Le Vent et les Vagues

The image Le Vent et les Vagues, meaning The Wind and the Waves is inspired by the novella Undine written by Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué originally published in 1811. The European folk tale tells the story of a water nymph named Undine who becomes human when she falls in love with a human man and eventually meets a tragic end. However, this tale is not exclusive to Fouqué’s story. In fact, “Undine” does not only refer to the subject of the tale, but the species that she belongs to. 

In European mythology, an undine is a water nymph who, as Fouqué’s Undine does, has the ability to turn human if she finds herself in love with a human male. However, if their husbands are unfaithful, undines must doom them to die, as is once again the case with Fouqué’s Undine. Undine follows the tragic trope of undines as they exist in European mythology, but with a romantic, thrilling, theatrical twist that popularized the story—enough so that its dramatic scenes caught the attention of Arthur Rackham and led to the illustration of Le Vent et les Vagues. 

In the illustration, Undine is pictured moments before her and Huldbrand, her future husband, kiss for the very first time, ensnaring both of them to their eventual fates. Huldbrand met Undine mere hours before the moment the illustration depicts, and he instantly became entranced by her otherworldly beauty. After Undine has a disagreement with her family, she runs away from home and Huldbrand finds himself inclined to follow her. After searching, he finds her suddenly as a flood begins to ravage the land, standing raised ground as the water rises around her—the moment depicted in Rackham’s illustration. This moment foreshadows Undine’s eventual secret, that she is not human, as she stands amidst the waves with terrifying beauty and tranquility, worried only about Huldbrand reaching her so they can be together.  

Undine and Huldbrand meet a tragic ending, as she eventually reveals that she is not human, and he wishes for another wife and sends her away. After he marries another woman, however, Undine returns and places the kiss of death upon him. She eventually fades back into a stream, one that surrounds her husband’s grave for eternity. Fouqué’s story has inspired further folktales, notably including Ariel, by popularizing and romanticizing the water nymph character and its tragic trope in literature.