Alraune
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Alraune - The Legend and Fiction (German for Mandrake) is the name given to a female character in fiction.
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[edit] Legend
The basis of the story of Alraune dates to the Middles Ages in Germany.The humanoid shaped Mandrake root or Mandragora officinarum was widely believed to be produced by the semen of hanged men under the gallows. Alchemists claimed that hanged men ejaculated after their necks were broken and that the earth absorbed their final "strengths". The root itself was used in love philtres and potions while its fruit was supposed to facilitate pregnancy. Witches who made love to the Mandrake root were however said to produce offspring which had no feelings of real love and had no soul.
[edit] Fiction
German novelist Hanns Heinz Ewers published a novel entitled Alraune in 1911. The novel deviates from the myth by concentrating on the issues of artificial insemination and individuality: genetics versus environment. A scientist Professor Jakob ten Brinken, interested in the laws of heredity, impregnates a prostitute in a laboratory with the semen of a hanged murderer. The prostitute conceives a child who has no concept of love, whom the professor adopts. The girl Alraune suffers from obsessive sexuality and perverse relationships throughout her life. She learns of her unnatural origins and she revenges herself against the scientist, her "father".
The novel was very popular and during the early years of World War II, German soldiers were issued with copies of Alraune.
There have been a number of films based on the myth and the novel of Alraune.
- 1918, Alraune, die Henkerstochter, genannt die rote Hanne an 88 minute German movie directed by Eugen Illés
- 1928, 125 minute black & white (Silent) German version (aka Unholy Love), directed by Henrik (Heinrich) Galeen. It starred Brigitte Helm as Alraune and Paul Wegener as the scientist Professor Jakob ten Brinken. It uses the novel and is regarded by critics as the definitive version of Alraune. When this film was first shown in Britain, film censors removed the details of the woman's origins, thereby making the story and motivations confusing to British audiences.
- 1930, 103 minute black & white German version (aka The Daughter of Evil), directed by Richard Oswald and again starring Brigitte Helm as Alma Raune (Alraune). This is the sound version of the above film.
- 1952, colour German version (aka The Unnatural), directed by Arthur Maria Rabenalt. This had an all-star German cast including Hildegard Knef as Alraune and Erich von Stroheim as the scientist.
Several movies have shown influence of the Alraune theme:
- Embryo (1976)
- The Species trilogy:
- Species (1995)
- Species II (1998)
- Species III (2004)
Alraune is also the name of a German erotic graphic novel by Toni Greis. It tells the story of a girl named Dinah who is inflicted with a gypsy curse that transforms her into an insatiable sexual dynamo.
Alraune is also the name of an enemy in the popular video game series Castlevania. There, she is portrayed as a naked young woman, with green skin and blonde hair. She is often seated in an oversized flower, most likely a rose. Alraune (as an enemy) is commonly found in the later parts of the castle. As of recently, her only attack is to spring multiple plant vines up from the ground to impale the player. Prior to "Castlevania: Circle of the Moon" and "Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow," Alraune was able to hurl a barrage of roses at the player as well. She is known as Venus Weed in "Castlevania: Symphony of the Night" and a stronger, blue version also appears in the same game. In the Nintendo DS game, "Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow", Alraune appears again with the ability to impale with vines and the returning ability to launch roses.
The name Alraune also appears in Soul Caliber II and Soul Calibur III as the name of one of Ivy's weapons, a whip-sword that takes the form of a rose with the lethally thorned blade and the actual rose at the hilt. The information about the Alraune from the game states that the Alraune is a rose that blooms from the places where the blood of executed murderers fell.
In 1996, Thrones (Joe Preston) released their first album, entitled Alraune.
Alraune also appears in the MMORPG Final Fantasy XI as a version of the popular monster, Mandragora. Unlike the common Mandragora found in this game (Shades of white and green), the Alraune are near completely black with glowing yellow eyes.
Alraune is the name of the final boss in P.N. 03 a Gamecube videogame
[edit] Reference
- Ewers, Hanns Heinz (1911) Alraune, die Geschichte eines lebenden Wesens. Munich: Georg Müller. ISBN 3-928234-09-9
Alraune was also mentioned in the popular novel by Sarah Rayne called Roots Of Evil, ISBN 0-7434-8965-9
