After reading the excerpt from “Undine” Pg. 101 – 106, I was able to see not just similarities between this story and the notable Little Mermaid, as the introduction explained, but to other stories we have read previously, such as Melusine. I have no doubt that Huldbrand and Raymondin would have been friends and bonded over their lack of boundaries, or respect for their partners. Not that they would be doing it maliciously, in this case referring more to Huldbrand, but its almost as though they don’t know any better. While Huldbrand is in love with Undine, his behavior seems as though he is more in a trance, or is being manipulated by Undine under the guise of being the helpless little Undine who needs her strong knight to carry her, ” I love you so heartily. Now carry me across to that little island, that lies before us. The matter shall be decided there” (Pg. 104). In this quote alone it shows the control she has over him, something one could assume she alluded to while speaking with Huldbrand, “Many a fisherman has been so fortunate as to surprise some tender mermaid, as she rose above the waters and sang” (Pg. 105), this in a way being her own form of admitting what she is doing to him, without him realizing it. However as I mentioned before, Huldbrand not knowing any better, goes on to convince himself that there is some sort of spell or teasing him, “The Knight tried to persuade himself that his beautiful wife was under the spell […]” (Pg. 105).

What really stood out to me most was besides the obvious love trance that Undine has Huldbrand under, she seems to be sucking his energy as well and thriving off it. Almost as through she is using Huldbrand like a vessel on the human land to conserve her own energy, or later use it on someone else. One example being when she demanded he carry her across the water. This may be outlandish, but heres why. I noticed that she sighs around him, 1. When Huldbrand was awoken by bad/good dreams, possibly inflicted by Undine, “[…] she only held out to him her fair hand, signed deeply and remained silent[…]”(Pg. 102), and 2. When Huldbrand was in shock when he was being told Undines truth, “Undine shook her head sorrowfully, drew a deep sigh […]” (Pg. 105). While this may be a small detail, I also understand that each word is a choice. Why is the sighing being mentioned more than once? Is it maybe, that she is absorbing his energy this way given that Huldbrand feels he can’t say, or feel what he’s thinking, “He could not believe it for a moment; a strange shudder passed through him; unable to utter a word, he stared at the beautiful narrator with an immovable gaze” (Pg. 105), the description of her breath then following. Maybe after all, he is the one under a spell, not his love, Undine.