Mysterious Creature The Legend of Mermaid
One of the greatest mysteries in the world is the mermaid. Mermaid is a term that is given to the water mysterious creature that has a body from the waist up like a woman while waist down likes a fish. There is a legend of mermaid from time to time. Because of its strange character, this creature is more often associated with the mystical thing than the science. Although we have only ever heard of this creature from a collection of fairy tales or any legends of mermaid, the existence of these creatures can be traced in the literature up to 2,000 years ago.
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| Mermaid |
The word Mermaid comes from the word Mere which means the Sea in ancient English and the word Maid which means female. Meanwhile, for male gender is called Merman. In the legend of mermaid, this creature is called likes to sit on a rock near the beach, then singing, holding the mirror while admiring her own beauty. The song contains mystical powers. So, people who hear it will be fascinated to death by drowning. In Cornwall, England, there is a stone called the Mermaid stone. This is because a Mermaid is said to have sat on the rock and singing that causes local fisherman named Matthew Trawella died of it.
Read more Mystery of Siren the Dangerous Beautiful Creature
Read more Mystery of Siren the Dangerous Beautiful Creature
Legend of Mermaid Around The World
The first story of a mermaid can be traced to 1000 BC in Assyrian mythology. Atargatis goddess was called falling in love with a shepherd of the mortal people. One day, accidentally, the goddess killed the shepherd. Because of feeling sad, Atargatis tried to commit suicide by plunging into the lake in the form of a fish. However, the lake refused to hide the beauty of the goddess. So, she just turned into a fish from the waist down.
The story of the Assyrian may be the basis for the emergence of the story of mermaid around the world. In his book “Curious Myths of the Middle Ages” in 1884, S.Baring Gould believed that mermaid and merman's story started from the story of the god or a half-fish goddess in ancient religions. The god of Oannes of Khaldea and the god Dagon of the Philistines have an image like Mermaid. The God Coxcox and Teocipactli from Mexico also have half the fish.
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From all legend, perhaps the most famous is the god Triton and goddesses Siren in the ancient Greek legend that also has a half-fish body. Besides in Europe and the Middle East, the legend of a mermaid can also be found in mythology in various countries in Africa and Asia. In Africa, a Mermaid-like creature is called Mami Wata that is believed to heal the sick and bring good luck to those who follow it.
Most researchers consider the existence of Mermaid as a hoax. Others assume that it is as misidentification. The most important suspects are animals that enter into the Sirenian class, Dugong and Manatee. However, as we examine the historical record, we can find testimonies that seem to confirm the encounters with creatures that are really similar with mermaid or merman (not Dugong or Manatee).
Some Mermaid Sightings in History
In the year 558 AD, it was mentioned that a Mermaid was caught by a fisherman in Ireland. The mermaid was then taken to the village and baptized by the inhabitants. Not long after, the creature died. Then, a monk named Ralph Coggeshall once told that a Merman had been caught by fishermen in Suffolk in 1187. The creature could not speak and was immediately taken to the village for questioning. But when the villagers were about to bathe him at sea, it managed to escape. According to Icelandic legend, Merman was also caught in 1305 and 1329. The encounter with mermaid was not only experienced by local fishermen or lay people but also Christopher Columbus had encountered this creature in 1493.
Colombus was off the coast of Haiti when he saw three mermaids emerging from the sea to the surface. According to him, the three creatures were not as beautiful as often described. The face of the three creatures looked like a man. Another famous explorer, Henry Hudson also recorded his encounter with the Mermaid in 1608. Inthe historical record, many people then encountered the sighting of mermaid or merman.
Another famous Mermaid sighting occurred in 1917. A ship named Leonidas sailed from New York to Le Havre in France. On the way, the ship's crew witnessed a mermaid-like creature swimming alongside the boat for six hours. Occasionally, the creature showed its head on the water surface every 15 minutes. So, the ship's crew could see clearly. The creatures were called to have long black hair with half human body and half fish. All crew then agreed that the creature was a mermaid. There is no concrete proof, it is up to you to believe it or not.
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