Melusine and Richard I

I've just been reading about Melusine (or Melusina) - a figure from European legend, usually depicted as a woman from the waist up and a fish or serpent from the waist down - something akin to a mermaid. She's also sometimes depicted with wings and two tails.

When I was reading the Wikipedia entry for Melusine this passage caught my eye;

"The chronicler Giraud le Cambrien reported that Richard I of England was fond of telling a tale according to which he was a descendant of a countess of Anjou who was in fact the fairy Melusine, concluding that his whole family "came from the devil and would return to the devil"."

It reminded me of the tale that Alexander the Great was descended from a serpent.