
Speaker 1: poems were quite popular, and both were also turned into song.
Speaker 1: General enthusiasm for this romantic notion of a doomed siren
Speaker 1: eventually led locals to erect a statue of her atop
Speaker 1: a particular rocky cliff overlooking the Rhine. The Laura Lae Rock, Yes,
Speaker 1: this would be her namesake, and the very geologic formation
Speaker 1: that our poets were referring to in crafting their melancholy ballads.
Speaker 1: Located in the upper Middle Rhine Valley or Rhine Gorge,
Speaker 1: the rock was long seen as a place of possible
Speaker 1: supernatural significance due to the strange echoes it elected, perceived
Speaker 1: as the possible murmurings of dwarves or gnomes in its caves.
Speaker 1: While long known as Laura Lae, the exact etymology of
Speaker 1: the name is uncertain. Lay means rock, but the lower
Speaker 1: part may refer to sounds, murmurs, or the possible presence
Speaker 1: of magical creatures, depending on who you ask. But as
Speaker 1: IGNACEE Freuerlicht points out in a article appearing in the
Speaker 1: German Quarterly, there was never a tradition of a siren
Speaker 1: atop these cliffs before nineteenth century poets created the connection quote.
Speaker 1: Sometimes the view is voiced that Haina, unlike his Romantic predecessors,
Speaker 1: restored the original legend. However, there is no old tradition
Speaker 1: calling an all read or water nymph lorelei, and there
Speaker 1: is no ancient legend about a maiden singing on top
Speaker 1: of the Laura Lae rock who has no communication with
Speaker 1: passing men Still. The romantic idea of this haunting figure,
Speaker 1: as well as the monstrous version in the ninety three film,
Speaker 1: speak to a long history of superstitions concerning the Rocky
Speaker 1: Cliffs and the Rhine depths beneath it. Yah Tune in
Speaker 1: for additional episodes of The Monster Fact each week. As always,
Speaker 1: you can email us at contact at stuff to Blow
Speaker 1: your Mind dot com. Stuff to Blow Your Mind is
Speaker 1: a production of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts from
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