The mermaid is certainly alive in legend and generally provides a good
story. What is clearly lacking is a
credible modern day witness of any kind and that pretty well leaves us without
a touch of tangibility.
What appears to be plausibly described is a creature of the deep
presenting a lure to entrap prey. Such
known aquatic creatures could well have inspired the original legend
itself. They are even luminous.
I think we can leave it right there.
The angler fish provides a convincing prop for the story teller and the
rest is just that.
British Mermaids
Maidens vs Monsters
By Nick Redfern April 21, 2012
Source: Mania.com
Creatures of the Deep
© Mania.com
While the controversial notion
that the United Kingdom might actually be the home of living, breathing, flesh
and blood mermaids will inevitably, and quite justifiably, be greeted by many
with the rolling of eyes and loud hoots of derision, it is an undeniable and
astonishing fact that such beliefs persisted for centuries.
And, particularly in those
parts of the English county of Staffordshire - where the many and varied
traditions and superstitions of times long past can still be found lurking -
that belief actually, and incredibly, quietly continues and even thrives.
The word mermaid is
derived from a combination of mere, the Old-English word for sea, and
maid: a woman, of course. According to old sea-faring legends, mermaids would
often deliberately sing to sailors to try and enchant them; with the secret and
malevolent intent of distracting them from their work and causing their ships
to run disastrously aground. Other ancient tales tell of mermaids inadvertently
squeezing the last breaths out of drowning men while attempting to rescue
them.
They are also said to
particularly enjoy taking humans to their underwater lairs. In Hans Christian
Andersen’s The Little Mermaid, for example, it is said that mermaids often
forget that humans cannot breathe underwater; while other legends suggest the
sinister she-creatures deliberately drown men - out of sheer, venomous spite,
no less.
The fabled sirens of Greek
mythology are sometimes portrayed in later folklore as being mermaid-like in
nature and appearance; in fact, some languages use the same word for both bird
and fish creatures, such as the Maltese word, Sirena.
Other related types of
mythical or legendary creatures include water-nymphs and selkies: animals that
can allegedly transform themselves from seals into human-beings - and
vice-versa, too.
The village of Thorncliffe,
near Leek, on the Staffordshire Moorlands of England, has a very memorable tale
attached to it of a mermaid that can supposedly be seen at the witching-hour,
at the appropriately named Mermaid’s Pool.
For those who may be
unacquainted with the Moorlands, they are typified by forests, lakes, rolling
hills and crags and have the distinction of being the home of Flash: the
highest village in the British Isles, which stands at 1,518 feet above
sea-level.
But back to the tale of the
mermaid of that mysterious pool: those that get too close to the seemingly
beautiful, flirty creature, as she tantalizingly and teasingly combs her long
and flowing locks under a starry, moonlit sky, are destined to be dragged into
the waters of the pool by what is in reality a malevolent, and utterly deadly,
she-devil of a creature, tellers of the tale quietly whisper.
Reputedly, the legend dates
back to around the tenth century when a young girl (who, so the story goes, may
have been a witch and one who was very well practiced in the world of the black
arts) was pursued and persecuted by a local man, who duly threw the girl to her
death in the waters of Mermaid’s Pool.
She, in turn, proceeded to
scream absolute bloody vengeance upon her persecutor before she finally
disappeared under the water and was duly drowned. And, sure enough, the man’s
body was shortly thereafter found dead in Mermaid’s Pool – his face violently
torn to pieces, as if by monstrous and vicious talons.
Whether born out of some
strange and unearthly reality or merely the stuff of legends, mermaids – and
their attendant tales – continue to provoke a wealth of controversy and
fascination centuries after the captivating mystery began.
Nick Redfern is the author of
many books on paranormal mysteries, including the forthcoming The Pyramids and
the Pentagon.
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