The Magical Lore Behind the Mermaid

The Magical Lore Behind the Mermaid

Written by: Anna Pafenberg

In children's movies, fantasy novels, and even in dreams, mermaids have been a prevalent part of society for a long time. In myths and cultures from many years ago, mermaids were fear creatures. In the European Ballad called “The Mermaid” from the mid-1700s, a mermaid was the center of a brutal shipwreck. Many people believed that they were the cause of ocean storms, wrecks, and ill-will towards sailors. While people imagine mermaids as a creature that is a human from the waist-up and fish from the waist-down, these creatures are embodied in many ways in different cultures. In the Orkney islands, a chain of islands north of Scotland, mermaids, called Silkies are half-seal-half-human creatures with seal skin all over their bodies. In their ballads, Silkies are men that allure human women. When women would go missing due to the sea, it was said their Silkie lover took them. 

In African lore, there is a water spirit named Mami Wata, or Mother Water. She is linked to fertility and wealth, as well as the bridge between land and sea. Similarly, in Iran a water-goddess radiated fertility between 3000 and 1000 BC. In Indonesia, Nyai Roro Kidul represented a fertile being who was the “Spirit Queen of the Indian Ocean”. The Ancient Greek historian, Diodorus Siculus is credited as writing the first mention of a mermaid-like creature. The Voyage of the Argo, written by Apollonius of Rhodes mentioned mermaids as Naiads, otherwise known as water spirits. Like sirens, these Naiads were depicted as evil creatures that would pull sailors deep into the water. 

In the Odyssey, there are ‘mermaids’ but instead of being half fish they are half bird. These creatures were considered sirens. Unlike the traditional magical nature of mermaids, these creatures can be evil. The earliest film with a mermaid was called The Mermaid in 1904. It was silent and showed a woman in a fish tank sporting a mermaid tail. In 1948, the film Miranda involves a mermaid asking a man she meets to explore his human home. And in 1989, the iconic film of The Little Mermaid was introduced. 

Overall, mermaids have a long history which is exhibited throughout many cultures. Whether they are half human, bird, or seal, these creatures are an important part of many cultures.