Why did I decide one fine February day in 2018 to open a new Word document and start writing an embryo of a fantastic story?
It was an illumination, with no doubt, or the influence of the Super Blue Blood Moon on my thoughts...
To be honest, this is partly true, but it's not just that.
I had been spending my evenings for months learning about the history of Luxembourg and its little-known legends. I felt it was high time to get to know my adopted country and the lands of my ancestors from Diekirch and Chiny.
And since I grew up in Belgium near Waterloo, the story of the French Empire also interested me greatly.
The day after the Super Blue Blood Moon of 2018, I asked myself this somewhat curious question: how did the Luxembourgers of the 19th century experience the last Super Blue Blood Moon, in March 1866?
It was enough to start frantically researching all the highlights of this period, on the Belgian and Luxembourg side, wondering with amusement if the special eclipse coincided with some political changes.
And there it was the surprise: 1867 was a real turning point for the region. So much so that the site https://luxembourg.public.lu has made it a pivotal year:
"In 1867, Prussia and Napoleon III’s France were ready to go to war over Luxembourg, or rather its mighty fortifications. A last-minute conference in London prevented what could well have become a large-scale continental conflict. The 1867 Luxembourg Crisis and subsequent Treaty of London brought down Luxembourg City’s famed fortifications – and conferred the status of neutrality upon the county. 'Luxembourg City was finally able to grow and reinvent itself as a European capital', thus Ralph Lange, scientific assistant at the MNAHA. The country retained its strategic position in the middle of Western Europe, although not based on military might: economy and peaceful engagement with the neighbours was now on the agenda, and the following decades saw the evolution of a powerful industrial complex, some of which rings through to today. 'The ripples of that crisis are perhaps more felt today than they were in 1867', Ralph Lange says. Indeed, they may well mark the beginnings of Luxembourg’s engagement for a peaceful coexistence in Europe."
The European Union, of which Luxembourg and Belgium were both founding countries, is another subject that fascinates me. I am one of the supporters of this international unity which, from my point of view, promotes peace.
Armed with this information, I instantly imagined Melusine, protector of Luxembourg, fighting the forces of evil on the night of the Blood moon of March 31, 1866, in order to preserve the independence of the luxembourgish land.
Note in passing that the medieval history of Melusine does not only originate from Poitou; the fairy is also the founder and the guardian angel of Lucilinburhuc, the original name of Luxembourg. There are also great similarities between the coat of arms of the house of Lusignan and Luxembourg’s one. Duke Jean de Berry, Count of Poitou, who asked to write down the story of Melusine in the 14th century, was neither more nor less than the grandson of Jean de Luxembourg!
Here is the shield of Lusignan in the 13th century:
And here is the shield of Luxembourg in the 13th century:
In Luxembourg, people were certainly already telling stories of a woman-snake from the time of the great Jean the Blind.
Furthermore, There is a novel about Mélusine prior to the one written by Jean d'Arras; it has been written in verse.
Me-lusine: lusine, it’s like Lusignan but also Lucilinburhuc.
Last but not least, as a final proof of the importance of Mélusine for certain lords of the House of Luxembourg in the 14th century, the crest was described as follows: "winged dragon, emerging from a silver vat".
That dragon was Mélusine in her bath, in her reptile form.
Adding to all this my interest in our Celtic roots and the Ardennes legends, I finally had all the elements to start a fantastic story.
Then, I set myself a major challenge: to write a novel, which I was quickly going to call Melusine of Lucilinburhuc.
There is a problem: I am not a writer, but rather an engineer.
Never mind, with the encouragement of my relatives, friends and acquaintances, the absurd idea nevertheless made its merry way.
So much so that I am now convinced to be able to complete the writing of this novel.
2025 may be the year of the release of my story, which I hope you will like.
The drawings that will accompany the story are from @Olvia_art, you can find some of them on this site...
See you soon.
Thomas Vandersleyen
