Creature Feature: Meet The Mer Folk

Creature Feature created by Michael is a feature that focuses on the wonderful world of fantasy, science fiction, and horror creatures. 

Mer Folk:

Not to be confused with Sirens, which I will explore next week. I know some shows and books have kind of merged mermaids with sirens. Mermaids/men are half fish/half human, where their lower portion is fish like while there top part of the body is more human.
The word derives from the combination of two words the Old English word mere meaning sea, and of course maid (young or unmarried woman) or men.

One of the earliest accounts of a mermaid involves the goddess Atargatis, the chief goddess of northern Syria. She fell in love with a shepherd and unintentionally killed him. So she threw herself into a lake and tried to take the form of a fish. But her divine beauty could not be consumed so parts of her body still showed her human-like features instead.

But now all accounts of them are mythical. Many different sailors, teachers, explorers, and more have stated they have seen mermaids in real life. Here are some quotes...

Explorer Christopher Columbus noted in his journals,

"They were not as beautiful as they are painted, although to some extent they have a human appearance in the face.” 

He also noted that he had seen similar creatures off the coast of West Africa. Also explorer Henry Hudson in one of his journals stated:

"This morning one of our company, looking overboard, saw a mermaid, and calling up some of the company to see her, one more came up, and by that time she has come close to the ship’s side, looking earnestly on the men. A little while after a sea came and overturned her. From the navel upward her back and breast were like a woman’s, as they say, that saw her; her body as big as one of ours; her skin very white, and long hair hanging down behind, of the color black. In her going down they saw her tail, which was like the tail of a porpoise, and speckled like a mackerel."

Whether real or not these creatures have appeared in many different books, TV shows, and movies.

Books: 

Little Mermaid Hans Christian Anderson

Ingo series by Helen Dunmore

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

Sea Lady by H.G. Wells

The Syrena Legacy series by Anna Banks

Emily Windsnap series by Liz Kessler

Fins series by Tera Lynn Childs

And many many more

Movies: Splash, Little Mermaid, Hook, Mad About Men, Fish Tales, Ponyo

   

Video Games: Kingdom Hearts I & II, The Legendary Starfy, The Sims 3: Island Paradise

   

There are 2 mermaids that vie for my favorite. Madison from Splash and Ariel from Little Mermaid. Madison, of course, goes to dry land to meet Allen. And Ariel also begs to be part of dry land's world. I think I like Ariel just slightly more, maybe it's the singing voice and the red hair?