Mermaid

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Marine Lexicon — Marine mammals — Mythical creatures — Activities related to marine mammals — Toponomy — Zooarchaeology — Historical sources — Cite Marine Lexicon

mermaid • Female creature with a fish tail and human body (male counterpart: merman). Merpeople feature in numerous legends, stories, and even religions.

Mermaid and Merman in Cosmographia by Sebastian Münster, 1578

One of the earliest representatives is probably the Sumerian god Ea. Ea was a.o. the god of water, light, and fertility. During the day, Ea came on land, come night fall, he would retreat back to sea. He was thus depicted as part fish, or as a human with fish swimming up to him. Greek mythology, too, is rich in references to merpeople (e.g. Triton). Plinius mentions mermaids and mermen in his Historia Naturalis, influencing literature until medieval times. After disappearing from scientific literature, merpeople continued to play a role in folk tales and myths. In the 19^th century, authors like J. Grimm and W. Grimm in Germany, H.C. Andersen in Denmark, and P.C. Asbjørnsen and J. Moe in Norway started collecting and recording fairy tales. While H.C. Andersen's "lille havfrue" is probably the most famous mermaid, merpeople are common along the entire Atlantic coast. Their appearance and size can vary from country to country, and from region to region.

English

Mermaid; Siren

Portuguese

Sereia; Serena

Norwegian

Havfrue

Dutch

Zeemeermin; Meermin

German

Meerjungfrau; Seejungfrau; Nixe; Fischweib

French

Sirène

Spanish

Sirena

Italian

Sirena

Greek

Creole