Mermania: The Little Book of Mermaids. Rachel Federman

ONCE WAS A VICAR IN BUDE, WHO DID SOMETHING UNCOMMONLY RUDE. HE SWAM OUT TO A ROCK, DONNED SEAWEED FOR LOCKS, AND SANG WHILE HE BATHED IN THE NUDE.’

      True story.

      IN THE EARLY NINETEENTH CENTURY, ROBERT STEPHEN HAWKER OF CORNWALL, ENGLAND, SWAM OUT TO A ROCK, SANG IN IMITATION OF A MERMAID FOR THREE NIGHTS, HIS HEAD DRAPED IN SEAWEED, AND ATTRACTED QUITE A CROWD. AFTER THE THIRD NIGHT HE PLUNGED INTO THE WATER AND WAS NEVER SEEN IN THAT FORM AGAIN.

      Are there such things as male mermaids?

      INDEED – THEY’RE CALLED

       mermen.

      THE GREEK GOD TRITON, FOR EXAMPLE, LOOKS LIKE WHAT YOU MIGHT IMAGINE A MERMAN TO BE. ON THE OTHER HAND, THE MALE MERROW COOMARA (‘SEA-HOUND’) HAS GREEN TEETH AND SCALY LEGS.

      Take a look at your cup the next time you’re at Starbucks.

      YOU’LL SEE THE WOMAN IN

      the logo

      is a two-tailed mermaid,

      THOUGH THE GRAPHIC HAS CHANGED CONSIDERABLY SINCE 1971 WHEN IT FIRST APPEARED AND SHOWED A LOT MORE SKIN (AND SCALES).

      The company’s name came before its logo.

      STARBUCKS CAME FROM MR STARBUCK, FIRST MATE OF THE PEQUOD IN HERMAN MELVILLE’S CLASSIC MOBY-DICK.

      TO CONTINUE THE MARITIME THEME, ADVERTISING CONSULTANT TERRY HECKLER CREATED THE ICONIC MERMAID

      logo we know today.

      IF TOURING CORNWALL (FOR ITS MERMAID LORE, IF FOR NO OTHER REASON), YOU’LL WANT TO AVOID THE

      Doom Bar

      WHERE THE RIVER CAMEL MEETS THE SEA. LOCAL LEGEND ATTRIBUTES ITS CREATION TO A MERMAID’S REVENGE FOR HER DEATH AT THE HANDS OF A SAILOR. TRUE OR NOT, MANY A SHIP HAS BEEN DESTROYED ON THIS SANDBANK.

      IN JAPANESE FOLKLORE,

      eating Ningyo

      (mermaids)

      IS SAID TO GRANT LONGEVITY.

      ‘The water spirits were known under such names as oreades, nereides, limoniades, naiades, water sprites, sea maids, mermaids, and potamides. Often the water nymphs derived their names from the streams, lakes, or seas in which they dwelt.’

      – THE SECRET TEACHINGS OF ALL AGES, MANLY P. HALL (1928)

      IN 2009, SEVERAL

      independent reports of mermaid sightings

      IN THE SMALL TOWN OF KIRYAT YAM, ON THE MEDITERRANEAN COAST OF ISRAEL, LED TO AN OFFER OF

       $1 million

      FOR THE LUCKY PHOTOGRAPHER WHO MANAGED TO CAPTURE THE CREATURE ON FILM.

      So far the reward has gone unclaimed.

      Many who grew up enchanted by Ariel from Disney’s The Little Mermaid are surprised to find how dark and even gruesome the Hans Christian Andersen version of the story is. Those who dive deeper into the history and mythology of mermaids will find many elements they recognize in the Danish author’s fairytale. Many mermaid stories are tales of suffering and woe, betrayal, and revenge, often ending unhappily ever after, with many an abandoned family. Still, there are cultures that celebrate mermaids as symbolizing good luck, and the themes of rebirth and second chances run across cultures.

      A multiplicity of meanings and traditions has grown out of different cultures coming into contact with each other and interweaving their beliefs. More surprising than the variety is the universal quality of the polymorphic figure – the fact that so many half-woman half-fish stories seem to have emerged independently.

      The modern version imagines mermaids who want a chance at life, but in myths the mermaid incarnation is often a drowned woman given a second chance.

      The waters around Ireland were once home to Liban, a half-salmon woman who had survived the flood that killed her family by transforming into a mermaid. Captured after a long underwater life, she was given the name Muirgen (‘sea-born’) and ascended to heaven.

      Fish women

      IN EARLY MESOPOTAMIAN ART WERE CALLED KULITU.

      IN SCOTLAND, BEAUTIFUL WOMEN KNOWN AS

       Selkies

      turn into seals when they enter water.

      ON LAND, THEY SHED THEIR SEAL SKIN, BUT THEY’LL NEVER BE ABLE TO RETURN TO THE SEA WITHOUT IT. SOME LEGENDS SAY THE

      ‘Seal Fairies’ emerge on Midsummer Eve.

      THE AFRICAN WATER SPIRIT,

      Mami Wata

      (MUMMY WATER), IS OFTEN DEPICTED WITH A SNAKE OR CROCODILE ADDED TO HER FISH–WOMAN BODY. SHE IS A HEALER BUT CONTAINS AN ELEMENT OF DANGER, LIKE OTHERS IN THE WATER SPIRIT TRADITION.

       She’s said to like shiny baubles.

      ENSLAVEMENT AND TRANSPORT OF AFRICANS AT THE HANDS OF EUROPEAN COLONIZERS LED TO A SHARED TRADITION ACROSS THE SEA WHERE, IN THE CARIBBEAN, FOR EXAMPLE, LA SIRÈNE CLOSELY RESEMBLES MAMI WATA.