Historical accounts of mermaids

[Viatrix]

I was curious if anyone knew of any books that told the mythology of mermaids throughout history or the stories that were created about them before science rid the world of imagination. I interested primarily because I think it would be neat to create some works of art/illustrations based around ancient 'scholoarly' literature and historical accounts.

Any well writ modern fiction is also welcome since I have no idea where to start looking.

thanks for the help!

[AniaR]

It's funny you mentioned this, I was thinking of trying to do a timeline of mermaids and turning it into a blog post or something. Perhaps we could collaborate? I was just interested in anything that hit mainstream media about mermaids, be it sightings, movies, women like Hannah etc.

We have local folklore books about my province that include mermaid stories. I know a lot of the kid books are more fabricated than anything. Doreen Virtues, Mermaid's 101 has great info too. A lot of suff I never knew

[Joy&RaptorsUnrestrained!]

I think I made a thread about swimming in locations where merfolk traditionally appeared... when I'm not on my kindle I'll see if I can copy the list... I put a bunch of research into where merfolk have shown up in several cultures, and it might help you with a timeline

[Viatrix]

I would love to collaborate on a project like that AniaR! I don't currently have an overabundance of time (midterms) but In about 2 weeks I can totally start research on any particular body of literature you would like to work with. Also thank you for that source, it will be a great starting point.

Joy, I would love that list whenever you have the opportunity. Thanks a bunch in advance for the help!

[Mermaid Momo]

I have a bunch of books written down somewhere! (One actually talked about a man who went to live with the Inuit and saw what he thought was a whale caught in nets and it was a mermaid and she gave him some kind of carved bone thing complete with photos and his travel logs. But I haven't Ben able to find that book since I returned it to the library)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - now Free (http://tapatalk.com/m?id=1)

[Joy&RaptorsUnrestrained!]

Here's the thread for "Legendary Locations"... if some of the merfolk legends associated with those locations are unclear, feel free to ask about them: http://mernetwork.com/index/showthread.php?5903-Legendary-locations&highlight=lusignan

[AniaR]

I did research a lot for a workshop I do at multicultural fairs about mermaid representations and variations in other cultures, but it wasn't time based.

[Azurin Luna]

I know there are quite a few mermaid legends and such on the Netherlands. Most come from the fact that we live below sealevel and as such always fought off the water. In history they made strange stories as why the lands got flooded again, some with mermaids others with different origins. I will see if I can find them again and translate them, as they are mostly all dutch

[PearlieMae]

I did research a lot for a workshop I do at multicultural fairs about mermaid representations and variations in other cultures, but it wasn't time based.

I have something along the same lines...will scour my archives if it will help.