Heart-Break

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Undine’s Sorrows, God’s Sorrows

“Huldbrand’s heart began to turn from Undine to Bertalda” and “Bertalda more and more responded with ardent affection to the young knight….how Undine wept…”[1]

This sums up the state of Undine’s marriage.  It’s all the more tragic because Undine is so innocent and pure.  She would never have expected the cruelty of her friend and husband – indeed, it’s as if they had no souls.

To make matters worse, Uncle Kuhleborn repeatedly pays terrifying visits to them – especially Bertalda, who “had already several times been made ill with terror.”[2]  

The Last Straw

One day while Huldbrand is out, Undine gets her servants to place a large stone over the fountain in their courtyard.  This causes a tiff between her and Bertalda, for Bertalda claims she needs the water for her “complexion;”  but Undine “although gentle as usual, was more than usually firm.”[3]

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“Turkish Gudda”

 “Guðríður’s remarkable story—of a common woman who survived nine years of slavery and returned home, becoming a respected pastor’s wife—is considered to bear witness to a woman of stronger character than most.”[1]

“She is considered to have travelled the road of suffering and the cross, but prevailed to gain a new lease on life and love.”[2]

Mermaids in our stories always return home, unblemished from their time on land.  The real kidnapped women do not.  Most of them never return; the ones who do are not considered “unblemished,” as Turkish Gudda’s story shows.

I don’t know how God will redeem all of her story, but it is a powerful testimony.  Or should I call it a “mermaid tale”?

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Vilfridr’s Sorrows

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. ~ Ephesians 6:12 Laden with gold from the dwarves’ home, Vilfridr goes to Saxland with the Read more…

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sleeping beloved

The Sleeping Beloved Saga

Then the LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper as his complement.”  So the LORD God formed out of the ground every wild animal and every bird of the sky, and brought each to the man to see what he would call it. And whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all the livestock, to the birds of the sky, and to every wild animal; but for the man no helper was found as his complement.  So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to come over the man, and he slept. God took one of his ribs and closed the flesh at that place.  Then the LORD God made the rib He had taken from the man into a woman and brought her to the man.  And the man said: “This one, at last, is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh; this one will be called ’woman,’ for she was taken from man.” ~ Genesis 2:18-23

I wanted to end my Sleeping Beloved saga where we began.  It was a cyclical journey, after all…

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sleeping beloved

Maleficent Restored

“As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive.” ~ Genesis 50:20

And here we are, ending at the beginning.  Once more, this post contains spoilers from Disney’s Maleficent – so proceed with care!

Maleficent is no longer the villain we love to fear from the animated classic.  Her heart has shed its masks and been drawn to the call of its savior.  She has remembered who she used to be, before tragedy struck: a warrior-lover, a battle-maiden intent upon protecting that which she loves…

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sleeping beloved

Maleficent: From Villain to Savior

“Therefore, behold, I will allure her, bring her into the wilderness and speak kindly to her.  Then I will give her her vineyards from there, and the valley of Achor as a door of hope.  And she will sing there as in the days of her youth, as in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt. ~ Hosea 2:14, 15

Once again, this post contains spoilers from Disney’s 2014 Maleficent…

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sleeping beloved

Maleficent’s Awakening

Again, this post contains spoilers of Disney’s 2014 Maleficent.

Like in the animated film, the three good fairies raise Aurora as a peasant girl.  Although well-meaning, they’re a rather incompetent bunch.  They have no idea how to care for a baby, and the poor thing is constantly crying because of their neglect.

Even Maleficent cannot withstand the heart-wrenching cries of a babe in true distress…

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sleeping beloved

Maleficent’s Hardened Heart

“And she reveled in the sorrow her curse had brought…”[1]

 “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good…” ~ Genesis 50:20

“But God will redeem my life from the power of Sheol…” ~ Psalm 49:15

“For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die.  But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. ~ Romans 5:7-8

(Again, this post contains spoilers of Disney’s 2014 Maleficent.)

In my last post, Maleficent’s wings are brutally taken, but her heart is not yet hardened.  That is about to change.

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sleeping beloved

Aurora: The Second Zellandine

I’m not sure if Disney intended to make Aurora a second Zellandine.  I like to think he did.  He was a master storyteller, after all; and the fact that he sets the tale in the 14th century – the century in which Perceforest was written – hints that he was at least referring to Zellandine.   

Six hundred years separate Zellandine and Aurora, and yet they are incredibly similar…

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