(First published in Small World Ezine on 28 August 2002)
After writing about Copenhagen's mermaid in this article, I keep on thinking of the mermaid in one of our Thai tales, and wondering if there are mermaids in other countries too.
This is what I've found having searched the Net...
The Danish poet, Hans Christian Andersen (1805-75) wrote "Far out at sea the water´s as blue as the petals of the loveliest cornflower, and as clear as the purest glass; but it´s very deep, deeper than any anchor can reach. Many church steeples would have to be piled up one above the other to reach from the bottom of the sea to the surface. Right down there live the sea people."
At the age of 15, the little Mermaid for the first time swims to the surface of the sea, where she fell in love with the Prince she saved from drowning. To be with the Price she she sold traded her voice to the evil sea witch for the "most beautiful legs any girl could ever have". Unlike its Disney's version, the poor mermaid did not win the Prince's heart and was transformed into deadly cold sea foam forever.
In French legend, Mélusine (or Melusina) is a fairy who was punished for imprisoning her father in a mountain by being changed into a serpent from the waist down every Saturday. When her husband, Count Raymond of Lusignan, broke his promise not to see her on Saturdays, she vanished but her cries were heard at Lusignan castle shortly before the death of each of her descendants.
Other European countires also have their own version of 'Melusina'.
Luxemburg's Melusina was the wife of the founder of Luxemburg! Her husband, as well, broke the promise of not seeing her once a month and saw Melusina bathing with a fishtail hanging over the rim of the bath tub. Embarrassed, Melusina jumped out the window to the river Alzette.
Unlike others, German Melusina lives in a forest called Stollenwald. This Melusina is also betrayed by her loved one. But she's not just run away. She took a revenge and killed everyone in the man's wedding. During the windstrom, people say "Melusina is looking for her children". And they usually leave leftover Christmas food for her in the bushes.
However, German mermaid came with the name "Wasserjungfrau" (the Water Maid). She lives in the Harz, which is the forested mountainous region in north central Germany. She also married to a guy who broke the promise and saw her with her fishtail. So she ran away, left husband die with broken heart.
In Great Britain, Ireland and Scotland always have stories about water spirits in the wells. This is probably the way adults scar kids away from dangerous places.
However, we cannot omit the "Silkie Wife" from this report. In Ireland, there is a tale of seals who often remove the skin and become human in the land. Some men managed to hide away the skin and took the beautiful female Silkie as wives. But, same as other stories, this never lasted long. The wives always found their skins and put it back and returned to the sea, to their Silkie husbands.
In Poland, there is this Water Nix and his wife (Nixe). Who come up to town and do some shopping once in a while. They say if the Nix buys grain above market price, the grain will become scarce. His wife also do the same bargain with butter.
Russia also have a story of a girl who married a water snake who could transform into a man when they were under the water.
More of European's Water Spirits are Slavic's "Wodny", Scandinavian's "Odin", and etc. at this site (Mermaid Terminolgy)
More:
Not only the Europeans have mermaids, but other nations also seem to have the mermaids of their own.
Brazil's Amazonian dolphins and their legends have appeared in several films, including Hollywood's "Where The River Runs Black" (1986, MGM-UA).
Guam's mermaid is called Sirena (This is probably the closest link to Greek's Siren -- I guess it's brought here by the Spaniards) and she lived by a freshwater spring. She was an ordinary girl cursed by her own mother because she loved to swim so much she forgot to work, and became
halved fish since.
Sirena swam out into the Pacific. Since her disappearance, seafarers have reported seeing her in different parts of the world. According to legend, she can only be caught with a net of human hair.
In Asian myths, all animals seem to be able to transform to human. Thailand has a tale of which the leading character had a mermaid (half woman, half fish) wife. In India's Ramayana, the Monkey God -- Hanuman -- had a mermaid wife and they had a son -- Majchanu -- who looked exactly like his father, except for the fishtail.
In China, the girls from the ocean seem to be the daughters of the King Dragon, or some sea creatures who had meditated and collected enough good deeds to be rewarded (to have
the power to transform to human).
It seems that all the mermaids who'd fallen in love with human would end up with sorrow. Most of the time, it's the men who betrayed their trusts and loves. Sad creatures...
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