LORELEY

The 'Loreley' (also written as 'Lorelei') is a rock on the eastern bank of the Rhine near St. Goarshausen, which soars some 120 meters above the water line. It marks the narrowest part of the river between Switzerland and the North Sea. A very strong current and rocks below the waterline have caused many boat accidents there.
'Loreley' is also the name of one of the beautiful Rhine Maidens who lured navigators of this river to their dooms with their alluring singing, much as the ancient Greek Sirens did.
The name comes from the old German words "lureln" (Rhine dialect for "murmuring") and "ley" (rock). The translation of the name would therefore be: "murmur rock" or "murmuring rock". The heavy currents, and a small waterfall in the area (still visible in the early 19th century) created a murmuring sound, and this combined with the special echo the rock produces which acted as a sort of amplifier, then gave name to the rock itself.^[1] The murmuring is hard to hear today due to the urbanization of the area. Other theories include attributing the name to the many accidents, by combining the word "luren" (lurk) with the same "ley" ending, with the translation "lurking rock".

Contents

In folklore and poetry

The Lorelei by Heinrich Heine Translated by Aaron Kramer

Trivia

Notes

External link

In folklore and poetry

The rock is associated with several legendary tales originating in German folklore. It appears in many forms. The legend was first created by the German author Clemens Brentano in his novel "Godwi oder Das steinerne Bild der Mutter" (1801); Brentano was inspired by Ovid, especially by the Echo-Narcissus myth.

The Lorelei by Heinrich Heine
Translated by Aaron Kramer

I cannot explain the sadness

That's fallen on my breast.

An old, old fable haunts me,

And will not let me rest.


The air grows cool in the twilight,

And softly the Rhine flows on;

The peak of a mountain sparkles

Beneath the setting sun.


More lovely than a vision,

A girl sits high up there;

Her golden jewelry glistens,

She combs her golden hair.


With a comb of gold she combs it,

And sings an evensong;

The wonderful melody reaches

A boat, as it sails along.


The boatman hears, with an anguish

More wild than was ever known;

He's blind to the rocks around him;

His eyes are for her alone.


--At last the waves devoured

The boat, and the boatman's cry;

And this did with her singing,

The golden Lorelei.
There is also another way to translate the poem; this is the copy I learned.
I cannot tell why this imagined

sorrow has fallen on me;

the ghost of an unburied legend

that will not leave me be.


The air is cool and twilight

flows down the river Rhine;

A single peak in the high light

glistens in the faltering shine.


More lovely than a vision,

A girl sits high up there;

Her golden jewelry glistens,

She combs her golden hair.


With a golden comb she is combing

her hair as she sings a song.

Heard and rehearsed through the gloaming,

it hurries the night along.


The boatman has heard the singing,

in the throes of a strange, wild love.

He only hears the goddess singing,

and is blind to the reefs above.


And lo, the wild waters are springing,

The boat and the boatman are gone.

Then silence. And this, with her singing,

The Lorelei has done.

Trivia

★ "Lorelei" is the name of an album by British progressive rock band Quasar, with female singer Tracy Hitchings, who would later join Landmarq.

★ The song "Beautiful Dreamer" by Stephen Foster contains the lyrics: "Beautiful dreamer, out on the sea. Mermaids are chanting the wild lorelie."

★ "Lorelei" is referred to in "Vanishing Point", an online puzzle by Microsoft and 42 Entertainment. More specifically, murmuring rock is referenced leading to this page.

★ "Lorelei" is the most sexual song by Cocteau Twins.

★ "Lorelei" is a song by Dschinghis Khan, German group of the 80's.

★ "Lorelei" is the name of, and the name of the subject character in, the rock 'n' roll hit song by the American band Styx from 1975.

★ Lorelei Lee is the name of Marilyn Monroe's character in the 1953 movie ''Gentlemen Prefer Blondes''.

★ Lorelei is the subject of "When Mermaids Cry", a song by Eagle-Eye Cherry.

★ Blackmore's Night's song "Loreley" is based on the nixe-version of the legend. The song was also used as a theme for German TV-series ''Die Burg''.

★ Lorelei is the name of a sacred weapon (a Diviner) used by Ledah, a companion and eventual rival of the main character in the video game .

★ Loreley is the name of a German Biergarten in downtown New York City.

★ Lorelai is the name of Lauren Graham's character on ''Gilmore Girls'', as well as the full name of her daughter, nicknamed Rory. Rory Gilmore is played by Alexis Bledel.

★ Lorelei is the name of a mermaid played by Marta Kristen in the 1965 movie ''Beach Blanket Bingo''. The character Bonehead, played by Jody McCrea, falls in love with her.

★ "Lorelei" is the name of a song written by David Gray.

★ "Lorelei" is a song by Last Train Home.

★ "Lorelei" is a song by The Pogues written by Philip Chevron.

★ "Lorelei" is a song by Franz Liszt, with the text by Heine.

★ "Lorelei" is a song by George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin.

★ "Lorelei" is a song by Theatre of Tragedy.

★ "Lorelei" is a song by Fading Colours.

★ "Lorelei" is a song by Wishbone Ash.

★ "Black Forest (Lorelei)" is a song by Mercury Rev.

★ "Lorelei" is a song by Tom Tom Club, side-project of Talking Heads members Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz.

★ "Lorelei" is the name of a song performed by Chinese singer Alan Tam, the song played in the ending credits of Jackie Chan's "Armour Of God".

★ Lorelei is evoked in the song "Lorelei Sebasto Cha" from French singer Hubert Félix Thiéfaine.

★ "Lorelei" is the final song on the album ''Turn It Around'' by Comeback Kid.

★ Lorelei is referenced in the Harry Connick Jr. song: "Just Like Me".

★ Lorelei is also used in the Japanese manga 'Ah! My Goddess'. It is a name used for the race of peaceful swimming humanoids in the ocean.

★ An Argentinian rock band called Vilma Palma e Vampiros has a song called "Lorele" comparing the haunting power of the siren with drug abuse.

★ "Twoja Lorelei" (meaning "Your Lorelei") is a 1986 song by a Polish new romantic artist Kapitan Nemo.

★ Lorelei, in Pokémon is a member of the Indigo Plateau Elite Four, who specializes in using ice-type Pokemon. Her name changes into Prima in the anime.

★ In the '' anime, the female Decepticon Thunderblast was said to be behind the inspiration for Lorelei.

★ "LORELEY" is a song by J-Rock band L'Arc~en~Ciel on the album HEART.

★ Lorelei is referenced in the Toad The Wet Sprocket song: "All Right" (1995 Album, ''In Light Syrup'').

★ Lorelei is referenced in the Paul McCartney song "Beautiful Night".

★ Lorelei is the name of a supervillain from the Fairyland dimension who is an adversary of the Justice Society of America.

★ Lorelei is the name of a character in the James Bond "spoof" movie, ''Casino Royale''.

★ Experiment 624 (Angel) from '' is a parody of Lorelei, as she sings a beautiful song that can turn a formerly evil person (who is now good) evil again.

★ The Lorelei is the name of a folk/rock band in Aberdeen, Scotland.

★ Lorelei is the name of an aggregate sentience in Auldrant, the world seen in the game--Tales of the Abyss.

★ Lorelei is a song by the German punk band Schtraff.

★ At his death Romantic composer Felix Mendelssohn left some sketches for an opera on the story of Lorelei.

★ "Loreley" is also the title of an opera by Alfredo Catalani.

★ "Die Lorelei" is a song by Vialka, with lyrics by Heinrich Heine.

★ The Lorelei was a thriller broadcast on BBC2 in 1990.

★ The myth of the Lorelei plays a large part in the eighteenth episode of Gundam X, "The Sea of Lorelei."

★ An episode of Star Trek: The Animated Series entitled "The Lorelei Signal" involved woman of the Taurean system sending out a signal to entice males to their planet to drain their life energy.

★ In the anime "Saber Marionette J" and its 2 sequels "Saber Marionette J Again" and "Saber Marionette J to X", Lorelei is the name of the first and only woman to set foot on the planet Terra 2.

★ Waldesgespräch, the second song in Robert Schumann's Liederkreis Op. 39, is about Loreley.

★ "La Loreley" is a poem by Guillaume Apollinaire, set to music by Dmitri Shostakovich as the third movement of his 14th Symphony.

★ In an episode of , the Lorelei is the name of a boat owned by a former mermaid.

★ "The Loreleis" are also a successful A Cappella group based at Pioneer High School in Ann Arbor, Michigan who were considered the 2nd best high school a cappella group in the state by NCHSA in 2007.

★ "Lorelei" is a poem by Sylvia Plath.

★ "Lorelei" is a song by the Alison Brown Quartet on their album Replay.

★ There is a street named Loreleistrasse in Frankfurt am Main, Germany.

★ The song Out of This World by Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer, from the movie "Out of This World" (1945), contains the line "You're right out of a book. The fairy tale I read when I was so high. No armored knight out of a book, was more enchanted by a Lorelei than I."

Notes

1. Loreley - Ein Beitrag zur Namendeutung. Accessed June 16, 2006.

"The Lorelei" is a BBC television play first broadcast in 1990. A supernatural thriller starring British actress Amanda Redman as the lonely Geography teacher who is wooed by a mysterious man.

External link

★ Text of the Poem by Clemens Brentano

★ 'The Lorelei' performed by Mark Bellinghaus

★ Loreley Info Information all around the Loreley