Isabella of Egypt
by Ludwig Achim von Arnim (translated by Bruce Duncan)
Sources tell me that the obscure German film "Alraune and the Golem" (1919) was a Nils Chrisander film and than any involvement with Paul Wegener is a misconception. (Wegener did create more than one Golem film and appeared with Brigette Helm in a silent Alraune.) Also, "Alraune and the Golem" apparently was not based on characters from the H. H. Ewers novel Alraune as is often stated. It seems the films origins are the 1812 novella called "Isabella of Egypt".
I found an e-text in German of the story and fed it through my software translator. Mein Gott!! Von Arnim's writing style is very complex not to mention 180 years old. The translator fed me back some gibberish and I thought that I was sunk. However, with a little more digging I found out that there is a fairly recently translated edition of several of his novellas. "Isabella..." is fortunately one of them. It arrived yesterday and I read it last night.
This is definitely a tall tale. It's filled with legend as well as real historic characters.
Here's my attempt at a synopsis:SPOILERS
(Isa)Bella is the daughter of Michael, a gypsy duke. Michael is innocently hung for defending two fellow gypsies. Bella is brought up by the old gypsy Braka. Being of royal gypsy blood does not provide Bella with much wealth. Braka tells her the legend of the Mandrake (Alraune). In this version of the folklore, the Mandrake (a creature created from the roots formed from a hung man's tears) is able to locate treasure. Bella decides to use her father's hanging to bring life to the creature. The imp is dubbed Cornelius and Bella develops a strange affection for him.
In another subplot, Bella meets and becomes interested in Charles V of Spain. In a very strange turn of events, Cornelius wants Bella for himself! Charles creates a false Golem Bella out of clay to dupe the Mandrake. (Oddly, the genders of both legendary characters are reversed in this saga.)
Bella and Charles ultimately wed. But at this point, Bella's main reason is to aid her persecuted people. Eventually she leaves Charles and returns to the gypsy life that she knows best. The son of Bella and Charles is born and becomes the new leader of the gypsies.
The story is not without it's comic moments. My favorite passage is when Bella questions her own impertinence in calling the Mandrake from"the earth's peaceful womb", Cornelius replies "Like hell it was peaceful there"..."The moles, the grubs, and the ants gave me a much harder time than all of you put together!"
Long before Frankenstein met the Wolfman and Godzilla took on King Kong, these two characters from German myth hooked up.
written: 7/9/2002