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The Legend of Lorelei

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Lorelei was a human being or a thing can have such name? Of course she was a human being but an unusual one; more precisely she was a water nymph. “Lorelei was said to be a strikingly beautiful distressed maiden with locks of gold who sat upon the rock awaiting the return of her lover. Her unfaithful lover never returned, so she threw herself off of a cliff headfirst into the water, leading her to death. According to the legend, Lorelei’s spirit remains sitting on the rock to this day combing her beautiful long hair and singing a soft melody. Apparently, her looks are so charming that sailors passing though are distracted and before they know it, shipwrecked. They say that Lorelei lingers there seeking revenge against her lover. From time to time, a murmuring sound can be heard in the vicinity of the rock which is said to be her hypnotizing melody. The murmur is a sound that is caused by the echo of a nearby waterfall and strong currents that bounce off of the rocky shore. Lorelei’s song is rarely heard today due to the immense amount of urbanization in the past few hundred years.” (Lange,2009) “The origins of the name “Lorelei” is a bit disputed. It is most comes from a blend of two different words. The word “lureln” is a local Rhineland dialect for “murmur”. “Luren” is a German word for “lurk”. “Ley” is a Celtic word meaning rock. So, the literal translation of “Lorelei” is either “lurking rock” or “murmuring rock”. (Lange,2009) In the introduction I have started with the legend of Lorelei, but this legend was attributed to a rock from Rhine river in Germany. According to Lange (2009) “Along the banks of the Rhine River in Germany lies a rock over 100 meters high called the Lorelei (also spelled Loreley.) The Lorelei situates itself at the point where the Rhine River reaches its narrowest point and most shallow point. Countless ships have wrecked there in the area over hundreds of years. The German folklore attributes these accidents to the legendary Lorelei.” There is also a statue named “The Loreley” made of gypsum by a famous sculptor named Mariano Pinon. It can be admired along the Rhine river on the rock of Lorelei in Germany. Also, Lorelei is

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