In my last myTake, I discussed how our modern perception of mermaids was based in the Nereids, how they got their tail from Attargatis and how their charecteristics evolved over time. However, there are many stories of similar creatures from around the world. In this take I am exploring mermaid storioes from around the world. First, I'll discuss other kinds of water nymphs.
Oceanids
Like the Nereids, the Oceanids where water nymphs. However, they were descended from the Titans Oceanus and Tethys who were sea gods and goddesses respectivley. In greek mythology, there were three generations of gods: The olympian gods (Zeus, Poseidon, Aphrodite etc...), who were descended from the Titans who were themselves desceneded from the primordial dieties. Nereus was descended from the primordial sea god Pontus and the primordial earth goddess Gaia. Doris, the mother of the Nereids was herself an Oceanid. Also, in another discitnction, while the Nereids where the patrons of sailors and later marine life, Oceanids where the patrons of specific bodies of water.
Sea Witches
Sea witches are ocean quasi-dieties and are are based on the oceanids. While, like mermaids their form has evolved over time and is much more variable than that of the mermaids. Sometimes they're depicted with legs, a tail or two tails. Also, they tend to have more "exotic" traits such as white hair and oddly coloried eyes. While some may resemble mermaids, there are distinct differences in their abilities. While mermaids could only forecasr the weather and had a limited ability to control sea life sea witches an create huge ocean storms and can control all the animals in watever realm that they occupy. Like the Oceanids, there is only one sea witch per major body of water and their ability to manipulate the ocean is something that they have in common with Oceanids.
Naiads
The Naiads where the patrons of fresh water and shared some chrecteristics of both the Nereids and Oceanids. Like the Oceanids, each Naiad was the patron of a body of fresh water but they would often congregate in one or another's abode. It was said that children threw their childhood locks into the local bodies of fresh water as an offering to the Naiad. The Naiads were also said to often seduce men into their homes. There were several types of Naiads who varried greatly in their charecteristics. The Crinaeae where the patrons of fountains and wells. The Eleionomae inhabited marshes and when men walked past they would mimic the form of their deceased loved ones and seduce them with their beauty. The Limnads inhabited lakes, The Pegaeae inhabited springs and the Potamides inhabited rivers and were said to help girls remove their freckles but were aggressive towards men whom they would lure into their residence. Offerings of oil, milk and honey were often made to them.
Freshwater Mermaids
Jusr as the marine mermaids are based on the Nereids, the freshwater mermaids came mostly from the Naiads and while they may look similar, there are many differences in their behavior. For one, while saltwater mermaids tend to be more playful and when they are with men they're attracted to they are flirtatious, freshwater mermaids tend to be more straightforward and seductive. But if you encounter one, be careful, because while some are seductinve for the sake of being attracted, others do so with mallacious intent similar to sirens. However, this view of them doing so out of mallacious intent may have arisen from the Ancient Greek view of women having freedom over their sexuality as opposed to having it decided by a man as being somehow "wrong" which is also where "slut shaming" comes from. Also, while saltwater mermaids are fond of adorning their bodies with shells and jewelry, freshwater mermaids usually use flowers or other vegitation.
Melusine
Melusine was a freshwater mermaid said to live in France about 1000 yearts ago. She was sometimes depicted as a standard mermaid, other times as a mermaid with two tails and still other times as having the lower body of a snake. It was said that her mother was a fairy named pressyne, married King Elynas of Albany and gave birth to her and two other daughters. According to legend, if a fairy married a mortal, he couldn't see her give birth in the chamber, but he did. Because of this, she fled to Avalon. When Melusine was 15, she discovered this and she kidnapped her father and locked him in a mountian. Her mother became enraged by this and in response gave her her tail. She was said to inhabit the lakes and rivers of France. She also was in an arranged marriage with raymond of Poitou but she said he could never see her in her chamber. He looked and saw her lower half and she was enraged but she forgave him. But she then turned into a dragon and flew off, but gave her two magic rings. She was also said to have been the mother of the French Lusignan royal house that ruled cyprus from 1192 to 1489. It was said that she did so
The Lady of the Lake
The other famous freshwater nymph is known quocially as the "Lady of the Lake" in the legends of king Aurthur. The lady of the lake was a mystical being and was said to have learned her magic from the Wizard Merlin and gave Kinf Aurther his sword. In Sir Thomas Malory's version of the story, there are two ladies of the lakes. One is Nimue and the other is Nyneve. Nimue was one of the key Charecters in Malory's version of the story and over the course of the tale Nimue evolved from a dependant "damsel in distress" to an individual who could take charge of the situation around her and was said to be pragmatic, unfappable and knowledgeable. Nyneve was the orignal lady of the lake who gave Aurthur his sword. Since then the lady of the lake has been adapted to a variety of literary traditions.
Rusalka
The Rusalkas of Russian mythology could be considired a 3 way hybrid between Naiads, Sirens and local mythology. Ruslakas were said to be the spirits of maidens who died near a body of fresh water. It was said that they would lure men into their abodes with their beauty and songs and drown them in the lakes. Some myths say that Rusalkas can't leave the water while others say that they can climb trees and it is said that they are most active in the summer particularly during the last week of June which in Russia is known as "Rusalka Week."
Water Sprites
A diffreent kind of water nymph derrived from the Nereids developed during the Roman times. These were known as water sprites. The word "sprite" comes from the Latin word spiritus which translates into "spirit". As their name suggests they were not physical beings. While the Nereids and other water nymphs were supernatural beings, they still were physical ones. But the sprites had no physical body and were instead metaphysical beings made up of spiritual energy. And while Nereids/mermaids were patrons of both sailors and sea life the sprites were only the patrons of sea life.
Water Fairy
The concept of a "sprite" was derrived in Roman times as a metaphysical version of the nymphs of ancient Greek mythology. However, as their legends developed over time, they again became physical beings. Specifically, they became what we no know as fairies. This is why we have different kinds of faries for each enviorment. But also, woodland fairies are the most common because forest sprites were the most abundant sprites in Roman mythology. However, there were also water sprites which became sea fairies. However, unlike land fairies who have insect like wings water fairies have fin like wings.
Selkies
Selkies are yet another mythological anthropomorphic sea creature. In the water, they are said to have the entire body of a seal but when they came out on land, they could shed their skin to reveal a completley human creature. Like Mermaids, Selkies are also very intetested in forming romantic relationships with humans and often spend hours in admiration of a human. But unlike in Mermaids, Selkie males are frequently mentioned and are described as being incredibly handsome. Selkies were said to live on the British and Faroe Islands like the merrows and folk tales around Selkies usually involve romantic tragedies.
Cecaelia
Cecaelia can be thought of a cephalopod version of a mermaid who instead of having a fish tail have the lowe body of an octopus. Unlike mermaids, they cannot grow legs and while mermaids have generally sweet personalities, Cecaelia have a wide variety of charecteristics. They can be sweet, evil or inbetween. While many myths of female anthropomorihpic/chimeric sea creatures come from Greek and Roman mythology, such myths can be found elsewhere throghout the world in places as far apart as Asia, Africa and the Americas.
Jiaoren
The Jiaoren of chinese legend were a kind of "Dragon People" that lived in the South China Sea. While in European mythology, dragons were associated with fire, in chinese mythology, they were water spirits. And in contrast to European depictions of mermaids, there isn't any record of the Jiaoren having fish-like tails. It was said that when the Jiaoren cried, their tears would turn to pearls. It was also said that they could weave "jiaoxiao" which translates into "mermaid silk". It was said to be identicle to the kind of filaments that bivalve molluscs anchore themselves to the shore with. By some accounts, their bodies are covered with colorful hair and their hands and feet aree webbed.
Suvannamaccha
Suvannamaccha was a mermaid princess in Hindu mythology who was said to live in Southeast Asia. In the Hindu epic Ramayana the goddess Sita is captured by the demon Ravana and Sitas' husband Rama asked Hanuman to build a causeway to the island of Lanka where she was being held so his armies could rescue her. While building the causeway, mermaids kept stealing stones so he tried to speak to a mermaid but she kept swimming away. As he pursued her, he fell in love with her. He finally met her and she revealed herself as Suvannamaccha and that she was the daughter of Rama. But when Hanuman told her why the causeway was being built she sympathized with his cause and told her mermaids to put the rocks back. Eventually her and Hanuman fell and love and had a child named Macchanu.
Duyong
The Duyong were mermaids in malaysian mythology. Like the mermaids of western folklore, their basic shape (womans' body and a fishes' tail) comes from the legend of Atargatis, and they maintian far more behavioral traits in common with Atargatis then their western counterparts, specifically her mourful nature. In Assyrian mythology, Attargatis fell in love with a shepherd but accidentally killed him and after doing so flung herself into the sea where she grew her fish tail and spent the rest of her days morining. Some accounts claim that she went to Malaysia. This is also where the myth of the mermaid "longing for her lover" came from. The name of the marine mammals known as the dugong was derrived from the Duyong.
Sirena/Lara
When Europeans colonized the globe, they brought mermaid tails with them around the world and the colonized people adapted their own versions of them. Quite often, due to the visual similarities between mermaids and sirens, these new myths became memraid/siren "hybrids". Two such examples of this are Sirenas from the Philippines and Lara from Brazil. Lara is said to be freshwater and living in the Amazon while the Sirenas are said to be able to live in both fresh and salt water. Like mermaids, both are described as having the upper body of a woman and the lower body of a fish. And, instead of having European features, they have the chareccteristics of the native peoples. Also while they both have the general personality traits of mermaids, they also have the siren charecteristic of singing and luring men to their death and are held accountable for the dissapearence of sailors and explorers. Although it isn't specified whether or not they do this intentionally or if it's just a byproduct of their singing.
Mami Wata
Mami Wata is an African water goddess that is worshipped in west, central and southern Africa as well as in the African diaspora. She is the goddess of both salt and freshwater habitats and it was said that she would abduct travelers and introduce them to her spiritual realm and after she released them, they would be more wealthy, attractive and easygoing. Like the merrows of gaelic mythology, it was said that she would often be seen combing her hair in a mirror. While she has many of the positive attributes that mermaids have in European folklore, she has some of the negative ones as well such as foretelling misfortune.such as in Cameroon, where she is said to cause the undertow that drowns swimmers. Apart from being a water goddess, she is also a healing goddess. Much of Mami Wata's charecter is believed to be a mythological hybrid of local African traditions and Mermaid legends from the Near East. Her name comes from the Pidgin English pronounciation of "Mammy Water".
Aycayia
The Taino peope who lived in the carribean Islands upon the time of Christopher Columbuses' arrival had their own legends of mermaids which they called Aycayia. Like Atargatis, the Aycayia were said to reperesent fertility and would enchant men with their beauty. However, they also represented sin and lust. While they would not lure men to their deaths llike sirens, they would rob them of their free will and use their beauty to enslave their minds.
Sedna
Sedna was the Inuit goddess of the sea and all marine animals and she was worshipped by virtually all inuit cultures from Greenland to Alaska. She was said to be the daughter of the creator-god Anguta who becomes dissatisfied with her life choices and castes her into the sea. In other versions, Sedna is a beautiful maiden who was arranged to be married to a hunter in another village. She refuses but then the hunter reveals his true form to be a bird-spirit and takes her to his nest. Her father comes to rescue her but while on the Kayak, the bird-spirit creates a powerful storm and she falls of the kayak and sinks to the bottom of the sea where she grow as fish tail and becomes the patron of all marine life. A planetary body was discovered out past the orbit of Neptune and it was named after Sedna. At the point that it's farthest from the sun, it's said to be the most distant object known in the solar system at 936 AU and it takes 11.400 years to orbit the sun.
Pincoya
The Pincoya is said to be a female water spirit which inhabits the Chilotan seas between the island of Chiloe and the Chilean mainland. She was said to be of incomparable beauty with long. blonde hair. Naked and pure, she was said to represent the fertility of the organisms that inhabited the ocean. She was also said to have the quintessential personality traits of mermaids such as being cheerful and sensual. Legend has it that she will rise from the deep and dance on the shoreline. If she dances facing the sea, there will be an abundance of fish and marine organisms in the ocean and if she dances facing the mountians, there will be a scarcity. Her father was the king of the sea Millalobo and her mother was the human Huenchula and she had a sister Sirena Chilota (a mermaid) and a brother Pincoy. It was said that the three would find the souls of drowned sailors and bring them to the phanto ship Caleuche. After they went on board this ship it was said that they could resume existance as if they were alive again.
Well, that's myTake on mermaid myths from around the world, I hope you enjoyed it :)
The Nyx/Nixie (German: Nix/Nixie/Nyx; Anglo-Saxon: Neck/Nicor/Knucker or Nokken; Norwegian: Nøkk or plural: Nøkken; Swedish: Näck) are shapeshifting water spirits who usually appear in human form. These spirits have appeared in the myths and legends of all Germanic peoples in Europe. Although perhaps most known in Norwegian and Scandinavian folklore. In recent times such creatures have usually been depicted as human in shape (albeit in many cases shapeshifting). However, the English Knucker is generally depicted as a wyrm or dragon, thus attesting to the survival of the other usage as any "water-being" rather than an exclusively humanoid creature. Their gender, bynames, and various animal-like transformations vary geographically. The German Nix and his Scandinavian counterparts are males. The German Nixe or Nixie is a female river mermaid.
That's quite a list. I've mostly focused on Merrows (Ireland), Qalupaliks (Canada), and weresalmon (my original idea).
Weresalmon didn't come from gods though. A space phenomenon got exploited by unethical scientists, who created them in a lab. Since weresalmon can stay in human form for a very long time before getting the urge to return to water, and can also survive in fresh or saltwater, it's unknown how many of them exist in Earth-G7.
I've got 8 confirmed cases by the "Envoy to Lough Melvin" time period of my Anarteq saga. But since Li'Ban is a mantle, and Moira Flanagan is a weresalmon that identifies as a Merrow due to being Irish rather than Inuit, it implies that the other Merrows are also weresalmon, who are using the Merrow mantle for themselves for branding purposes. So there's possibly hundreds. But my series only really focuses on seven of the eight.
I loved your post, mythology is one of my favorite topics. In the case of the Pincoya is one of the best-known mythological beings in my country, although I do not know if it can be considered a mermaid since it has human legs, what is sure is that it has a sister named 'Sirena chilota' and a brother who can be considered a 'male mermaid'. This beautiful tune of folk music is dedicated to the Pincoya.
In Massachusetts there is a legend from one of the local American Indian tribes of an unusual meremaid She has is a giant, She has sea-weed hair, one eye like a cyclops, and square breasts. I can dig up my copy of weird massachusetts when its day here. its got its own legend and such and I can sum it up later
No offence here, But did you seriously just spend a solid 30+ minutes writing about, researching and illustrating an article, About different species of a mythical, fantasy creature?
Its just funny is all. I mean, I see you put a lot of time and effort into it, And your a good writer and such, But... I can't help but feel like it was a bit of waste of time, Talking about things that don't exist?
I don't intend to be mean here, Its just. I don't really see the point of talking in such great detail about a magical creature? Haha. (Sorry)
Fun fact but there are actual ancient cave drawings confirming the existence of half humanoid/fish creatures in ancient times. Not specifically mermaids but a creature similar.
Girl's Behavior 
Guy's Behavior 
Flirting 
Dating 
Relationships 
Fashion & Beauty 
Health & Fitness 
Marriage & Weddings 
Shopping & Gifts 
Technology & Internet 
Break Up & Divorce 
Education & Career 
Entertainment & Arts 
Family & Friends 
Food & Beverage 
Hobbies & Leisure 
Other 
Religion & Spirituality 
Society & Politics 
Sports 
Travel 
Trending & News 
Most Helpful Opinions