Lorelei
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Lorelei
(lôr`əlī, Ger. lō`rəlī), cliff, 433 ft (132 m) high, on the right bank of the Rhine River, near St. Goarshausen, W Germany, about midway between Koblenz and Bingen. There the Rhine forms a dangerous narrows, and in German legend a fairy similar to the Greek Sirens lived on the rock and by her singing lured the sailors to their death. Heinrich Heine's poem, Die Lorelei, is world famous. The rock has sometimes been identified as the place where the hoard of the Nibelungs is hidden under the Rhine.The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia™ Copyright © 2013, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/
Lorelei
water nymph of the Rhine; lured sailors to their doom with her singing. [Ger. Folklore: Leach, 645]
See: Enchantment
Lorelei
siren; lured ships to destruction with singing. [Ger. Folklore: Benét, 599]
See: Seduction
Lorelei
siren whose singing lured ships to their destruction. [Ger. Lit.: Benét, 599]
See: Singer
Allusions—Cultural, Literary, Biblical, and Historical: A Thematic Dictionary. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.