Undine (novella)

Undine is a fairy-tale novella (Erzählung) by Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué in which Undine, a water spirit, marries a knight named Huldebrand in order to gain a soul. It is an early German romance, which has been translated into English and other languages.

Success and influence

During the nineteenth century the book was very popular and was, according to The Times in 1843, "a book which, of all others, if you ask for it at a foreign library, you are sure to find engaged". The story is descended from Melusine, the French folk-tale of a water-sprite who marries a knight on condition that he shall never see her on Saturdays, when she resumes her mermaid shape. It was also inspired by works by the occultist Paracelsus.

An unabridged English translation of the story by William Leonard Courtney and illustrated by Arthur Rackham was published in 1909. George Macdonald thought Undine "the most beautiful" of all fairy stories, while Lafcadio Hearn referred to Undine as a "fine German story" in his essay "The Value of the Supernatural in Fiction". The references to Undine in such works as Charlotte Yonge's The Daisy Chain and Louisa Alcott's Little Women show that it was one of the best loved of all books for many 19th-century children.

Novella

A novella is a work of written, fictional, narrative prose normally longer than a short story but shorter than a novel. The English word "novella" derives from the Italian "novella", feminine of "novello", which means "new". The novella is a common literary genre in several European languages.

History

The novella as a literary genre began developing in the early Renaissance by the Italian and French literatura, principally Giovanni Boccaccio, author of The Decameron (1353).The Decameron featured one hundred tales (novellas) told by ten people (seven women and three men) fleeing the Black Death by escaping from Florence to the Fiesole hills in 1348. This structure would then be imitated by subsequent authors, notably the French queen Marguerite de Navarre, who wrote a Heptaméron (1559) that included seventy-two original French tales and was modeled after the structure of The Decameron.

Not until the late 18th and early 19th centuries did writers fashion the novella into a literary genre structured by precepts and rules, generally in a realistic mode. At that time, the Germans were the most active writers of the Novelle (German: "Novelle"; plural: "Novellen"). For the German writer, a novella is a fictional narrative of indeterminate length—a few pages to hundreds—restricted to a single, suspenseful event, situation, or conflict leading to an unexpected turning point (Wendepunkt), provoking a logical but surprising end. Novellen tend to contain a concrete symbol, which is the narrative's focal point.

Novella (album)

Novella is the seventh studio album by the British progressive rock band Renaissance, released in 1977.

Release history

Due to the bankruptcy of the band's UK label BTM, this album was released in the USA some months before its UK release, leading to a number of UK fans importing copies. At the time of this original issue, Sire was distributed in the USA by ABC Records; the cover featured unique artwork by Pamela Brown different from that which would be used for its subsequent UK issue. Shortly thereafter, Sire changed distribution in the USA to Warner Brothers and the cover artwork was revised to use the same painting by Brown as that employed in its UK issue. The 2nd USA issue can most easily be identified by the rendering of the band which takes up the entire back cover; the original ABC Distribution cover features a much smaller painting of the band on the back.

After the demise of BTM, the band agreed in principle to sign for CBS Records UK. However they actually agreed to a contract with Warner Brothers.

Novella (Bulgaria)

Novella is planned Bulgarian family-oriented television channel. Along with bTV, bTV Comedy, bTV Cinema, bTV Action, bTV Lady and RING are part of bTV Media Group, owned by the US media conglomerate Central European Media Enterprises. It will air new and classic television series, telenovelas, European series, romantic films and others. Originally announced as "bTV Gold", the name was changed as "Novella" before the start of the channel.

Undine

Undines (pronounced /ʌnˈdinz/, /ˈʌndinz/) or ondines are a category of elemental beings associated with water, first named in the alchemical writings of Paracelsus. Similar creatures are found in classical literature, particularly Ovid's Metamorphoses. Later writers developed the undine into a water nymph in its own right, and it continues to live in modern literature and art through such adaptations as Hans Christian Andersen's "The Little Mermaid".

Undines are almost invariably depicted as being female, and are usually found in forest pools and waterfalls. The group contains many species, including nereides, limoniades, naiades and mermaids. Although resembling humans in form they lack a human soul, so to achieve immortality they must acquire one by marrying a human. Such a union is not without risk for the man, because if he is unfaithful he is fated to die.

Etymology

Undine is a term that appears in the alchemical writings of Paracelsus, a Renaissance alchemist and physician. It is derived from the Latin word unda, meaning "wave", and first appears in Paracelsus' book Liber de Nymphis, sylphis, pygmaeis et salamandris et de caeteris spiritibus, published posthumously in 1658.Ondine is an alternative spelling, and has become a female given name.

Undine (Hoffmann)

Undine is an opera, with spoken dialogue, in three acts by the German composer and author E.T.A. Hoffmann. The libretto, by Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué, is based on his own story Undine. It received its premiere at the Königliches Schauspielhaus, Berlin on 3 August, 1816. Undine was Hoffmann's greatest operatic success and a major influence on the development of German Romantic opera.

Carl Maria von Weber's enthusiastic review of the opera admired it as 'an art work complete in itself, in which partial contributions of the related and collaborating arts blend together, disappear, and, in disappearing, somehow form a new world'.

It was revived by the Wuppertal Opera in 1970.

There is a 1960 recording (including the spoken dialogue) by the Choir and Symphony Orchestra of the Bavarian Radio, conductor:Jan Koetsier, Undine: Rita Streich, Hulbrand von Ringstetten: Raimund Grumbach, Berthalda: Melitta Muszely, Kuhleborn: Karl Christian Kohn, Ein alter Fischer: Max Proebstl, Seine Frau: Sunhild Rauschkolb, Heilmann: Keith Engen, Herzog: Anton Rosner, Herzogin: Marjorie Heistermann; and a 3 CDs 1993 recording (leaving out the spoken dialogue) by the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Choir of St. Hedwig's Cathedral in Berlin, conductor: Roland Bader; Roland Hermann, Hans Franzen, Elisabeth Glauser, Krisztina Laki, Heikki Orama, Charles Ridder Busch, Ulrich Ress, Dora Koschak, Mani Mekler.

Elementals (DC Comics)

The Elementals are a fictional team of superheroes published by DC Comics. They first appeared in Super Friends #14 (October 1978), and were created by E. Nelson Bridwell and Ramona Fradon.

Team history

The Elementals first appear inside four giant translucent jewels located in four different cities: a ruby appeared near the Gotham City Police Department's central station, an emerald appeared atop Metropolis' Galaxy Communications Building, a diamond appeared outside New York City's United Nations building, and a sapphire appeared on a beach near the Aquacave, Aquaman's headquarters.

Superman fought a hooded man in brown who called himself the Gnome. Aquaman fought a woman in a green fishlike costume who called herself the Undine. Elsewhere Wonder Woman fought a blonde woman in blue who called herself the Sylph. Additionally, Batman fought a fiery woman in a red reptilian costume who called herself the Salamander. Strangely, their costumes proved to be ill-fitted for their powers; despite this, the Elementals put the heroes in grave danger.