Of all mythical beasts, the most intriguing to mankind throughout history to the present day is arguably the mermaid. Over 3000 years of tales and we have yet to fully satisfy the human imagination for human-like creatures living in the mysterious aquatic depths of the seas and rivers. Few fantasy creatures have had such a deep impact on our collective culture. It is almost impossible to walk through any major European city and not spot a baroque mermaid depiction on the side of a grand building or one swinging from a pub sign or staring from a shop window display.
The term mermaid is a compound of the Old English mere (sea), and maid. The original name in Old English was merewif.
The sea represents an under-explored alien realm to many and a dangerous, unpredictable, indefatigable foe for others giving rise to curious ideas and terrifying visions. It is no surprise that most mermaid tales and alleged sightings are told by sailors. Where there is a void in human knowledge, imagination floods in with ideas - varying from semi-plausible science fiction to far-fetched whimsical fantasy. All sea-inclined cultures from east to west have tales, both written and passed down orally, of creatures of the deep, and mermaids are perhaps the most recurring ones.
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They appear under various aliases and depictions from legend to legend; from the transformed birds in Greek legends, the original femme fatales whose irresistible voices would lure sailors to nearby rocks to destroy their ships and drown them, to the very first tales of mermaids in Assyria of the goddess, Atargatis, who metamorphosed into a mermaid out of shame for accidentally killing her beloved human companion.
Mermaids have been a popular subject of art and literature around the world in modernity. The best example would have to be Hans Christian Andersen's globally renowned fairytale, The Little Mermaid, which inspired generations of writers, artists, and filmmakers. One Thousand and One Nights (also known in the west as Arabian Nights) includes several depictions of sea-bound people, such as the tale of Djullanar the Sea-girl. These sea people are visually identical to humans. Their only difference is their ability to breathe and live underwater. They can interbreed with land humans, and the children of such unions also have the ability to live underwater.
