View source for Merman

{{Short description|Legendary aquatic man-like being}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Infobox mythical creature
|name=Merman
|image=File:A Crowned Merman - Arthur Rackham.jpg
|caption=''A Crowned Merman'', by [[Arthur Rackham]]
|Grouping=Mythological
|Sub_Grouping=[[Water spirit]]
|Country=Worldwide
}}
A '''merman''' ({{plural form}}: '''mermen'''; also merlad or merboy in youth), the male counterpart of the mythical female [[mermaid]], is a [[legendary creature]] which is [[human]] from the waist up and [[fish]]-like from the waist down, but may assume normal human shape. Sometimes mermen are described as hideous and other times as handsome.

== Antiquity ==
Perhaps the first recorded merman was the [[Assyria]]n-[[Babylonia]]n sea-god [[Ea (Babylonian god)|Ea]] (called [[Enki]] by the [[Sumer]]ians), linked to the figure known to the [[Greeks]] as [[Oannes (mythology)|Oannes]].{{sfnp|Waugh|1960|pp=73–74}} However, while some popular writers have equated Oannes of the Greek period to the god Ea (and to [[Dagon]]),<ref name="spence"/><ref>{{harvp|Waugh|1960|p=73}}: "the first merman in recorded history is the sea-god Ea, or in Greek, Oannes"</ref> Oannes was rather one of the ''[[apkallu]]'' servants to Ea.<ref name="breucker" />

The ''[[apkallu]]'' have been described as "fish-men" in cuneiform texts, and if [[Berossus]] is to be believed, Oannes was indeed a being possessed of a fish head and man's head beneath, and both a fish tail and manlike legs.{{Efn|Berrosus, as preserved by [[Alexander Polyhistor]].}}{{sfnp|Waugh|1960|pp=73–74}}<ref name="breucker" /> But Berossus was writing much later during the era of Greek rule, engaging in the "construction" of the past.<ref name="breucker" /> Thus even though figurines have been unearth to corroborate this fish-man iconography, these can be regarded as representing "human figures clad in fish cloaks",<ref name="breucker" /> rather than a being with a fish head growing above the human head. And the god Ea is also seen as depicted wearing a fish cloak by modern scholars.<ref name="worthington" />

=== Greco-Roman mythology ===
{{Further|Triton (mythology)}}
[[File:Galéria mesta Bratislavy11.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|Triton with a [[nymph]], Mirbach Palace Courtyard, Bratislava, Slovakia]]
[[Triton (mythology)|Triton]] of [[Greek mythology]] was depicted as a half-man, half-fish merman in [[ancient Greek art]]. Triton was the son of the sea-god [[Poseidon]] and sea-goddess [[Amphitrite]]. Neither Poseidon nor Amphitrite were merfolk, although both were able to live underwater as easily as on land.

Tritons later became generic mermen, so that multiple numbers of them were depicted in art.<ref name=handbook-triton/><ref>{{cite book|last=Lattimore |first=Steven |author-link=<!--Steven Lattimore--> |title=The Marine Thiasos in Greek Sculpture |publisher=Institute of Archaeology, University of California, Los Angeles |year=1976 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WPo2AQAAIAAJ |page=30|isbn=9780917956027 }}</ref>

Tritons were also associated with using a [[Conch|conch shell]] in the later [[Hellenistic period]].<ref name=oxford-classical-dict/> In the 16th century, Triton was referred to as the "trumpeter of [[Neptune (mythology)|Neptune]] (''Neptuni tubicen'')" in [[Marius Nizolius]]'s ''Thesaurus'' (1551),<ref name=nizolius/>{{Efn|It also occurs in {{harvp|Gesner|1558}}.}} and this phrase has been used in modern commentary.<ref name=brooks>For example, {{cite book|editor-last=Brooks|editor-first=Nathan Covington|editor-link=Nathan Covington Brooks |title=The Metamorphoses of Publius Ovidius Naso |year=1860 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4TFKAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA78 |page=79, n94 }}</ref> The [[Elizabethan period]] poet [[Edmund Spenser]] referred to Triton's  "trompet" as well.<ref>"Triton his trompet shirll", ''[[Faerie Queene]]'', 3.11.12</ref>

Another notable merman from Greek mythology was [[Glaucus]]. He was born a human and lived his early life as a fisherman. One day, while fishing, he saw that the fish he caught would jump from the grass and into the sea. He ate some of the grass, believing it to have magical properties, and felt an overwhelming desire to be in the sea. He jumped in the ocean and refused to go back on land. The sea gods nearby heard his prayers and transformed him into a sea god. [[Ovid]] describes the transformation of Glaucus in the ''[[Metamorphoses (poem)|Metamorphoses]]'', describing him as a blue-green man with a fishy member where his legs had been.

== Medieval period ==
=== Marmennill ===
{{main|Marmennill}}
A merman is called ''marmennill'' in Old Norse,<ref name="craigie"/> attested in the ''Ladnámabók''.<ref name="vigfusson&powell"/>{{Refn|Group="lower-alpha"|The Sturlubók version gives ''marmennill'', while the [[Hauksbók]] gives ''margmelli''.<ref name="cochrane"/>}} An early settler in Iceland ({{c.|11th century}}){{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|The settler was Grímr Ingjaldsson whose family hails from Haddingjadalr ([[Hallingdal]]), Norway.<ref name="craigie"/>}} allegedly caught a merman while fishing, and the creature prophesied one thing: the man's son will gain possession of the piece of land where the mare Skálm chooses to "lie down under her load". In a subsequent fishing trip the man was drowned, survived by the boy who stayed behind.{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|This boy is identifiable as Þórir<ref name="mitchell"/> (anglicized as Thore<ref name="vigfusson&powell"/>).}}<ref name="vigfusson&powell"/><ref name="craigie"/><ref name="mitchell"/><ref name="palsson1988"/>

=== Hafstrambr ===
The ''hafstrambr'' is a merman, described as a counterpart to the hideous mermaid ''margýgr'' in the ''[[Konungs skuggsjá]]'' ("King's mirror", {{c.|1250}}). He is said to generally match her anthropomorphic appearance on the top half, though his lower half is said to have been never been seen.<ref name="lehn&schroeder"/><ref name="nansen"/> In actuality, it may have been just a sea-mammal ([[hooded seal]], ''Cystophora cristata''),<ref name="nordgaard"/><ref name="finnur"/> or the phenomenon of some sea creature appearing magnified in size, caused by mid-range [[mirage]].<ref name="lehn&schroeder"/>

Medieval Norsemen may have regarded the ''hafstrambr'' as the largest sorts of mermen, which would explain why the word for ''marmennill'' ('little mer-man') would be given in the diminutive.<ref name="GhM"/>

Other commentators treat the ''hafstrambr'' merely as an imaginary sea-monster.<ref name="gundersen-KLNM"/><ref name="cleasby-vigfusson-haf"/>

=== Early cartography ===
A twin-tailed merman is depicted on the [[Bianco world map]] (1436).<ref name="watts" /><ref name="siebold" />{{Efn|This is replicated in the Vincenzio Formaleoni map of 1783 "[http://jcb.lunaimaging.com/luna/servlet/detail/JCBMAPS~1~1~3272~101552:Planisferio-antico-di-Andrea-Bianco Planisferio antico di Andrea Bianco Che si conserva in Venezia nella Biblioteca di S. Marc]", LUNA, JCB Map Collection. The figure occurs at the far right.}} A merman and a mermaid are shown on the [[Martin Behaim#Behaim globe|Behaim globe]] ({{c.|1490–1493}}).<ref name="terkla" />

== Renaissance period ==
=== Gesner's sea-satyr ===
[[File:Gesner-Hist-Anim-IIII-p1197-pan-marinus.png|thumb|Sea-Pan or sea-satyr]]
{{multiple image
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 | image1            = Gesner-Hist-Anim-IIII-p0522-monstrum-marinum.png
 | alt1              = Sea-monster (''monstrum marinum''), from Gesner's (1558) ''Historiae animalium''
 | caption1          = Sea-monster (''monstrum marinum'') {{right|{{small|―Gesner (1558) ''Historiae animalium''.}}}}
 | height1           = 593
<!--image 2-->
 | image2            = Schott-Physica-Curiosa(1697)-p-363.jpg
 | alt2              = Triton, in Schott's ''Physica-Curiosa'' (1697 ed.)
 | caption2          = Triton {{right|{{small|―[[Kaspar Schott|Schott]]'s ''[[Physica Curiosa]]'' (1697).}}}}
 | height2           = 430
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}}
[[Konrad Gesner]] in his chapter on [[Triton (mythology)|Triton]] in ''[[Historia animalium (Gessner book)|Historia animalium]] IV'' (1558) gave the name of "sea-[[Pan (god)|Pan]]" or "sea-[[satyr]]" ({{langx|la|Pan- vel satyrus marinus}}) to an artist's image he obtained, which he said was that of an "ichthyocentaur" or "sea-devil".<ref name=gesner-sea-satyr>{{harvp|Gesner|1558|p=[https://gdz.sub.uni-goettingen.de/id/PPN472755935?tify={%22pages%22:%5B1237%5D,%22view%22:%22info%22} 1197]}}; (1604 ed.) [https://books.google.com/books?id=AA0NvxYDpDQC&pg=PA1001 p. 1001].</ref>{{Efn|name=gesner-sea-satyr-tr|Translation of Gesner's Latin passage given in: {{cite web|url=https://benito-cereno.tumblr.com/post/44594372256/okay-since-a-few-people-asked-more-info-on-this/amp |title=Burgeoning Lads of Science |author=Benito Cereno }}<!--sans date-->}}<ref name=hendrikx/><ref name="wehner&zierau&arditti"/>

Gesner's sea-devil ({{langx|de|Meerteufel}}) has been described by a modern commentator as having "the lower body of a fish and the upper body of a man, the head an horns of a buck-goat or the devil, and the breasts of a woman",<ref name=suutala/> and lacks the horse-legs of a typical [[centaur]]. Gesner made reference to a passage where [[Claudius Aelianus|Aelian]] writes of satyrs that inhabit [[Taprobana]]'s seas,<ref name=gesner-sea-satyr/> counted among the fishes and [[Cetus (mythology)|cete]] ({{langx|grc|κήτη|kḗtē}}, "sea monsters").<ref>[[Claudius Aelianus|Aelian]], {{URL|1=http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0545.tlg001.perseus-grc1:16.18|2=''De Natura Animalium''}} 16.18</ref><ref name=holder/>

This illustration was apparently ultimately based on a skeletal specimen and [[Mummy|mummies]].<ref name="wehner&zierau&arditti"/>{{Efn|Gesner's artist told him "he had received a drawing of a skeleton of such an animal in Antwerp. Also, another man brought back this monster dried from Norway to lower Germany, male and female".<ref name=gesner-sea-satyr/>{{Efn|name=gesner-sea-satyr-tr}}}} Gesner explained that such a creature was placed on exhibit in [[Rome]] on 3 November 1523.<ref name=holder/><ref name=gesner-sea-satyr/> Elsewhere in Gesner's book it is stated the "sea monster (''monstrum marinum'')" viewed on this same date was the size of a 5-year-old child.<ref>{{harvp|Gesner|1558|p=[https://gdz.sub.uni-goettingen.de/id/PPN472755935?tify={%22pages%22:%5B562%5D,%22view%22:%22info%22} 522]}}; (1604 ed.) [https://books.google.com/books?id=AA0NvxYDpDQC&pg=PA441 p. 441].</ref>{{Efn|An illustration similar to Gesner's ''monstrum marinum'' was later printed by [[Kaspar Schott]] in ''Physica-Curiosa'' and labeled as "Triton".<ref name=BHL-constantino/> [[Llewellyn Jewitt]] has also reproduced an illustration quite similar to Schott's, claiming it came from [[Rondelet]].<ref name=jewitt/>}} It has been remarked in connection to this by one ichthyologist that mermen created by joining the monkey's upper body with a fish's lower extremity have been manufactured in [[China]] for centuries;<ref name=holder/> and such merchandise may have been imported into [[Europe]] by the likes of the [[Dutch East India Company]] by this time{{sfnp|Gudger|1934|p=512}} (cf. [[Mermaid#Bartholin's siren|Bartholin's siren]]). Mummies (Feejee mermaids) were certainly being manufactured in Japan in some quantity by the 19th century or even earlier{{sfnp|Viscardi|Hollinshead|MacFarlane|Moffat|2014|p=101}} (cf. [[#Hoaxes and sideshows|§Hoaxes and sideshows]]).

The "sea-satyr[e]" appears in [[Edmund Spenser]]'s poem ''[[The Faerie Queene]]'' (1590), and glossed by [[Francis J. Child]] as a type of "ichthyocentaur", on the authority of Gesner.<ref>{{citation|last=Spenser |others=[[Francis J. Child]] |title=Faerie Queene, 2.12.27 |work=British Poets 2|place=Boston |publisher=Little, Brown & Company |year=1866 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iPQTAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA134 |page=134}}</ref>

== Scandinavian folklore ==
=== Marbendill ===
{{main|marmennill}}
[[Iceland]]ic folklore beliefs speak of sea-dwelling humans (humanoids) known as ''marbendlar'' (sing. ''{{linktext|marbendill}}''),{{sfnp|Ármann Jakobsson|2002}} which is the later Norse,{{Refn|''{{lang|non|marbendil}}'' is attested in ''[[Hálfs saga ok Hálfsrekka|Hálfs saga]]'' (early 14th cent.).}}<ref name="cochrane"/> and modern Icelandic form of ''[[marmennill]]''.<ref name="webster-EB1891"/><ref name="macculloch"/>

[[Jón lærði Guðmundsson]] ('the Learned', d. 1658)'s writings concerning elves{{efn|Halldor specifies ''Tíðfordríf'' and commentary on the Snorra Edda}} includes the merman or ''marbendill'' as a "water-elf". This merman is described as seal-like from the waist down.<ref name="halldor1924"/><ref name="jon_arnason-eng-vol2-intro"/> Jón the Learned also wrote down a short tale or folktale concerning it,<ref name="jon_arnason"/> which has been translated under the titles "The Merman"<ref name="jon_arnason-eng-vol1-merman"/> and "Of Marbendill".<ref name="jon_arnason-iceland_review"/>

[[Jón Árnason (author)|Jón Árnasson]], building on this classification, divided the water-elves into two groups: the male marbendill vs. the female known variously as {{lang|is|hafgýgur, haffrú, margýgur}}, or {{lang|is|meyfiskur}}.<ref name="jon_arnason-saebuar"/> But in current times, {{lang|is|hafmey}} is the common designation of the mermaid.<ref name="olina_thorvardardottir"/> This gender classification however is not in alignment with the medieval source described above, which pairs the margýgr with the ([[#Hafstrambr|hafstrambr]]).

=== Havmand ===
According to Norwegian folklore dating back to the 18th century, ''{{interlanguage link|havmand|no}}'' takes the mermaid (''havfrue'') as wife, and the offspring or young they produce are called ''marmæler'' (sing. {{langx|no|marmæle}}).<ref name="pontoppidan"/><ref name="pontoppidan-eng"/>

Norwegian mermen (''havmænd'') were later ascribed the general characteristic that they are of "a dusky hue, with a long beard, black hair, and from the waist upwards resemble a man, but downwards are like a fish."{{Refn|Thorpe<ref name="thorpe2-p027-norw"/> who cites Faye as general source (p. 9, note 2), and translates {{harvp|Faye|1833}}'s description in Danish: "mørkladne, have langt Skiæg, sort Haar og ligne oventil et Menneste; men nedentil en Fisk" (pp. 58–59). Faye cites  Pontoppidan as a source (p. 62).}}{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|Pontpoddian had included a section on the latest sightings. One ''havmand'' allegedly seen in 1719 of particularly large size, measuring {{convert|3|fathom|m}}, was dark-grey in colour; it had paws like the seal-calf (seal) but might be counted among the whale-kind, according to the commentator.{{sfnp|Pontoppidan|1755|pp=190–191}} Another seen in 1723 (taken from the writing of Andreas Bussæus 1679–1735) was like an old man, with curled black hair and black beard, coarse-skinned but shaggy. One witness noticed its body was taper-ended like a fish.{{sfnp|Pontoppidan|1755|pp=194–195}}}}

While the ''marmæler'' does literally mean 'sea-talker',<ref name="bassett"/> the word is thought to be a corruption of ''marmenill'', the aforementioned Old Norse term for merman.<ref name="GhM"/>

=== Prophesying ===
An alleged ''marmennill'' prophesying to an early Icelandic settler has already been noted (cf. [[#Medieval period|§Medieval period]]). In the story "The Merman", a captured ''marbendill'' laughs thrice, and when pressed, reveals to the peasant his insight (buried gold, wife's infidelity, dog's fidelity) on promise of release. The peasant finds wonderful gray milk-cows next to his property, which he presumes were the merman's gift; the unruly cows were made obedient by bursting the strange bladder or sac on their muzzle (with the stick he carried).<ref name="jon_arnason"/><ref name="jon_arnason-eng-vol1-merman"/><ref name="jon_arnason-iceland_review"/>

=== Abductions ===
In Sweden, the superstition of the merman ({{langx|sv|hafsman}}) abducting a human girl to become his wife has been documented ([[Hälsingland]], early 19th century); the merman's consort is said to be occasionally spotted sitting on a holme (small island), laundering her linen or combing her hair.<ref name="grafstroem&forssell"/>

There is a Swedish [[ballad]] ({{langx|sv|{{ill|Visa (verse)|lt=visa|sv|Visa}}}}) entitled "''Hafsmannen''" about a merman abducting a girl; the Danish ballad "''Rosmer Havmand''" is a cognate ballad based on the same legend.<ref name="goedecke"/><ref name="child_ballad-rosmer"/>

"[[Agnete og Havmanden]]" is another [[Scandinavia]]n ballad work with this theme, but it is of late composition (late 18th century). It tells of a merman who had been mated to a human woman named Agnete; the merman unsuccessfully pleaded with her to come back to him and [[The Merman's Children|their children in the sea]].<ref name="kramer"/>

[[File:Sjoekungen_by_John_Bauer_1911.jpg|thumb|[[Agnete_og_Havmanden|''The merman'' ]](1911) by [[John Bauer (illustrator)|John Bauer]]]]

== English folklore ==
English folklorist [[Jacqueline Simpson]] surmises that as in Nordic (Scandinavian) countries, the original man-like water-dwellers of [[England]] probably lacked fish-like tails.<ref name=simpson&roud/> A "wildman" caught in a fishnet, described by [[Ralph of Coggeshall]] ({{c.|1210}}) was entirely man-like though he liked to eat raw fish and eventually returned to the sea.<ref name=simpson&roud/> [[Katharine Mary Briggs]] opined that the mermen are "often uglier and rougher in the British Isles".<ref name=briggs/>{{Efn|However, it should be remembered that a polling of the folklore of the "British Isles" would include Irish folklore, and the story of the male merrow Coomara was [[Thomas Keightley]]'s invention.<ref name=markey/>}}

Mermen, which seldom frequent [[Folklore of the United States|American folklore]], are supposedly depicted as less beautiful than mermaids.<ref>{{cite book|last=Watts |first=Linda |author-link=<!--Linda Watts -->|title=Encyclopedia of American Folklore |date=2006 |publisher=Infobase Publishing|isbn=1438129793 |page=266 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2dce6_CA76MC&pg=PA266 |access-date=25 July 2015 |quote=Mermen do appear within folklore, but are relatively uncommon in American lore. They are also said to be much less visually appealing than mermaids.}}</ref>

== Celtic folklore ==
The Irish [[fakelore]] story of "[[The Soul Cages (story)|The Soul Cages]]" features a male [[merrow]] named Coomara, a hideous creature with green hair, teeth and skin, narrow eyes and a red nose. The tale was created by [[Thomas Keightley]], who lifted the plot from one of the [[Brothers Grimm|Grimms']] collected tales (''[[Deutsche Sagen]]'' No. 25, "Der Wassermann und der Bauer" or "The Waterman and the Peasant").<ref name=markey/>

In [[Cornish folklore]] into early modern times, the [[Bucca (mythological creature)|Bucca]], described as a lonely, mournful character with the skin of a [[conger]] eel and hair of seaweed, was still placated with votive offerings of fish left on the beach by fishermen.<ref>Traditional Cornish Stories and Rhymes, Lodenek Press, 1972</ref> Similarly vengeful [[water spirit]]s occur in [[Brittany|Breton]] and Gaelic lore, which may relate to pre-Christian gods such as [[Nechtan (mythology)|Nechtan]].

== China and Japan ==
In China and in Japan, there are various accounts of "human-fish" ({{lang|zh|人魚}}, Chinese: ''rényú'', Japanese: ''[[ningyo]]''), and these presumably occurred in male forms also.

However, Chinese human-fish have been described (and illustrated) as resembling a catfish,<ref name="shanhaijing-strassberg-renyu-humanfish"/> and not quite so human-like (cf. [[merfolk#Renyu or human-fish]]).<ref name="shanhaijing-strassberg-renyu-humanfish">{{cite book|editor-last=Strassberg |editor-first=Richard E. |editor-link=<!--Richard E. Strassberg--> |chapter=125. Human-fish (Renyu) |script-chapter=zh:人魚 |title=A Chinese Bestiary: Strange Creatures from the ''Guideways Through Mountains and Seas'' |publisher=[[University of California Press]] |year=2018 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fnpFDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA129 |page=129 |isbn=978-0-52029-851-4}}</ref>

Illustrated depictions of male ''ningyo'' do exist from the Edo Period (cf. [[Ningyo#Male ningyo|Ningyo§Male ningyo]]). One example is the picture of {{nihongo|male human-fish|男人魚|otoko ningyo}} hand-copied by the young lord of [[Hirosaki Domain]].<ref name="aomori_museum-otokoningyo"/> Another is the illustrated sheet of ''[[kawaraban]]'' newspaper carrying news of the {{nihongo|"ningyo from Holland"|阿蘭陀渡り人魚}},<ref name="nishimaki"/><ref name="fukushima_museum"/> bearing the face of an old man.<ref name="kushida"/>{{Refn|This newsprint was also featured in the manga ''[[Hōzuki no Reitetsu]]'' Vol. 12, p. 101, with a facsimile sketch of the print, and was offered as an example of a male ningyo. The comic cited {{harvp|Abe|Chiba|1996}},<ref name="abe&chiba-map"/> without indication of page.}}

=== Hairen or kaijin ===
<!--[[File:Hirokawa Kaijin.jpg|thumb|100px|right|The Kaijin in the Kanda-Jihitsu c. 1800]] This pic is being used in ''hairen'' with corrected captions. Hirokawa [Kai] is the correct author. But the correct work is not ''Kanden jihitsu'' ("Kanda" is misreading), but ''Nagasaki bunkenroku'' or ''kenbunroku''. -->
{{main|hairen}}
In China and Japan there are also accounts of the "sea human" ({{lang|zh|海人}}, Chinese: ''hairen'', Japanese: ''kaijin''), some of these accounts are of European origin.

A known description of the ''hairen'' occurs in a work in Chinese called ''Zhifang waiji'' ({{lang|zh|職方外紀}}), actually written by a European.{{sfnp|Magnani|2022|p=97}} Here Ai Rulüe ([[Giulio Aleni]]) stated that there are two kinds of ''hairen''. The example of the first kind had a beard.{{efn|{{lang-zh|{{linktext|須}}/{{linktext|鬚}}}} or "beard". But had to be released back to sea, upon which it was seen "clapping its hands and laughing loudly".}}<ref name="zhifang_waiji1843"/>{{sfnp|Magnani|2022|p=97}}

The second type of ''hairen'' described by Aleni was actually a female woman,{{efn|{{lang-zh|女人}}}} identifiable as the {{interlanguage link|Mermaid of Edam|nl|Meermin van Edam}} captured in 1403, with drooping skin, as if she were dressed in [a ''pao'' {{lang|zh|袍}} type of robe].{{efn|The text reads ''paofu'' {{lang|zh|袍服}}, which is a somewhat specific type of formal attire, even though Mangani translated it as "non-removable cloth".}}{{sfnp|Magnani|2022|p=97}}<ref name="zhifang_waiji1843"/>

Later, a Japanese source (''Nagasaki bunkenroku'') gave description of the ''kaijin'' encompassing features of both types: it had chin hair{{efn|And eyebrows, and webbed skin between the fingers and toes.}} as well as a skin flap around the waist similar to a ''[[hakama]]''.<ref name="hirokawa-nukigaki"/><ref name="fujisawa1925"/> These trouser-like ''hakama'' was worn by men, as well as women in some cases.

An older (though perhaps lesser known) account of ''hairen'' occurs in Shaozi or [[Shao Yong]]'s work called ''Caomuzi'' ([[:zh:草木子|草木子]]), which describes the creature as having the shape of a (Buddhist) priest, though diminutive in stature.<ref name="caomuzi"/><ref name="ikeda_shiroujirou"/> It has been equated with the ''[[umibōzu]]'' ("sea-priest, sea acolyte priest") [[yōkai]] of Japan.<ref name="ikeda_shiroujirou"/>

== Folklore elsewhere ==
{{More citations needed|section|date=June 2020}}
In [[Finnish mythology]], a {{ill|Vetehinen (folklore)|fi|Vetehinen (taruolento)|lt=''vetehinen''}}, a type of ''[[Neck (water spirit)|neck]]'', is sometimes portrayed as a magical, powerful, bearded man with the tail of a fish. He can cure illnesses, lift [[curse]]s and brew [[potion]]s, but he can also cause unintended harm by becoming too curious about human life.
<!--Chinese mermen were believed to only surface during storms or, in some cases, were believed to have the ability to cause storms. {{cn}}-->

In the [[Inuit]] folklore of [[Greenland]] and northern [[Canada]], the [[Auvekoejak]] is a furry merman.<ref>{{cite book |editor-first=Jacob |editor-last=Covey |url={{google books|U9eeDgAAQBAJ|plainurl=yes}} |title=Beasts! Book 1 |chapter=Pictorial Schedule of Traditional Hidden Creatures from the Interest of 90 Modern Artistans |year=2007 |page=36 |isbn=978-1-5609-7768-1 |publisher=Fantagraphics Books }}</ref>

In an Italian folktale with medieval roots, [[Cola Pesce]] (Nicholas Fish) was a human boy until his mother cursed him to become part fish. As a merman, he occasionally assisted fishermen, but was summoned by a king who ordered him to explore the seabed and bring back items. Cola Pesce reluctantly went on the king's errands, only to disappear.<ref name="calvino">{{Cite book |last=Calvino |first=Italo |title=Italian Folktales |publisher=Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc. |year=1980 |pages=746}}</ref>

The [[boto]] (river dolphins) of the [[Amazon River]] regions of northern [[Brazil]], is described according to local lore as taking the form of a human or merman, also known as ''encantado'' ("enchanted one" in [[Portuguese Language|Portuguese]]) and with the habit of seducing human women and impregnating them.<ref>{{cite book |first=Juliette |last=Wood |url={{google books|48tjDwAAQBAJ|plainurl=yes}} |title=Fantastic Creatures in Mythology and Folklore: From Medieval Times to the Present Day |year=2018 |page=62 |publisher=Bloomsbury |isbn=978-1-4411-3060-0 }}</ref>

In the folklore of the [[Dogon people|Dogon]] of [[Mali]], ancestral spirits called [[Nommo]] had humanoid upper torsos, legs and feet, and a fish-like lower torso and tail.<ref>{{cite book |author1-link=Vivianne Crowley |last1=Crowley |first1=Vivianne |last2=Crowley |first2=Christopher |publisher=[[Carlton Publishing Group|Carlton Books]] |year=2001 |page=195 |isbn=9781858689876 |title=Ancient Wisdom }}</ref>

== In heraldry ==
[[File:Vöyri-Maksamaa.vaakuna.svg|thumb|upright|Merman pictured in the coat of arms of [[Vörå]], [[Finland]]]]
Mermen or "tritons" see uncommon use in British [[heraldry]], where they appear with the torso, head and arms of a man upon the tail of a fish. They are typically used as [[supporter]]s, and are rarely used as [[Charge (heraldry)|charge]]s.<ref>{{cite book |last=Fox-Davies |first=Arthur |author-link=Arthur Fox-Davies |title=A Complete Guide to Heraldry |publisher=T.C. and E.C. Jack |location=London |year=1909 |pages=227–228 |url=https://archive.org/details/completeguidetoh00foxduoft}}</ref>

== Hoaxes and sideshows ==
{{See also|Mermaid#Hoaxes and show exhibitions}}
[[File:Banff Merman.jpg|thumb|The Banff "merman" on display at the Indian Trading Post, [[Banff, Alberta]]]]
{{multiple image
 | total_width       = 230
 | header            = 
<!--image 1-->
 | image1            = Jenny Haniver1218.jpg
 | alt1              = Upright dried ray or skate
 | caption1          = 
<!--image 2-->
 | image2            = Jenny Haniver1217.JPG
 | alt2              = Close-up of dried ray or skate
 | caption2          = 
<!-- Footer -->
 | footer            = A dried [[Ray (fish)|ray]] or [[Skate (fish)|skate]], or [[Jenny Haniver]], on display at [[Mashhad]] Museum, Iran
}}
A stuffed specimen of the merfolk was exhibited in London in 1822 was later billed "[[Fiji mermaid]]" by [[P.T. Barnum]] and put on display in the [[Barnum's American Museum]], New York, in  1842.<ref>{{cite book|last=Bondeson |first=Jan |author-link=Jan Bondeson |chapter=The Feejee mermaid |title=The Feejee mermaid and other essays in natural and unnatural history |publisher=Cornell University Press|location=Ithaca, NY |year=1999 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A4dXDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA36 |pages=x, 38–40 <!--36–63--> |isbn=0-801-43609-5}}</ref> Although billed as a "mermaid", this has also been bluntly referred to as a "Barnum's merman" in one piece of journalism.<ref>{{cite news |last=Babin |first=Tom |author-link=<!--Tom Babin--> |title=Up close and personal with the Banff Merman at the Banff Indian Trading Post |date=28 September 2012 |newspaper=[[Calgary Herald]] |url=http://www.calgaryherald.com/close+personal+with+Banff+Merman+Banff+Indian+Trading+Post/7316708/story.html |access-date=23 August 2019 |archive-date=8 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190908061002/http://www.calgaryherald.com/close+personal+with+Banff+Merman+Banff+Indian+Trading+Post/7316708/story.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> This specimen was an example of fake mermaids posed in "[[The Scream]]" style, named after [[Edvard Munch]]'s painting; mermaids in this pose were commonly made in the late 18th and early 19th century in Japan.{{sfnp|Viscardi|Hollinshead|MacFarlane|Moffat|2014|p=101}}

A similar fake "mermaid" at the [[Horniman Museum]]{{sfnp|Bondeson|1999|pp=58–59}} has also been relabeled by another curator as a "merman",<ref name=viscardi>{{cite news |last=Viscardi |first=Paolo |author-link=<!--Paolo Viscardi --> |title=Mysterious mermaid stripped naked |date=16 April 2014 |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/animal-magic/2014/apr/16/mermaid-stripped-naked }};</ref> where "mermen" or "feejee mermaids" are used as generic terms for such concocted mummies.{{sfnp|Viscardi|Hollinshead|MacFarlane|Moffat|2014|p=98}} DNA testing was inconclusive as to species (and nothing on gender was disclosed), but despite being catalogued as a "Japanese Monkey-fish", it was determined to contain no monkey parts, but only the teeth, scales, etc. of fish.<ref name=viscardi/>{{sfnp|Viscardi|Hollinshead|MacFarlane|Moffat|2014|p=103}}

Another "merman" specimen supposedly found in [[Banff, Alberta]], is displayed at the Indian Trading Post.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/entertainment/story.html?id=ff50fd08-c286-4c09-9870-a7d1e48e806c&k=44963 |title = Banff's oldest celebrity resident |access-date = 2007-08-08 |last = Babin |first = Tom |date = 2007-01-22 |publisher = [[Calgary Herald]] |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071013071356/http://canada.com/calgaryherald/news/entertainment/story.html?id=ff50fd08-c286-4c09-9870-a7d1e48e806c&k=44963 |archive-date = 2007-10-13 }}</ref> Other such "mermen", which may be composites of wood carvings, parts of monkeys and fish, are found in museums around the world; for example, at the [[Booth Museum]] in Brighton.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/14380809.Could_this_be_the_most_gruesome_creature_in_Brighton_/ |title=Could this be the most gruesome creature in Brighton? |date=24 Mar 2016 |first= Adrian|last= Imms |work=The Argus}}</ref>

Such fake mermaids handcrafted from monkeys and fish were being made in China and the [[Malay Archipelago]], and imported by the Dutch since the mid-16th century, according to ichthyologist [[Eugene Willis Gudger|E. W. Gudger]].{{sfnp|Gudger|1934|p=512}}{{better source needed|date=March 2023}} Several natural history books published around this time ({{circa|1550s}}) carried entries on the mermaid-like monk-fish ([[sea monk]]) and the bishopfish ([[sea bishop]]), and Gudger suspected these were misinformation based on the aforementioned hoax mermaids from the East.{{Efn|Gudger notes as corroborating circumstantial evidence the fact that [[Guillaume Rondelet]]'s source received description of the bishopfish from some informant in [[Amsterdam]] (and the Dutch were the importers of the mermaid mummies).}}{{sfnp|Gudger|1934|pp=512–515}}

Gudger also noted that the mermaid-like bishopfish could well be simulated by a dried specimen of a ray. A dried ray bears a vaguely anthropomorphic shape, and can be further manipulated to enhance its desired monstrous look. Such figures made of [[Elasmobranchii|sharks and rays]] eventually came to be known as  [[Jenny Haniver]]s in Great Britain.{{sfnp|Gudger|1934|pp=514–515}}

==Literature and popular culture== 
[[Matthew Arnold]] wrote a poem called "The Forsaken Merman" about a merman whose human wife  abandoned him and their children.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poems/detail/43589 |title=The Forsaken Merman |work=The Poetry Foundation |date=March 2022 }}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Forsaken-Merman |title=The Forsaken Merman: Poem by Arnold |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia Britannica }}</ref> Mermen may feature in [[science fiction]] and [[fantasy literature]]. ''[[The Merman's Children]]'' by American writer [[Poul Anderson]] is inspired by the ballad [[Agnete og Havmanden]]. Science fiction writer [[Joe Haldeman]] wrote two books on ''[[Attar the Merman]]'' in which genetically enhanced mermen can communicate telepathically with dolphins. [[Samuel R. Delany]] wrote the short story ''[[Driftglass]]'' in which mermen are deliberately created surgically as amphibious human beings with gills,<ref name="toshi"/>  while in [[J. K. Rowling]]'s ''[[Harry Potter]]'', a race of merpeople live in a lake outside [[Hogwarts]].<ref>{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=PHbeCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA413 |title=The Ashgate Encyclopedia of Literary and Cinematic Monsters|date=April 2016|editor= Jeffrey Andrew Weinstock |page=413|publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781317044260}}</ref>

Mermen sometimes appear in modern comics, games, television shows and films. Although they were once depicted largely as being unattractive in some traditions as described in previous sections, in some modern works, mermen are portrayed as handsome, strong and brave. In the 1977–1978 television series ''[[Man from Atlantis]]'', the merman as played by [[Patrick Duffy]] is described as a survivor from [[Atlantis]].<ref name="toshi">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QrT1SlwhfsIC&pg=PA452 |title=Icons of Horror and the Supernatural: An Encyclopedia of Our Worst Nightmares, Volume 2|year=2007|editor= S. T. Joshi |pages=452–455 |isbn=978-0313337826 |publisher= Greenwood Press}}</ref> In the [[DC Comics]] mythology, mermen are a common fixture of the [[Aquaman]] mythos, often showing a parochialistic rivalry with humanoid water-breathers. In the [[Supergirl]] comics of the 1960s, Supergirl had a relationship with a merman named Jerro, similar to Supermans relationship with mermaid [[Lori Lemaris]].  The mermen or [[Merfolk (Dungeons & Dragons)|merfolk]] also appear in the ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'' game.<ref>[[Gary Gygax|Gygax, Gary]], and [[Dave Arneson]]. ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (3-Volume Set) (TSR, 1974)</ref> Three mermen are featured in the music video for [[Madonna]]'s 1989 song "[[Cherish (Madonna song)|Cherish]]".<ref>{{cite journal |last=Vernallis |first=Carol |title=The Aesthetics of Music Video: An Analysis of Madonna's 'Cherish' |journal=Popular Music |volume=17 |number=2 |date=May 1998 |pages=153–185 |doi=10.1017/S0261143000000581 |jstor=853454 |s2cid=54547848 }}</ref>

The Australian TV series ''[[Mako: Island of Secrets]]'' (2013–2016), a spin-off of ''[[H2O: Just Add Water|H<sub>2</sub>O: Just Add Water]]'', includes a teenage boy named Zac (played by [[Chai Hansen]]) who turns into a merman. The 2006 CG-animated film ''[[Barbie: Mermaidia]]'' features a merman character named Prince Nalu.

The monster known as the [[Gill-man]] from the film ''[[Creature from the Black Lagoon]]'' could be seen as a modern adaptation of the merman myth.<ref>{{cite web | last=A.W. | title=Movie Review&nbsp;– The Creature From the Black Lagoon | url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9900E3DB1131E53BBC4953DFB366838F649EDE | date=May 1, 1954 | work=[[The New York Times]] | access-date=2009-05-19 }}</ref>

==See also==
{{Commons category|Mermen|Merman}}
* [[List of aquatic humanoids|List of piscine and amphibian humanoids]]
* [[List of hybrid creatures in mythology]]
* [[Vodyanoy]]
* [[Fish-man]] of [[Cantabria]], Spain
* "[[1983... (A Merman I Should Turn to Be)]]"
* [[Tezin Nan Dlo]] (Haitian folktale)

== Explanatory notes ==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
;Citations
{{Reflist|30em|refs=
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<ref name=BHL-constantino>{{cite web|url=https://blog.biodiversitylibrary.org/2014/10/the-beautiful-monster-mermaids.html |title=The Beautiful Monster: Mermaids |work=Biodiversity Heritage Library |author=Grace Constantino |date=31 October 2014}}</ref>

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<ref name="kushida">{{cite web|url=http://satana-aka.la.coocan.jp/akasatana6.html  |last=Kushida |first=Kimizō |author-mask=Kushida, Kimizō 櫛田公造 |title=Shi wa shinbun shinshi no shi |script-title=ja:“し”は新聞・新志のシ |website=Tokyo ningyō manhitsu club: akasatana manpitsu<!--東京人形漫筆倶楽部：あかさたな漫筆--> |access-date=2023-03-28}}</ref>

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<ref name="grafstroem&forssell">{{cite book|last1=Grafström |first1=Anders |author1-link=<!--Anders Grafström--> |last2=Forssell |first2=Christian |author2-link=:sv:Christian Forssell |author-mask=Grafström, Anders (text); Forssell, Christian (ed.) |others=[[:en:Johan Gustaf Sandberg|Johan Gustaf Sandberg]] (illustr.) |chapter=Helsingland |title=Ett år i Sverge: Taflor af Svenska almogens Klädedrägt, lefnadssätt och hemseder, samt de för Landets Historia märkvärdigaste Orter |publisher=J. Hörberg |date=1827 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rANdAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA52 |page=52 |language=sv}}; {{cite journal|author=J. Y. |author-link=<!--Sir John Young?--> |title=Swedish Anitquities: translated and abridged from Forssell's Année en Suede |journal=The Antiquary |volume=IV |issue=95 |date=27 December 1873 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V9A3EaAdVpIC&pg=PA315 |page=315}}</ref>

<ref name="gundersen-KLNM">{{Cite book|last=Gundersen |first=Dag |author-link=Dag Gundersen |title=Nordic language history and natural and technical sciences |editor1-last=Bandle |editor1-first=Oscar |editor1-link=<!--Oscar Bandle--> |editor2-last=Braunmüller |editor2-first=Kurt |editor2-link=<!--Kurt Braunmüller--> |editor3-last=Jahr |editor3-first=Ernst Håkon  |editor3-link=Ernst Håkon Jahr |editor4-last=Karker |editor4-first=Allan |editor4-link=<!--Allan Karker--> |editor5-last=Naumann |editor5-first=Hans-Peter |editor5-link=Hans-Peter Naumann |editor6-last=Telemann |editor6-first=Ulf |editor6-link=<!--Ulf Telemann--> |editor7-last=Elmevik |editor7-first=Lennart |editor7-link=<!--Lennart Elmevik--> |editor8-last=Widmark |editor8-first=Gun |editor8-link=<!--Gun Widmark-->|others=Kjartan Gudjónsson (illustr.) |work=The Nordic Languages |volume=1 |location= |publisher=Walter de Gruyter |date=2008 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PBKxhq2p0PgC&pg=PA436 |page=436<!--435–440--> |isbn=<!--3110197057, -->9783110197051}}, citing ''KLNM''{{=}} ''Kulturhistorisk lexikon för nordisk medeltid/for nordisk middelalder''.</ref>

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<ref name=handbook-triton>{{cite book|last=Hansen |first=William F. |title=Deities, Themes and Concepts: Waters |work=Handbook of Classical Mythology |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2004|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1Z-LIKN0Ap0C&pg=PA316 |isbn=9-781-5760-7226-4}}</ref>

<ref name=hendrikx>{{cite journal|last=Hendrikx |first=Sophia |author-link=<!-- Sophia Hendrikx --> |title=Monstrosities from the Sea. Taxonomy and tradition in Conrad Gessner's (1516-1565) discussion of cetaceans and sea-monsters |journal=Anthropozoologica |date=2018 |volume=53 |issue=11 |url=http://sciencepress.mnhn.fr/en/periodiques/anthropozoologica/53/11 |pages=132–135<!--125–137-->|doi=10.5252/anthropozoologica2018v53a11 |hdl=1887/67726 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>

<ref name="hirokawa-nukigaki">{{cite book|author=Hirokawa Kai |author-link=<!--廣川獬-->|chapter=Kaijin, kaijo |script-chapter=ja:海人・海女 |title=Nagasaki kenbunroku nukigaki |script-title=ja:長崎見聞録抜書（ぬきがき）<!--Bunkenroku in subtitle 題簽書名・序題: 長崎聞見録/序題の肩に「郡朝異説 第二十一」とあり--> |publisher=<!--Hand-copy 写--> |date=<!--Uncertain date, though there is a dated intro 寛政9年の自序あり-->1797 |url=https://dl.ndl.go.jp/pid/2536412/1/36 |doi=10.11501/2536412}}</ref>

<ref name=holder>{{cite book|last=Holder |first=Charles Frederick |author-link=<!--Charles Frederick Holder--> |others=[[David Starr Jordan]]  |title=Fish Stories Alleged and Experienced: With a Little History Natural and Unnatural |publisher=1909 |year=<!--H. Holt--> |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cdUqAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA7 |page=7|series=American nature series. Group V. Diversions from nature}}</ref>

<ref name="ikeda_shiroujirou">{{cite book|last=Ikeda |first=Shirōjirō |author-link=<!--池田四郎次郎. 池田蘆洲 1864-1934-->|chapter=Kaijin |script-chapter=ja:海人（カイジン） |title=Koji jukugo daijiten |script-title=ja:故事熟語大辭典 |publisher=Hōbunkan<!--寳文館--> |date=1913  |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2DdPAAAAYAAJ&pg=PP447 |page=197}}</ref>

<ref name=jewitt>{{citation|last=Jewitt |first=Llewellyn |author-link=Llewellynn Jewitt |title=The Mermaid, and the Symbolism of the Fish, in Art, Literature, and Legendary Lore|journal=The Reliquary and Illustrated Archaeologist |volume=20 |year=1880 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qJs1AAAAMAAJ&pg=PA8-IA4 |pages=9–16 }}</ref><!--cont. from Vol. 19, p. 200-->

<ref name="jon_arnason">{{cite book|author=Jón Árnason |author-link=Jón Árnason (author) |title=Þá hló marbendill |work=Íslenzkar Þjóðsögur og Æfintýri |volume=I| location=Leipzig |publisher=J. C. Hinrichs |year=1862 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xgxyGmV62ywC&pg=PA132 |pages=132–133 }} ([http://baekur.is/bok/000197672/1/172/Islenzkar_thjodsogur_og#page/n171/mode/2up baekur.is]) {{in lang|is}}</ref>

<ref name="jon_arnason-saebuar">{{harvnb|Jón Árnason|1862}} "Saebúar og vatna", p. 131.</ref>

<ref name="jon_arnason-eng-vol1-merman">{{Cite book|ref={{SfnRef|Jón Árnason|Powell (tr.)|Magnússon (tr.)|1866}}|author=Jón Árnason |author-link=Jón Árnason (author) |translator1=George E. J. Powell |translator1-link=George Ernest John Powell |translator2=Eiríkr Magnússon |translator2-link=Eiríkr Magnússon |chapter=The Merman |title=Icelandic Legends |location=London |publisher=Richard Bentley |year=1864 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P2UAAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA103 |pages=103–105}}</ref>

<ref name="jon_arnason-eng-vol2-intro">{{Cite book|ref={{SfnRef|Jón Árnason|Powell (tr.)|Magnússon (tr.)|1866}}|author=Jón Árnason |author-link=Jón Árnason (author) |translator1=George E. J. Powell |translator1-link=George Ernest John Powell |translator2=Eiríkr Magnússon |translator2-link=Eiríkr Magnússon |title=Icelandic Legends |volume=2 |location=London |publisher=Longman, Green, and Co. |year=1866 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bJ_7jDsJPQUC&pg=PR56 |pages=lvi–lvii}}</ref>

<ref name="jon_arnason-iceland_review">{{Cite book|author=Jón Árnason |author-link=Jón Árnason (author) |editor1=May Hallmundsson |editor1-link=<!--May Hallmundsson--> |editor2=Eiríkr Magnússon |editor2-link=<!--Hallberg Hallmundsson--> |others=Kjartan Gudjónsson (illustr.) |chapter=Of Marbendill |title=Icelandic Folk and Fairy Tales |edition=2 |location= |publisher=Iceland Review |year=1987 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bJ_7jDsJPQUC&pg=PR56 |pages=lvi–lvii |isbn=<!--9979510447, -->9789979510444}}</ref>

<ref name="kramer">{{cite book|last=Kramer |first=Nathaniel |author-link=<!--Nathaniel Kramer (literary scholar)--> |title=Agnes and the Merman: Abraham as Monster |editor-last=Nun |editor-first=Katalin |editor-link=<!--Katalin Nun--> |editor-last2=Stewart |editor-first2=Jon |editor-link2=Jon Stewart (philosopher) |work=Kierkegaard's Literary Figures and Motifs Tome I: Agamemnon to Guadalquivir |publisher=Ashgate |year=2014 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YuRIBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA18 |pages=16–17<!--15–30-->|isbn=978-1-472-44136-2}}</ref>

<ref name="lehn&schroeder">{{cite journal|last1=Lehn |first1=Waldemar H. |author1-link=<!--Waldemar H. Lehn--> |last2=Zierau |first2=Wolfgang |author2-link=<!--Wolfgang Zierau--> |title=The hafstramb and margygr of the King's Mirror: an analysis |journal=Polar Record |volume=40 |number=213 |date=2004 |url=https://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~lehn/_Papers_for_Download/PolarRecord-merman.pdf |pages=228, 121–134 |doi=10.1017/S0032247403003255|bibcode=2004PoRec..40..121L |s2cid=55448486 }}</ref>

<ref name="macculloch">{{cite book|last=MacCulloch |first=John Arnott |author-link=<!--John Arnott MacCulloch-->|title=Eddic Mythlogyo |location=Boston |publisher=Marshall Jones Company |date=1930 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v1zXAAAAMAAJ&q=marbendill |page =210 |series=The Mythology of All Races 2}}</ref>

<ref name="mitchell">{{cite book|last=Mitchell |first=Stephen A. |author-link=Stephen Mitchell (translator) |title=The Sagaman and Oral Literature: The Icelandic Traditions of Hjorleifr inn kvensami and Geirmundr heljarskinn |editor-last=Foley |editor-first=John Miles |editor-link=John Miles Foley |work=Comparative Research on Oral Traditions: A Memorial for Milman Parry |publisher=Slavica Publishers |date=1987|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EFzYAAAAMAAJ&q=%22%C3%9E%C3%B3rir |pages=418<!--395–423-->|isbn=9780893571733 }}</ref>

<ref name="nansen">{{cite book|last=Nansen|first=Fridtjof |author-link=Fridtjof Nansen |translator-last=Chater |translator-first=Arthur G. |translator-link=<!--Arthur G. Chater--> |title=In Northern Mists |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2014|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wb1kAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA244 |page=244 |isbn=<!--1108071694, -->9781108071697}}</ref>

<ref name="nishimaki">{{cite book|editor=Nishimaki |editor-first=Kōzaburō |editor-link=<!--西巻興三郎--> |title=Kawaraban shinbun: Ōsaka natsu no jin kara gōshō Zeniya Gohei no saigo |script-title=ja:かわら版新聞: 大阪夏の陣から豪商銭屋五兵衛の最期 |publisher=Heibonsha |date=1978 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rIIzAQAAIAAJ&q=阿蘭陀+人魚+蛇 |pages=23, 85 |quote=面光女のごとく頭紅毛有両手猿にて又水かき有其形蛇の如く四尺五寸あり |language=ja}}</ref>

<ref name=nizolius>{{citation|last=Nizolius |first=Marius |author-link=Marius Nizolius |title=Triton |work=Dictionarium Seu Thesaurus Latinae Linguae |publisher=Ex Sirenis Officina |year=1551 |orig-year=1535 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QehRAAAAcAAJ&pg=RA39-PA10 |page=507}}</ref>

<ref name="nordgaard">{{citation|last=Nizolius |first=Marius |author-link=:no:Ole Nordgaard |title=Triton |work=Festskrift til professor Amund Helland paahans 70 aars fødselsdag, 11. oktober 1916 |location=Kristiania |publisher=Aschehoug |date=1916 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cowRAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA217 |pages=217, 221<!--213–223-->}}</ref>

<ref name=markey>{{cite journal|last=Markey |first=Anne |author-link=<!-- Anne Markey --> |title=The Discovery of Irish Folklore |journal=New Hibernia Review / Iris Éireannach Nua |volume=10 |issue=4 |publisher=<!--University of St. Thomas (Center for Irish Studies)--> |year=<!--Winter, -->2006|pages=27–28<!--21–43-->}} {{JSTOR|20558106}}</ref>

<ref name="olina_thorvardardottir">{{cite book|author=Ólína Þorvarðardóttir |author-link=:en:Ólína Þorvarðardóttir |chapter=Sæbúar, vatnaverur og dísir |title=Íslenskar þjóðsögur: álfar og tröll |location= |publisher=Bóka- og blaðaútgáfan |date=1987 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ffjZAAAAMAAJ&q=%22haffr%C3%BA%22 |page=17 |isbn=<!--9979921005, -->9789979921004|language=is}}</ref>
<ref name=oxford-classical-dict>{{cite encyclopedia|last=Arafat |first=Karim (KWA) |author-link=<!--Karim Arafat--> |title=Triton |dictionary=The Oxford Classical Dictionary |year=2012 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9TwhfvU08UcC&pg=PA236 |page=236 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-0-199-54556-8}}</ref>

<ref name="palsson1988">{{cite journal|last=Pálsson |first=Hermann |author-link=Hermann Pálsson |title=A Foundation Myth in Landnámabók |journal=Mediaeval Scandinavia |volume=12 |date=1988 |publisher=<!--Odense University Press--> |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rBNkAAAAIAAJ&q=Gr%C3%ADmr |pages=25–26<!--24–28-->}}</ref>

<ref name="pontoppidan">{{cite book|last=Pontoppidan |first=Erich |author-link=Erik Pontoppidan |chapter=Kap. 8. §2. Havmand –§4. Meer-minne – §5. Marmæte |title=Det første Forsøg paa Norges naturlige Historie |volume=2<!--Anden Deel--> |location=Copenhagen |publisher=Berlingske Arvingers Bogtrykkerie |date=1753a |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZVuF_HQlnYcC&pg=PA302 |pages=302–317|language=da}} [https://www.nb.no/nbsok/nb/34de0f4d96b2dd8914eeb75b5b49d484#393 digital copy]@National Library Norway</ref>
<ref name="pontoppidan-eng">{{cite book|last=Pontoppidan |first=Erich |author-link=Erik Pontoppidan |chapter=Ch. 8. Sect. 3. Hav-Mand, Mer-man – Sect. 4. Meerminne – Sect. 5. Marmæte |title=The Natural History of Norway...: Translated from the Danish Original |volume=2 |location=London |publisher=A. Linde |date=1755 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3OglUqRf_soC&pg=RA1-PA186 |pages=186–195}}</ref>

<ref name=siebold>{{cite web|url=http://www.myoldmaps.com/late-medieval-maps-1300/241-andrea-bianco-world-map/ |title=#241 Andrea Bianco World Map |last=Siebold |first=Jim |work=myoldmaps.com|date=2015 <!--updated=28 August 2016-->}}; [http://www.myoldmaps.com/late-medieval-maps-1300/241-andrea-bianco-world-map/241-bianco.pdf pdf] text gives close-up of siren.</ref>

<ref name=simpson&roud>{{citation|last1=Simpson|first1=Jacqueline |author-link1=Jacqueline Simpson |last2=Roud |first2=Stephen |author-link2=<!--Stephen Roud--> |title=mermaid, merman |work=A Dictionary of English Folklore |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2000 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iTcdvd1iRXsC&pg=PT639 |pages=639–640|isbn=0-192-10019-X}}</ref>

<ref name="spence">{{cite book|last=Spence |first=Lewis |author-link=Lewis Spence |title=Myths & Legends of Babylonia & Assyria |publisher=G. Harrap |date=1920 |orig-date=1916 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yO9eyEA7XHgC&pg=PA87 |pages=87, 93, 111, 216217}}</ref>

<ref name="shanhaijing-strassberg-renyu-humanfish">{{cite book|editor-last=Strassberg |editor-first=Richard E. |editor-link=<!--Richard E. Strassberg--> |chapter=125. Human-fish (Renyu) |script-chapter=zh:人魚 |title=A Chinese Bestiary: Strange Creatures from the ''Guideways Through Mountains and Seas'' |publisher=[[University of California Press]] |year=2018 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fnpFDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA129 |page=129 |isbn=978-0-52029-851-4}}</ref>

<ref name=suutala>{{citation|last=Suutala|first=Maria |author-link=<!--Maria Suutala --> |title=Tier und Mensch im Denken der deutschen Renaissance |place=Helsinki |publisher=Societas Historica Finlandiae|year=1990 |series=Studia Historica 36 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xxcQAQAAIAAJ&q=Meerteuful |page=262 |isbn=9789518915341 |language=de|quotation=..der Meerteufel, Daemon marinus, der den Unterkörper eines Fisch und den Oberkörper eines Menschen hat, der Kopf und Hörner hat wie ein Bock oder wie der Teufel und die Brust ist wie bei einer Frau}}</ref>

<ref name=terkla>{{citation|last=Terkla |first=David P.  |author-link=<!--David P. Terkla--> |title=Behaim, Martin (c. 1459–1507) |editor-last1=Friedman |editor-first1=John Block Friedman |editor-link1=<!--John Block Friedman--> |editor-last2=Figg |editor-first2=Kristen Mossler |editor-link2=<!--Kristen Mossler Figg--> |encyclopedia=Trade, Travel, and Exploration in the Middle Ages: An Encyclopedia |publisher=Routledge |year=2013 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-OmCfNI_SxAC&pg=PA56 |pages=55–56 |isbn=978-1-135-59094-9}}</ref>

<ref name="thorpe2-p027-norw">{{Cite book|last=Thorpe |first=Benjamin |author-link=Benjamin Thorpe |chapter=I. Norwegian Traditions: §The Merman (Marmennill) and Mermaid (Margygr) |title=Northern Mythology, Comprising the Principal Popular Traditions and Superstitions of Scandinavia, North Germany and the Netherlands: Compiled from Original and Other Sources |volume=2 |location=London |publisher=Edward Lumley |year=1851|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q-lAAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA27 |page=27}}</ref>

<ref name="vigfusson&powell">{{Cite book|editor1-last=Vigfússon |editor1-first=Guðbrandur |editor1-link=Guðbrandur Vigfússon |editor2-last=Powell |editor2-first=Frederick York |editor2-link=Frederick York Powell |chapter=Landnáma-bóc II. 5. 2. |title=Origines Islandicae: A Collection of the More Important Sagas and Other Native Writings Relating to the Settlement and Early History of Iceland |volume=1 |publisher=Clarendon Press, 1905 |year=1905 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ahtIGHFZT-kC&pg=PA54 |pages=53–54  |language=is}}</ref>

<ref name=watts>{{cite book|last=Watts |first=Linda |author-link=<!--Evelyn Edson--> |title=The World Map, 1300-1492: The Persistence of Tradition and Transformation |publisher=JHU Press |date=2006 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2dce6_CA76MC&pg=PA266 |page=266 |isbn=0-801-88589-2}}</ref>

<ref name="wehner&zierau&arditti">{{cite book|last1=Wehner |first1=Ursula |author1-link=<!--Ursula Wehner--> |last2=Zierau |first2=Wolfgang  |author2-link=<!--Wolfgang Zierau--> |last3=Arditti |first3=Joseph |author3-link=<!--Joseph Arditti--> |title=Germanicus and Plinius Indicus: Sixteenth and Seventeenth Century Descriptions and Illustrations of Orchid "Trash Baskets", Resupination, Seeds, Floral Segments and Flower Senescence in the European Botanical Literature in Orchid Biology: Reviews and Perspectives |work=Orchid Biology VIII: Reviews and Perspectives |publisher=Springer Science & Business Media |year=2013 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kyLtCAAAQBAJ&pg=PA43 |pages=42–44 |isbn=978-9-401-72500-2}}</ref>

<ref name="webster-EB1891">{{cite encyclopedia|last=Webster|first=Hugh Alexander |title=The Encyclopædia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and General Literature |author-link=Hugh Alexander Webster |entry=Mermaids and Mermen |dictionary=Encyclopedia Britannica |edition=9 |volume=16 |date=1891 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_Oloj5zFGzgC&pg=PA443 |pages=44–45}}</ref>

<ref name="worthington">{{cite book|last=Worthington |first=Martin |author-link=Martin Worthington (academic) |chapter=Chapter 8 The fish:puzur nūnī |title=Ea's Duplicity in the Gilgamesh Flood Story |publisher=Routledge |date=2019 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5uG5DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT213 |page=<!--unpaginated--> |isbn=<!--0429754507, -->9780429754500 |quote=The earliest example is probably an unpublished “tutelary figure of Ea” made of lead and wearing a fish cloak, excavated at Nineveh }}</ref>

<ref name="zhifang_waiji1843">{{citation|author=Ai Rulüe |author-mask=Ai Rulüe 艾儒略 |author-link=Giulio Aleni |chapter=Sihai zonghuo: haizu |script-chapter=zh:四海総説: 海族 |trans-chapter=General theory of the Four Seas: mer-folk |title=Zhifang waiji |script-title=zh:職方外紀 |volume=5 |date=1843 |orig-date=1623 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qYQqAAAAYAAJ&pg=PP182 |pages=}}</ref>
}}

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* {{cite journal|last=Magnani |first=Arianna |author-link=<!--Arianna Magnani--> |title=Searching for Sirenes in the 17th and 18th Centuries: Fantastic Taxonomies of Anthropomorphic Fish in Chinese and Jesuit Texts |journal=Sulla Via del Catai  |number=26 |date=May 2022 |url=https://www.martinomartinicenter.org/uploads/2/2/8/5/22856686/26_magnani_87-105.pdf |pages=87–105}}
* {{cite journal|last1=Viscardi  |first1=Paolo |author1-link=<!--Paolo Viscardi--> |last2=Hollinshead |first2=Anita |author2-link=<!--Anita Hollinshead--> |last3=MacFarlane |first3=Ross |author3-link=<!--Ross MacFarlane (Wellcome Library)--> |last4=Moffat |first4=James |author4-link=<!--James D. Moffat (physiologist)--> |title=Mermaids Uncovered |journal=Journal of Museum Ethnography |number=27 Brave New Worlds: Transforming Museum Ethnography through Technology: Papers from the Annual Conference of the Museum Ethnographers Group Held at Brighton Museum & Art Gallery, in Association with the University of Brighton, 15–16 April 2013 |date=2014 |pages=98–116 |jstor=43915865}}
* {{cite journal|last=Waugh |first=Arthur |author-link=Arthur Waugh |title=The Folklore of the Merfolk |journal=Folklore |volume=71 |number=2 |date=June 1960 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2nUNAQAAMAAJ |pages=73–84 |doi=10.1080/0015587X.1960.9717221 |jstor=1258382|url-access=subscription }}
{{Refend}}
{{Fantasy fiction}}
{{Fairies}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Mermen| ]]
[[Category:European legendary creatures]]
[[Category:Piscine and amphibian humanoids]]
[[Category:Medieval legends]]
[[Category:Therianthropy]]
[[Category:Fairy tale stock characters]]