CONTENTS SEA PEOPLE 4 THE MERMAID’S COMB 6 OTHER MERMAID TALES 22 GLOSSARY 23 INDEX 24
SEA PEOPLE The first-ever mermaid was Atargatis a troubled Assyrian priestess who threw herself into a lake and was transformed into a fish-bodied goddess The earliest merman was Triton son of the Greek sea god and sea goddess Poseidon and Amphitrite Triton was the messenger of the sea Atargatis from 1000 BC had a maiden’s head and arms and a fish’s body A 16th-century idea of a merman As fickle and treacherous as the sea the mermaid usually sat on a rock combing her hair while singing a siren song WWAATTEERR BBOORRNN Mermaids were popular characters in medieval stories where they showed the dangers of temptation and vanity Whoever failed to resist the mermaid’s charms usually met a terrible watery fate 4
MMEERRMMAAIIDD LLOORREE A mermaid’s spell could be broken by casting a piece of iron Mermaids sometimes bestowed magical powers on those they favored but the price could be high On no account should you ever agree to visit a mermaid’s home for you will not return Hans Christian Andersen’s 1837 story The Little Mermaid popularized the idea that mermaids might want to become human to gain an immortal soul Medieval mermaids were often shown with two tails MMEERRFFOOLLKK OOFF TTHHEE WWOORRLLDD The rusalka of Russia is a mythical fish-woman who lures unwary men to their doom in rivers In Ireland a mermaid is called a merrow and wears a magical cap In Cameroon the jengu is a helpful mermaid 5 A Russian rusalka
