Mermaids

Come be part of my world this week as we explore the wonderful Mermaids from basically world mythology? How did fisherman mistake manatees for them back in the day? Is the Starbucks logo a mermaid or a siren, or something else entirely? Find out this week!

Transcript

INTRO:

Hello and welcome to Myth Monsters, my name is Erin and I’ll be your host for these little snack bite size podcasts on folklore and mythical monsters from around the world. 

These podcasts focus on the actual cryptids, folklore and mythic monsters from global mythology, rather than focusing on full stories of heroes and their big adventures.

I’ll also be dropping in some references that they have to recent culture and where you can see these represented in modern day content so you can learn more, and get as obsessed as I am about these absolute legends of the mythological world.

Welcome into May 2022! This is my first non-massively pre-recorded podcast episode in a while as I’ve actually got my life somewhat together, which is a rarity to say the least. And to kick off this somewhat summery month here in the UK - we’re going to be looking at something a little different this week, with a creature from world mythology.

DESCRIPTION:

Now, I’m purposely very vague when I say world mythology because this monster belongs to so many mythologies in different names or even descriptions, that it’s hard to put it down to one mythos - although the usual for these kind of monsters is to usual go with Greek or Roman, but this one is just too big!

It’s May too, so it’s a perfect one for this monster, we’re looking at the wonderful Mermaid for Mer-May everybody, how exciting. 

This monster has kind of been touched on in previous episodes such as the Selkies or Sirens one, but this is the kind of middle ground between these other monsters, the Selkies being very loving and family orientated, with the Sirens dragging people to the depths with their enchanting songs. Mermaids kind of sit in the middle, they can drown you - or they can charm you, which one is up to them really. 

Mermaids are typically described, in the easiest sense as a half woman, half fish being - the latter being the bottom half. They are usually either underwater, either in caves or if you believe it - amazing castles and shipwrecks or they’re sitting on rocks out a little past the coast, combing their hair and singing, waiting for sailors to sail along. They can be found in all waters across the world, so you might be able to see one off the coast of ol’ Blighty, on a beach in Dubai, in the mountain lakes of Canada, the hot springs of Japan or the temple baths of Peru - they’re literally everywhere.

Obviously, they’re aquatic creatures - but using their human halves, they could survive sitting in the open air and breathing, however, they were not blessed with land legs, very literally. As soon as a mermaid was brought to land, they would start to deteriorate rapidly until they would suffocate on the air they usually breathed perfectly. 

They did have some cool magic powers though as well as being practically amphibious, including wish granting, their expert singing voices, the power to control storms, prophecy, shapeshifting and also, the most important, enchantment. They could enchant sailors just like their cousins the Siren, leading the men they fancied to join them in the depths below.

They’re generally considered omens, but both good and bad - if you saw a mermaid, it would usually predict that a horrendous storm is coming. They could also, if they felt like it, tell you that your journey was doomed or cause havoc, leading to shipwrecks. However, sometimes they would bless humans with healing or granting wishes. It was also considered extremely bad luck to harm a mermaid, and it was one of the rules of most boats that you would not take one ashore. 

Most of the time, these would be female, especially Mermaids as per the name, but there were a male equivalent, which were Mermen, if you’ve ever seen Zoolander then you’ll know that mermen are also sometimes supposed to be really, really, ridiculously good looking, but actually most of the time, they were hideous. They were very much like the creature from the black lagoon sort of looking, and generally kept away from people.

Now about relationships with people - they could, if they wanted to, go off and be with humans, but as I said earlier, they would need to be in the sea at all times, so it doesn’t make for a particularly happy marriage. There hasn’t really been a documented case of a child between the two either, but generally the idea of a Mermaid reproducing is pretty intense on the brain. There are also no myths on if they can turn people into Mermaids, so that one is a bit of a loss too.

ORIGIN:

Onto etymology now I’ve ran out of description for you - the word Mermaid is a pretty easy one to figure out. It’s actually an Old English word, deriving from the word for sea; mere and the word for a maiden - also known as merewif in Old English.  Although, it is interesting that the Old English word for this monster is the one that most people identify as this creature worldwide, considering it’s certainly not English in descent. Or is it? 

Good question, and one that unfortunately, I do not have the answer to I’m afraid. But neither does anyone else! The history behind this monster is actually quite unknown in folklore circles, but we do have a little guess - so bear with me. 

You know that most monsters that are ‘world mythology’ usually have their roots in Greek, Roman or Persian mythos? Well, this one is no exception I’m afraid, it’s believed that the myth around Mermaids was inspired by the Sirens of Ancient Greece. I know, how boring - we’ve already covered Sirens though Erin, what more can you bring to the table here?! I hear you ask.

Well it’s that, as much as they were inspired by the Greeks, most cultures made up their own Mermaid myths surrounding their own culture and environments - localising it to their country or region. So the Mermaid that we stereotypically know is that of the Old English or European myth - that they’re beautiful and wonderful but are sometimes deemed unlucky or you could wind them up and they’ll curse you for it. 

We know that Sirens appeared within mythos around Jason and Odysseus, which is ancient history - but Mermaids appeared in European literature in the 9th century after the traditional view of Sirens were transformed from their bird-headed to their female bodied forms and given their new name. This is where this new myth derived from and grew through the ages. It’s said that even the legendary pirate Blackbeard was petrified of being cursed by a Mermaid, so would actively avoid sailing through parts of the ocean where there were some reported - so that’s a fun fact for you.

However, this is a world mythology monster - and it wouldn’t be right for me to not mention some other famous mythical mermaid monsters from across the globe.

The most obvious here is that of Selkies from Scandinavian folklore, and Sirens of Greek mythology, which we’ve covered already in other episodes, if you’ve not listened to them - go check them out! But there are more that we’ve not covered yet, but you might have listened to this in the past and I might have done episodes on them so this is weird. 

In Slavic mythos, you have the Rusalka - which were violent mermaids, hungry for human flesh. The Melusine in central Europe, who were peaceful and loving, the Jengu of Cameroon who sit and stalk their prey, the Iara from Brazil or La Sirene from East Africa and the Caribbean, or the Ningyo from Japan - who is hysterically more fish than woman. 

We’ve also got a few cultures who worship mermaid based gods, such as in Thai and Hindu folklore there is Suvannamaccha who is a mermaid princess, same in the Caribbean with Aycayia, a mermaid goddess who works alongside La Sirene or the Korean and Indian Princess Hwang-ok who lives in a kingdom called Naranda, under the sea, who became a goddess eventually.

One of the oldest sightings is not from a tale of gods, but from our beloved Pliny the Elder, who wrote Natural History back in 77AD and thankfully included Mermaids alongside a whole bunch of other mythical creatures. Pliny might as well be a god to me, he practically writes this stuff for me, the legend. 

The most recent sightings have been in 2009 in Israel, where the coastal town of Kiryat Yam offered 1 million dollars to prove its existence after over a dozen people reported one jumping around in the bay. Obviously, it still remains unclaimed to this day. And the other is that in 2012, in Zimbabwe when workers in a reservoir near Mutare refused to continue working as they had been chased off and cursed by Mermaids. This was so much believed that it was actually reported by the water minister in the Zimbabwean government - wild right?!

Alongside this though, there have also been a number of hoaxes. The most famous being the Fiji mermaid that was exhibited by P.T. Barnum, the famous American showman in London in 1822, turns out it was a monkey skeleton stuffed into a fish - which is actually pretty barbaric. These mostly came out of Japan and China, but the European fake was that of a dried stingray, which I generally do not recommend looking up - they are nasty. 

And just to top this off, there have been countless studies into why Mermaids just couldn’t exist, including the fact that they would have no thermoregulation, reproduction is just a big question mark, there are massive digestion system differences between mammals and fish and generally, why would they have not evolved into more efficient beings? We know we came from the sea a billion years ago or so, maybe we were the mermaids once? 

Now how can we possibly believe that Mermaids exist in contrast? Well there are certainly some good ideas as to where the thought came from. 

It’s said that old divers could have mistaken the humble manatee for a mermaid, however, I’m not sure how flattering that is. I have had the joy of seeing these wonderful harmless giants in person, and they are not the prettiest - however, they are about the same size as a person, just a bit rounder and hairier. They’re still referred to as sea-cows, but more interestingly, they and their Pacific Ocean counterpart the Dugong, are part of the Sirena animal species, and Dugong means ‘lady of the sea’ in Malay - how lovely is that?!

Nowadays, it’s believed that most Mermaid sightings are either dolphins or porpoises - as they are around the same size and dive so their tail flips like the mermaid in all of our imaginations. 

However, you can still see real-life mermaids! You can see the Ama in Japan, who are skin divers who have been hunting shellfish and seaweed for over 2,000 years in just loincloths. They are considered a tourist attraction in some places, but they do actually do a traditional job that makes them look like mermaids. You can also technically be a mermaid if you were born inside your amniotic sac, they're called mermaid births when the water doesn't break and you're born with it completely intact like a little jelly baby, that's a fun human fact for you. Oh and it's also said to be super good luck!

You can also generally see people perform as mermaids in aquariums now for kids - I’ve seen it a lot on social media, you can buy purpose built tails that are made of silicone I believe, but are immensely difficult and heavy to swim in. So you need diving training to even try and become one, let alone a good set of lungs.

CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE: 

Now let’s move onto current content for these aquatic ladies. For art this week, there are actually loads as they are so prolific - however, firstly I must mention that they are featured heavily in heraldry, usually holding an instrument, weapon or a comb - such as the on the Arms of Warsaw in Poland, or loads of family crests here in the UK. 

In actual art, there’s a few that I love such as Rhinemaidens by Arthur Rackham from 1910, The Fisherman and the Syren by Fredric Leighton from 1857 and most famously, A Mermaid by John William Waterhouse in 1900 - which is just one of the most beautiful pieces of mythical monster art, please do go and look at this masterpiece. It’s in the Royal Academy in London if you want to see it in person too.

I've also published this episode during May for the annual Mer-May artist calling! Every year thousands of independent artists draw mermaids all month, go see if your favourites are doing it!

Also, fun fact is that the Starbucks logo is something that was brought up when I was advertising this episode - and it’s not a Siren or a Mermaid, but a Melusine, so there!

In movies, we have loads as you can imagine. I’ve picked out all of these, the most popular - so that I don’t bombard you with movie and TV names. So we have The Little Mermaid 1, 2 & 3, Splash, The Spongebob SquarePants Movie, Harry Potter, Aquaman, Creature from the Black Lagoon, The Mermaid, Pirates of the Caribbean, Waterworld, A Mermaid in Paris, Hook, Peter Pan, The Lighthouse and Onward.

There was also an Animal Planet mockumentary called Mermaids: The Body Found and Mermaids: The New Evidence that basically was about a government conspiracy to cover up the existence of mermaids to do with some weapon - it’s a fun watch.

For TV, we have; The Little Mermaid series, H20: Just Add Water, Siren, Tidelands, Disenchanted, Baywatch, Monster Land, Pokemon, Charmed, Aquaman, Dexter’s Laboratory, Rosario + Vampire, Family Guy, Robot Chicken, Power Rangers: Lightspeed Rescue, Once Upon a Time, Doctor Who, Fairy Tail, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power and Fantasy Island.

In video games, we have ones such as; Kingdom Hearts, Cuphead, Insaniquarium, The Legend of Zelda, Sims 3 and 4, League of Legends, Aquaria, Coral Island, The Little Mermaid games, Mermaid Swamp, Splatoon 1 & 2 and Perfect World.

My book recommendation this week is of course going to be Hans Christian Anderson’s The Little Mermaid, it’s too good a story to not read. I actually got a copy when I was last in Denmark, and it’s such a beautifully sad story, certainly nothing like the Disney film. Or for a more mature story, you’ve got either The Fisherman and His Soul by Oscar Wilde, or The Sea Lady by H.G. Wells. For more fact, less fiction - I would recommend Among the Mermaids: Facts, Myths, and Enchantments from the Sirens of the Sea by Varla Ventura - which is a fab fact book on all things Merfolk, stories included.

DO I THINK THEY EXISTED? 

Now it’s time for, do I think they existed? Now I’m probably going to say maybe for this one, I am sorry but at least I’m consistent, ya know?! I just think it’s too much to say absolutely not when we know nothing about the sea, I’m sorry that my response is the same all the time - but it’s just a fact. 

They’ve been written into folklore for centuries, and by numerous cultures and societies throughout history and who am I to say that I disbelieve good ol’ Pliny?! There are just too many accounts and variations for me to give a full on yes or no to this one, but my compass points very much more to the yes - even though I totally see the manatee and dolphin miss-sightings here.

I have always believed in Mermaids personally though, and that’s due to the fact that when I was younger, and being a lone redheaded girl growing up in the nineties and noughties, I was bullied to high heaven for my hair, and the only saving grace was that most people’s favourite Disney Princess had the same hair as me. It was and still is one of my favourite Disney movies, just for pure nostalgia and almost, a debt of gratitude for making my ginger childhood a little less crappy. 

Come on, it was either her or Annie - there wasn’t much choice for ginge representation when I was a kid, let me have this one. 

Anyway - yeah Mermaids, possibly, might be, maybe out there somewhere, part of our world. But what do you think? Do Mermaids dominate the sea? Let me know what you think on Twitter!

OUTRO: 

Well I’m glad we ended up back under the sea eventually - they’re always my favourite types and Mermaids are very near and dear to my heart. I will forever be Ariel, I will never not tell myself that when I’m in the bath with my bright orange hair floating about around me belting out kiss the girl at full volume. Definitely not seducing anyone with that racket.

Next week, we’re not really heading anywhere, how mysterious. We’re actually looking at a biblical monster next week, which is the first time in a little while (don’t worry other religious monsters, we’re getting there), and we’re looking at the infamous Nephilim. Have you been a sinner or a saint? Find out next Thursday!

For now, thank you so much for listening, it’s been an absolute pleasure. If you enjoyed this podcast, please give it a rating on the service you’re listening on - I’ve got the twitter for any questions, or suggestions on what monsters to cover next and I’d love to hear from you. The social media handles for Tiktok, Youtube and Instagram are mythmonsterspodcast, and twitter is mythmonsterspod. But all of our content can be found at mythmonsters.co.uk - you can also find us on Goodpods and Patreon if you want to help me fund the podcast too.

Come join the fun and share this with your pals, they might love me as much as you do.

But for now, stay spooky and I’ll see you later babes.