Merfolk

Mermaids, the mythical creatures every little kid wanted to be, have been construed through the use of movies and television shows to be gentle half fish half human hybrids that have a passion for helping sea creatures. However, the original folklore of mermaids were anything but that. The siren, a mythical creature which lured sailors to their deaths by singing beautiful songs had a large impact on the perception of mermaids (Wood, 2014). Before the myth of sirens, sailor folklore depicted mermaids as majestic creatures that could represent both good luck and misfortune (Royal Museums Greenwich, n.d.). It is widely believed that the original mermaid folklore was created around 1000 BCE and is based on an Assyrian Goddess named Atargatis who was the first mermaid and paved the way for all future mermaid stories (Ellis, 2020). 

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Mermaids have always been one of my favourite folklores, the idea of exploring the deepest depths of the ocean and discovering sea creatures still unknown to mankind is as thrilling as it is mysterious. I believe that this is one of the reasons mermaids became so popular in early human civilization, as the idea of deep sea exploration was unimaginable at the time. As humans did not yet have the technology to explore the deep sea, it makes sense that many believed there were people who lived underwater just as they did on land. With the age of exploration in the early 15th century came more mermaid sightings, as spending extended periods of time at sea often resulted in the mind playing tricks and making sailors believe they had seen things that were never actually there. Mermaids were also thought to be the cause of many shipwrecks either by creating vicious storms or luring sailors into rocks with their angelic singing. Unfortunately, as exciting as the idea of mermaids existing is, the true "mermaids" were likely just sea creatures seen in poor lighting and believed to be real because of the already prominent myth.

With mermaid folklore being so popular, many cultures produced their own versions of mermaids including Mami Wata from Nigeria, Ningyo from Japan, and Triton from Greek mythology. Mami Wata is an important figure in Nigerian culture and shares many similarities with medieval European mermaids such as beauty and the power of male seduction (Meram, 2022). However, Mami Wata also differs from other mermaid myths as she is a goddess who many today still worship and give her offerings such as food, perfumes, and other luxurious items. Ningyo is another mermaid-like creature, though they are not depicted as possessing the same alluring beauty as most other mermaids. Instead, they are said to have a fish-like body with a human-like face, often having unsettling features like a fish mouth with human eyes. Triton, arguably the most famous merman was said to be the son of Poseidon and Amphitrite of Greek mythology. Triton is one of the only merfolk who is said to be benevolent, offering assistance and direction to those lost at sea and calming the waves by blowing into his conch shell (Evangelia, 2024).