Mermaids! I thought this would be a fun follow-up to last week’s post on unicorns. And okay, maybe I feel a little guilty because I have been killing off a fair amount of merfolk lately (only in my fairy tale WIP and in a recent short story — never in person, naturally!).

Fun facts about mermaids abound. In fact, for a creature often confused with sirens — which lure sailors to their deaths — there’s a lot of fun surrounding mermaids in general. For example:

  • Mermaids show up in folklore from all sorts of places, including Russia, Ireland, and western Africa.
  • Some mermaid “sightings” are actually thought to have been manatees.
  • And on that note, a distant cousin of the manatee, the narwhal, is sometimes called the “unicorn of the sea.”
  • You eat more like a mermaid than you think! Seaweed is in all sorts of foods, including ice cream (as a thickening agent, not a tasty one . . . although I did come across a recipe for just that from Cook’s Illustrated 🙂 ).
  • To this day you can catch a glimpse of one of the more famous mermaid hoaxes at Ripley’s Believe it Or Not in Atlantic City, NJ . . . pic below! I must say it’s not nearly as beautiful as most mermaids are supposed to be (even a manatee would look better, I think).

And to top it all off, if eating like or seeing a mermaid isn’t enough, you can buy yourself your very own mermaid tail. Shops like https://www.themertailor.com/ would be happy to make you one!

Unicorns may be extra magical, but mermaids seem to be particularly inspiring. And why shouldn’t they be? After all, the ocean is a pretty incredible place. I’ve always wished I could breathe underwater and explore it. And judging by the amount of mermaid stories, shows, and accoutrements, I’m not alone in that. 🙂

Selected References:

Ventura, Varla. Among the Mermaids. Weiser Books, 2013.