Lorelei, << LAWR uh ly, >> is a high cliff that towers about 430 feet (131 meters) above the Rhine River between Mainz and Koblenz in southwestern Germany. At that point, the river is swift and dangerous. Legend says the echo heard at the Lorelei is the voice of a beautiful but wicked nix(water spirit) luring boatmen to destruction. The nix is also called Lorelei. The German writer Clemens Brentano may have invented the legend in his ballad “Die Lore Lay” (1801). See also Rhine River .
