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View Full Version : mermaid legens, folklore, stories,ect



merpirate
09-27-2011, 09:22 PM
OK I was wondering how some people here got into this, Was it old story you read, perhaps a movie, maybe a family legend, or perhaps it is some of the great folklore that drew you. I would very much like to hears what brought you here and got you involved in mermaids and what stories you have heard since then. Please tell me your tail (I know bad pun)

Prince Calypso
02-12-2012, 07:40 AM
When i was a little boy my great grandmother used to tail me that we had mermaid blood in our family. see my dad's side of the family comes straight from slavery. we can trace our roots back to at least two plantastions. one of my great ancestors who was a released or run away slave went off to become a seaman or a pirate. so he sailed the seas for about two years and hardly did his ship ever make port for longer than a day or two but when my ancestor came home to his awaiting family he came off the boat with a beautiful woman on his arm. skin like like sand at sunset, hair had black as the ocean at night and just as wavy, and eyes like moon pools my ancestor family asked where she had come from but he would tell them nothing. even his fellow sailors/ pirates weren't sure. all they could say was a they drew closer to home he had been acting very odd. staying up on deck all night talking to the water when he thought no one was looking and becoming very perinoid and irate when disturbed or caught in his odd actions.
this strange woman spoke not a word but was a perfect and loving wife and bore my ancestor three beautiful children boys with eyes like water and a girl with hair like wild waves and for a time all was happen but then one day she vanished leaving behind an old bracelet of seashells and pearls that m grandmother gave to me before she died.

now i don't know if the story is true but I've always had a thing for mermaids even before i was told the story and when i have little kids of my own i will tell them that they have mermaid blood and give my eldest the bracelet.

Mermaid Photine
02-12-2012, 12:48 PM
We don't have any family mermaid lore (grandmother is a martain princess), but I remember one of my favourite books being Island of the Aunts by Eva Ibbotson. It had mermaids and a selkie and the Kraken in it. A very good story- Two unwanted children were kidnapped by two aging women who were caretakers of an island of magical creatures. They train the youngsters to take care of the island as well, should they wish to stay. The Kraken comes with its little krakenspawn (it's cute! <3) and a hunter of magical creatures comes and I won't tell the ending. Really great book.

Joy&RaptorsUnrestrained!
02-12-2012, 01:57 PM
I don't have anything as interesting as Prince Calypso's family legend (though my great grandmother, who came over from Italy, was something of a strega and could remove to maloik/malocchio, among other things, such as being a devout catholic, hardworking and intelligent woman, and maker of alcohol during Prohibition) but I did read the Little Mermaid as a child, ask my parents to tell me stories (my dad first told me the story of Odysseus and the Sirens) and went to the library to borrow every book on mermaids I could find. I picked up a book of Mermaid stories from around the world, watched the little mermaid so often that my first grade classmates teased me about it, and while I swam I kicked my feet like a fish tail (and was a merman for halloween one year... I still have the tail though it is far too small for me now, and I'm not sure what happened to my trident).

MermaidPandorah, have you read the Secret of Platform 13, also by Eva Ibbotson? I enjoyed it more than the Island of the Aunts, though both had some really interesting elements, and both feature mermaids as well.

AniaR
02-12-2012, 06:07 PM
I actually have this as part of my performances, the only reason I haven't shared it is because I know certain people would just take my hard work for themselves as soon as it was online ;) I spent days and days researching mermaid myths from all places in the world so I could re-write them into kids stories. Then I got and made illustrations to represent each legend. When I talk to the kids I tell them the stories, and I try to make sure their culture is represented. There are so many versions of mermaids that all do different things! They arent all pretty white girls with fish tails and blonde hair, theyre are some with amazing features, different skin and hair, and amazing stories behind them. The kids love it, and I think the non-white kids love being able to see their own culture represented in a mermaid. worked REALLY well at a multicultural festival I did

New York Mermaid
02-12-2012, 07:36 PM
theres a story from my Grandad from puerto rico would tell me, he was a fisherman and when we would go out on the boat, he would always tell me,Las sirenas viven aquí, así que puede tomar de las aguas, sólo lo que necesite y liberar nuestro último pescado para ellos como un signo de buena voluntad.. Which for those that dont speak spanish he would say the mermaids live here where we fish, we only take what we need and the last fish we catch, we release back to them as a sign of good will. I never forget those words, he told me many stories of mermaids. Now that he's gone (he passed in 2009) I never forget the stories.

Mermaid Photine
02-12-2012, 09:48 PM
@ Joy- Yes, I've read several of her books, but I remember Island of the aunts best. She was one of my favourite authors. I think I may have to re-read her books...

merpirate
02-28-2012, 01:45 AM
very cool all of you

merpirate
02-28-2012, 02:06 AM
I might as well share one for you all, I am sure some of you have seen the image of a split tail mermaid, How many of you know why it is split? The legend I heard goes something like this. Merfolk mate for life. But if a merman dies before the mermaid, her tail will split and she will become siren, and from then one will sing her song of loss and searching. The song is so powerful it will draw sailors to her and they will drown listening to her sorrow song, all the while the lonely Siren will be hoping one of the souls that comes to her will be her lost love....

koiboi
02-28-2012, 04:36 AM
When i was a kid i had this fairy tale book(that i cant for the life of me remember the name of now) but in it was this story about a mermaid who couldn't swim and she floats on this piece of wood when she saves the sailor who teaches her to swim.
I know in Hatian Vodou they worship a loa they call "la Sirene" whos reminescent of the orisha Yemaya in Santeria and other Ifa religions. I also saw this book based around an african legend of a mermaid that i think was loosely based on the yoruba spirit Yemaya.

Prince Calypso
02-28-2012, 03:51 PM
I might as well share one for you all, I am sure some of you have seen the image of a split tail mermaid, How many of you know why it is split? The legend I heard goes something like this. Merfolk mate for life. But if a merman dies before the mermaid, her tail will split and she will become siren, and from then one will sing her song of loss and searching. The song is so powerful it will draw sailors to her and they will drown listening to her sorrow song, all the while the lonely Siren will be hoping one of the souls that comes to her will be her lost love....


oh wow i never heard it told that way!!! that's really freakin interesting

merpirate
02-28-2012, 10:11 PM
Honestly, I heard it before but forgot about it, until I saw the image at a Da Vinci drop press and bought it ofr star, the guy working the press knew the story and as he told it to me I remembered hearing it from when I was a child

Prince Calypso
03-05-2012, 07:51 PM
so cool

babsannee
03-10-2012, 09:59 PM
My family is from Cape Cod, so I've been surrounded by mermaids/legends my whole life.

Amethyst
03-15-2012, 03:07 PM
I think mine was a mixture of things, first of all, my dad was a Sailer, so naturally he loved the sea, boats and swimming and took me swimming from a very early age! :)
We lived in Spain when I was little, so we were always at the beach, I actually remember my dad telling me about a day when I was about 2 or 3 I was paddling in the sea and a wave knocked me over, I was just floating on the water face down, my dad panicked and picked me up and all I said was 'I was watching the fishes' lol So my family definatly had an impact on my love for the sea and marine life :)
Another reason for my love of mermaids is definatly from the movie 'The Little Mermaid' my parents and grandparents took me to the cinema to watch it when it came out, I was about 4 or 5 I think and instantly I was obsessed!! lol :D