Undine [Christmas Summary Classics]

DE LA MOTTE FOUQUÉ
Friedrich Heinrich Karl Fouqué, Baron de la Motte, was born at Brandenburg, in Prussia, Feb. 12, 1777, and died in Berlin January 23, 1843. The mixed nationality indicated by his name is accounted for by his descent from a French Huguenot family. He served as a Prussian cavalryman in the two campaigns against Napoleon of 1792 and 1813, but during the long interval between devoted himself actively to intellectual culture and literary pursuits. He began his career as an author by translating the "Numancia" of Cervantes, but his admiration of the ancient Norse sagas and the old German legends led him into the composition of exquisitely beautiful and tender, though exceedingly fantastic, romances which speedily gained immense popularity. In these productions fairy and magical elements predominate. His masterpiece is "Undine," published in 1814, the other best-known works being "Sintram," "Aslauga's Knight," and "The Two Captains." In all Fouqué's stories the marks of genius appear in his brilliant imagination and pure and fascinating diction.