15 Myths and Legends (and facts) on Mermaids

by | Mar 25, 2020 | Mythological Beings

15 myths, legends and facts about mermaids – A mermaid is a female creature which is half-human and half-fish. An entity born from the imagination of man, it is but a legend. Mermaids have often been mentioned in legends and folklore stories, each giving an individual twist to the identity and characteristics of the organism.

1. Mermaid stories are not restricted to one specific region of the world. Rather, they are told all across the globe, from Europe to Africa and Asia.

2. The first stories about mermaids might have all started in ancient Assyria.

3. The first stories on mermaids which emerged in Assyria mention a goddess named Atargatis who metamorphosed into a mermaid after being overwhelmed by guilt at having unintentionally killed her mortal lover.

4. Mermaids might be a variation of Greek mythology’s creatures, the Sirens.

5. They have also been ‘sighted’ by humans in the past: from Christopher Columbus to other sailors spending lots of time at sea.

6. Our contemporary world is not unfamiliar with such reports. People still come up with stories of mermaid sightings.

7. The modern notion of mermaids comprises mostly a sexy, beautiful, and captivating female half-human creature. In some traditions, they are kind creatures with powers.

Waterhouse, John William; A Mermaid; Royal Academy of Arts; http://www.artuk.org/artworks/a-mermaid-149322 A Mermaid by John William Waterhouse

8.  Mermaids are also often said to be able to fall in love with humans— after which they set out to find a ‘cure’ to get rid of their fish tail for legs.

9. Nice mermaids have inspired children stories, and other works of art like paintings and operas.

10. However, mermaids are not always restricted to being nice. Rather, some stories describe them as being portents of bad luck. They are often associated with calamities like storms, shipwrecks, and drowning. Mermaids from Greek legends can even sink ships.

merpeople_pm

11. Being unkind to them might bring misfortune to the perpetrator, say other myths. Also, we cannot forget the merpeople of the Harry Potter world, can we?! JK Rowling gave a new twist to this type of creature in her Harry Potter series. They were depicted as ugly and aggressive.

merman

12. Stories describing mermaids as full of mischief mention how they seduce and lure human males to their deep-sea homes.

13. Mermaids are not only beautiful in such stories, but they also have another ruse to get men lose their minds over them: they will sing irresistible melodies to grasp the attention of the men.

14. Some legends say that mermaids are soulless.

15. Yet others believe mermaids are immortal.

11 Comments

  1. that last one was not a mermaid. it was a scary fish and monkey hibred

    Reply
    • No its a screenshot from Harry Potter Film when they are in water rescuing their loved ones from mermaids as part of the championship

      Reply
      • Yea that’s what he said. Monkey fish hybrid from harry potter nonsense.

        Reply
  2. I really found this page helpful but I agree with mermaids

    Reply
  3. the last pic is very ugly. like what kind of mermaid is that. A ALIEN mermaid, what the heck. no kind of pic should be on there or look like that, it’s just messed up. It’s going to give my brother night mares like that’s not cool dude. why would you put that up on the internet or website. it is not cool for people to see and give them nightmares. my brother would cry cause of that pic. an he is just a KID I mean 20,000 just WOW that’s messed up just WOW. YOU are not cool dude. NOT COOL!!!!!!, it’s RUDE man just RUDE. I can’t believe you would do that to the poor website or internet. I will take it off, and then no one will be bothered again YAY no more ugly pics AGIAN

    Reply
    • It’s a photo from Harry Potter and The Goblet Of Fire, you moron.

      Reply
      • damm it. I don’t know what the truth is bit I read in a novel that ancient Indians knew a type of magic. After they would eat the fish, theywould just put the bones back to the sea which would turn back to life bit half human. I’m sorry but this has nothing in relation to Greek myths. Eventually they forgot the magic…….
        This is the fact

        Reply
  4. #13 is inaccurate. The creature which uses a beautiful voice and song to lure men to their deaths is actually a siren. The siren is a different myth completly. The siren is a myth from ancient Greece. There were three. They were women who were cursed by an angry goddess. She turned them into a creature that was part human, but mostly bird, and banished them to an island for eternity. The sirens would wonder the edges of the island, and when they saw a ship, they would sing and use their voices to hypnotize sailors, lure them towards the rocks, and send them to their grave.

    Reply
    • Well mermaids and sirens have been integrated over the years, with mermaids taking on some siren characteristics, so it kind of counts.

      Reply
  5. All of the pictures here are accurate depictions of what various cultures thought mermaids looked like. The Last one is a still frame from a Harry Potter film. People need to get a grip. Many of the old stories told by sailors would talk of mermaids appearing as beautiful women in order to trick men, but in actuality they were the ugly creatures like the ones JK Rowling wrote into her stories.

    Reply
  6. this website is really helping me create my word one on mermaids its amazing well done

    Reply

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