Sculptured capital from the outside of the apse of the Romanesque Church of Notre-Dame and Saint-Junien at Lusignan, Poitou, France, established in the XI century. The sculpture shows the Fairy Melusine with outspread wings and serpent tail.
A series of legendary tales (since the XII century) relate the story of beautiful maidens, half-women and half-serpent or dragon, who were encountered by a youth in the woods and who offered themselves as wives, provided that their hidden habits could be maintained secret. When the pact is broken, the woman turn herself immediately into a serpent or a dragon and disappears: usually this occurs when the husband sees her under her animal or semi-animal aspect. According to the version written by Jean d’Arras in 1392 to celebrate the figure of the Fairy Melusine, from whom originated the descent of the Lusignan lineage, the condition enforced on the husband was not trying to see her on Saturday.
The content of the tales, beyond the equivalences with a folkloric motif of general diffusion, emphasizes the aspect of fertility which pertains to the character: Melusine brings to her husband economic prosperity (clearing of the forest and establishment of settlements) and a large offspring (Leroy Ladurie-Le Goff 1977).


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