The Maids, The Myths, The Legends: A Closer Look at Mermaid Folklore

Hello, lovely mermaid pod! Today, I thought we’d take a look at some of the mermaid folklore from around the world. I am, indeed, quite a history buff, and I think it would be incredible to talk about the stories that have been passed down from generation to generation, from culture to culture, which have made my job as a professional performing mermaid even possible. Of course, there is Ariel, the little mermaid, from Disney’s classic, but there is her story written by Hans Christian Anderson. But before that there are the legends and the folklore from all over the world that tell the tale of a creature from the deep, mysterious and beautiful, half-human and half-sea creature—known by many different names and titles: the mermaid.

Starting with this post, I will have a category on my blog dedicated to exploring global mythology about mermaids and other creatures of the deep, so keep an eye out for those posts in the future!

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This week: Ancient Mesopotamian Mythology

I did consider starting with a more familiar mermaid mythology (such as Ancient Greece’s sirens or lonely sailors spotting manatees), but to start this folklore series, I wanted to dig a little deeper in the past for lesser known stories from a more distant time, around 2000 BCE.

Ancient Mesopotamia had a diverse polytheistic religious structure, with the three most powerful gods: Anu, Enlil, and Ea. Anu ruled the sky and stood as an authority figure to many of the other gods. Enlil commanded the fates and granted kingships. Ea, also known as Enki, ruled and lived in the oceans in the dark depths under the earth. His realm was called the abzu, and Babylon was built directly above it.

Ea was the ancient god of magic, wisdom, and incantations, and he was also the creator, teacher, and protector of mankind. He created humans out of clay to do the deeds of the gods, and protected them from a mass flood sent by Enlil. Ea was the patron god of exorcists, magicians, craftsmen, artists, and even cleaners (because of his connection to water)!

Though Ea was often depicted as a bearded god wearing long robes with a horned cap on Ancient Babylonian carvings and tablets, he would often take the form of half-man, half fish—what we today would consider a merman!

Ea is one of the earliest examples that we have of mermaids depicted in folklore, and though it can be hard to understand everything about him through the ancient texts, it is incredible to see how embedded in the world the image of a half-human, half-sea creature is in the history of humanity. I can’t wait to explore more global mermaid folklore and mythology in future blog posts!

If you’d like to find out more for yourself, here is the link to my reference about Ea, the Ancient Mesopotamian god.

Best Wishes and Swimmy Fishes!

Mermaid Kira