ABSTRACT
The Lorelei was the sole invention of Clemens Brentano, even if the theme's crystallization as a myth resulted from a collective fascination with it. From Schreiber, whose work he had read in several editions, he retained mainly the concept that the Lorelei derived her devilish power. This poem was soon published and contributed greatly to Apollinaire's precocious fame in Paris, but nonetheless constituted the last great metamorphosis of the Lorelei in France. This may explain the absence of critical studies or even of any catalogue of the Lorelei's appearances in literature outside France and Germany. It seems that the Lorelei is basically a romantic, western avatar of a universal, timeless myth: that of the attraction and repulsion present whenever a choice has to be made, especially in the case of a commitment involving love. There has not yet been any serious attempt to explain why the Lorelei myth fell from favour at the beginning of the twentieth century.
