Mermaids & Mermen: Facts & Legends
Mermaids and other marine monsters
With most of our blue planet covered with water, it is no wonder that the oceans, for centuries, were hiding mysterious creatures including marine animals and mermaids. The Merfolk (Mermaids and mermen) are, of course, the maritime version of half-human, semi-animal legends, which have captured the human imagination of ages. One source, Arabian Nights, described mermaids as "the faces of the moon and the hair like women, but their hands and feet were in their bellies and they had tails like fish."
CJS Thompson, a former curator of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, notes in his book "Mystery and the Destruction of Monsters" that "the tradition of creatures half a human being and half a fish in shape have existed for thousands of years, Usually photographed The Babylonian God or time , A fish god, that he has a bearded head with a crown and a body like a man, but from waist to bottom he has the shape of a fish. " Greek legends contain the stories of the god Triton, the Amiri Apostle of the Sea, and many modern religions including Hinduism Candomble (Brazilian-African Faith) worship the mermaids to this day.
Many children may be familiar with the Disney version of "The Little Mermaid," a somewhat antiseptic version of Hans Christian Andersen's first novel published in 1837. In some legends of Scotland and Wales, mermaids - even married - With humans In her book "The Seduction and Secret Power of Women", Lau writes that "the mermaids of the Shetland Islands are amazingly beautiful women living below sea level; their hybrid appearance is temporary, the effect achieved by wearing leather must be very careful so as not to lose this while roaming On earth, because without it they will not be able to return to their underwater world. "
In the folklore, mermaids were often associated with bad and death, making the lost sailors off course and even in the rocky waters (the dreadful mermaids in the 2011 film "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Strange Tides" are closer to the mythical creatures than Ariel Disney).
Although not entirely known to their female counterparts, there is, of course, an ambition - and they have an equally egregious reputation to summon storms, sunken ships, and sinking sailors. A group of men who are particularly afraid, the blue men in Mench, are said to be living in the opera of the Hebrides off the coast of Scotland. Looks like ordinary guys (from the waist anyway) except the blue colored skin and the gray beard. Local science claims that before putting a blockade on a ship, blue men often challenge their captain in the rhyme contest. If the captain is fast enough of wit and tactful enough of the tongue, it could be better than blue men and save his sailors from a watery tomb.
Japanese legends have a copy of merfolk Called Kappa. These water-sized aquatic animals, which are said to reside in Japanese lakes, coasts, and rivers, appear to be more animal than humans, with simian arms and turtle shells on their backs. Such as blue men, Capa sometimes reacts With humans and their challenge to skill games where the penalty of loss is death. It is said that Kappa has an appetite for children and those fools enough to swim alone in remote places - but they especially appreciate the fresh cucumber.
Mermaids "Real Madrid"?
The fact of mermaids was assumed during the Middle Ages when it was depicted in real life alongside known aquatic animals such as whales. Hundreds of years ago seafarers and residents of coastal cities around the world are said to be facing sea lions. One story dating back to the 17th century claimed that the mermaid had entered the Netherlands through the dam, and was wounded in the process. She was taken to a nearby lake and soon she was cared for. Eventually, she became a productive citizen, learned to speak Dutch, perform household chores, and eventually turned to Catholicism.
Another description of the Mermaid encounter once presented as a real story is described in "The Incredible Secrets and Marine Myths of Edward Snow". A naval captain off the coast of Newfoundland described his meeting in 1614: "Captain John Smith [of Jamestown] saw a swim around the sea with all the grace possible." She was portrayed as having large eyes, a nose that was "somewhat short, ears well-formed" and was too long. "Her long green hair takes her to an original figure who was" in fact not attractive to this beautiful woman, He began to "experience the first traces of love" and stared at her before his sudden realization (and certainly deep disappointment) that she was a fish from the waist down. Surrealist painter René Magritte painted a reverse mermaid in his "Collective Invention" in 1949.
By the 19th century, scammers had vandalized counterfeit mermaids by a dozen to satisfy the public's interest in creatures. Great Offer PT Barnum Projector " Feejee Mermaid "in the 1840s and became one of the most famous processing. Those who pay 50 cents hope to see a tall silhouette, the fishtail beauty comb her hair was certainly disappointed. Instead, they saw the fake body a few feet long. She had the trunk, head, limbs of a monkey and the bottom of the fish. For the modern eyes, they were clearly fake, but they were deceived and raised a lot of confusion at the time.
Modern Mermaids?
Could there be a scientific basis for mermaid stories? Some researchers believe that ocean-sized oceanic animals such as sea mammals and seabirds have been inspired by Legends merfolk. These animals have a flat tail, like a mermaid and two fins that resemble short arms. It does not look Exactly like a mermaid or marines, of course, but many of the scenes were a long way away, mostly immersed in water And waves Only parts of their bodies were visible. The identification of animals in water is inherently problematic because eyewitnesses by definition only see a small part of the creature. When you add the low light factor at sunset and the distances involved, identifying a known creature is difficult can be very difficult. A glimpse of a head, arm or tail before diving under the waves may have generated some mermaid reports.
Modern mermaid reports are very rare, but they occur. For example, news reports in 2009 claimed that the mermaid had been seen off the coast of Israel in a town Pellets Yam. They (or they) carried out some scams for spectators before sunset, and then disappear at night. One of the first people to see the mermaid, Shlomo Cohen said, "I was with friends when we suddenly saw a woman lying on the sand in a strange way. At first, I thought it was just another sun, but when we approached it we jumped into the water and disappeared, we were all in shock because we saw it had a trail. " The city's tourism authority was delighted with its new brand and offered a $ 1 million reward for the first person to picture the creature. Unfortunately, the reports disappeared as quickly as they appeared, and no one has ever been rewarded.
In 2012, your "Animal Planet", "Mermaids: Finding the Body", renewed the interest of the nymphs. The story of scientists who found evidence of real mermaids in the oceans was presented. This was a fantasy, but it was presented in a false documentary format that seemed realistic. The presentation was so compelling that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration received sufficient inquiries after the private television show, which issued a statement officially denying the existence of mermaids.
It is said that the temple in Fukuoka, Japan, contains remains of a fairy who passed by the beach in 1222. His bones were preserved at the request of a priest believed to have come from the legendary palace of the dragon god at the bottom of the ocean. Over the course of nearly 800 years, bones were introduced, and water was said to be used in bone absorption to prevent disease. Only a few bones remain, and since they have not been scientifically tested, their true nature remains unknown.
Mermaids may be old, but they are still with us in many ways. Their photos can be found everywhere around us in movies, books, and Disney movies, in Starbucks - and maybe even in ocean waves if we look enough.
