Mermaids

Ben Williamson, Christopher Halls, Axel Müller

Description

Women with fish tails are among the oldest and still most popular of mythological creatures, possessing a powerful allure and compelling ambiguity. They dwell right in the uncanniest valley of the sea: so similar to humans, yet profoundly other. Mermaids: Art, Symbolism and Mythology presents a comprehensive, interdisciplinary and beautifully illustrated study of mermaids and their influence on Western culture. The roots of mermaid mythology and its metamorphosis through the centuries are discussed with examples from visual art, literature, music and architecture—from 600 BCE right up to the present day.

Our story starts in Mesopotamia, source of the earliest preserved illustrations of half-human, half-fish creatures. The myths and legends of the Mesopotamians were incorporated and adopted by ancient Greek, Etruscan and Roman cultures. Then, during the early medieval period, ancient mythological creatures such as mermaids were confused, transformed and reinterpreted by Christian tradition to begin a new strand in mermaid lore. Along the way, all manner of stunning—and sometimes bizarre or unsettling—depictions of mermaids emerged. Written in an accessible and entertaining style, this book challenges conventional views of mermaid mythology, discusses mermaids in the light of evolutionary theory and aims to inspire future studies of these most curious of imaginary creatures.

Preface

Memorial note

1 Introduction: Why mermaids?

2 Mermaids conceived: hybrid goddesses and beasts in antiquity

3 Christian adaptations in the Romanesque to Baroque eras

4 Mermaid passions: obsessive fixation in nineteenth- and early twentieth-century art

5 Mermaids everywhere: postwar commercialization and trivialization

6 Mermaids rationalized: evolutionary theory confronts the fantastic

References

Acknowledgements

Index

Sujets

• Arts visuels
• Histoire des Arts
• Histoire des Arts
• Social Science
• Sociologie, société et politique
• Folclore
• History of art
• Art movement
• General officer
• Mermaid
• Mythology
• Evolution
• Cultural anthropology
• Anthropology
• General
• History
• ART
• Folklore

Informations

• Publié par: University of Exeter Press
• Date de parution: 26 avril 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 1
• EAN13: 9781804130049
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 10 Mo

Extrait

MERMAIDS
ART, SYMBOLISM AND MYTHOLOGY
MERMAIDS
ART, SYMBOLISM AND MYTHOLOGY
AXEL M LLER
CHRISTOPHER HALLS
BEN WILLIAMSON
First published in 2022 by
University of Exeter Press
Reed Hall, Streatham Drive
Exeter EX4 4QR, UK
www.exeterpress.co.uk
Mermaids: Art, Symbolism and Mythology
Copyright © Axel Müller, Christopher Halls and Ben Williamson 2022
Axel Müller, Christopher Halls and Ben Williamson have asserted their rights under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the authors of this work.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.47788/DIJI2771
ISBN: 978-1-804130-03-2 (Hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-804130-04-9 (ePub)
ISBN: 978-1-804130-05-6 (PDF)
Cover image: Alberich is Seduced by the Vision of the Rhinemaidens: illustration for ‘Das Rheingold’ (linocut) © Phil Redford / Bridgeman Images
CONTENTS
Preface
Memorial note
1 Introduction: Why mermaids?
2 Mermaids conceived: hybrid goddesses and beasts in antiquity
Mesopotamia: the cradle of mermaid imagery
The uncertain role of the mermaid goddess Atargatis
A great diversity of mermaid ancestors
The Etruscan Scylla, the real mermaid ancestor
The spread of mermaid ancestors through the Roman Empire
3 Christian adaptations in the Romanesque to Baroque eras
Birth of the mermaid, the seductress of believers
The rebirth of mermaid mythology
Baroque mermaids, a blend of fact and fiction
4 Mermaid passions: obsessive fixation in nineteenth- and early twentieth-century art
Mermaids become children’s friends
The first bloom of fine mermaid arts
Mermaids as muses
Japanese mermaid mummy creations
The second bloom of fine mermaid arts
The creation of iconic mermaid sculptures
The beginning of the decline of fine mermaid arts
Hardly any traces of mermaids
Mermaid beauty stripped away
5 Mermaids everywhere: postwar commercialization and trivialization
Mermaids forgotten in fine art
The expanding cultural niche for mermaids
Mermaids become movie stars
Mermaids as treasured children’s toys
Mermaiding
6 Mermaids rationalized: evolutionary theory confronts the fantastic
References
Acknowledgements
Index
PREFACE
Our purpose in embarking on this book about the cultural history of mermaids was twofold. First, we wanted to illustrate and describe the aesthetics and diversity of mermaid-related art throughout human history. In this respect, our contribution resembles an art book that chronicles and celebrates mermaid symbolism from its conception more than 2,500 years ago in Mesopotamian culture, through classical antiquity and up to the present day. The clear timeline of the narrative helps guide the reader through a wealth of objects and information. This is succinct rather than comprehensive, as the number of known art objects and images is far too great for a popular and light overview of this kind (and we therefore apologize to anyone whose favorite examples are missing). We admit than some of our choices of images are aimed at intriguing or even provoking the reader or seek to accentuate the often comical and bizarre nature of the subject matter—although it should be obvious where this is the case, and we believe that it does not undermine the factual basis of the work.
Our second reason for writing this book is scientific, in that it is probably the first of its kind to describe the evolution of mermaid mythology and symbolism using historical and credible sources. We hope that this approach results in a work that is of broad interest and offers enjoyment to the scientific community as well as amateur enthusiasts and the more casual reader. One of the highlights is a discussion of mermaids through the prism of evolutionary theory, which evaluates a range of strange and sometimes humorous myths and deceptions in the light of modern science. In addition, we foreground the importance of mermaids in myths, legends and popular culture in order to improve understanding of the linkages between traditions in time and space.
We hope that our book will inspire new scientific studies on this curious topic. Naturally, some of our commentary is tongue-in-cheek, since we do not believe in the physical existence of mermaids, preferring to regard them as symbolizing the potential for good and bad in all of us, and the pitfalls of lust and greed.
The idea for this project was born out of the friendship between the authors. During geological fieldwork on Cape Cornwall, we chanced upon the Mermaid of Zennor chair in St Senara’s Church, then spent long evenings gazing at the ocean wondering what secrets it may hold. In the years to come, we became more and more intrigued by mermaid depictions and symbolism, akin to how seafarers were seduced by mermaids centuries before. So, we spent many hours on research, seeing mermaid images and descriptions in places and objects unknown to us before, in the process meeting many other mermaid enthusiasts and involving friends and family in this adventure as well.
We wish you as much enjoyment when you read this book as we had in writing it.
MEMORIAL NOTE FOR CHRISTOPHER HALLS
Chris, the main initiator of this book, was our much loved and respected friend and colleague who passed away—far too early—on Good Friday, 30 March 2018, after a long and courageous battle against cancer. When he was on his deathbed, we promised to publish this book.
Chris graduated in geology at University College London in 1964 and received his PhD from the same institution in 1969. He worked as a consultant mineralogist for a Canadian research organization, returning to teaching and research at the Royal School of Mines (Imperial College) in London in 1971. He worked on the genesis of metal mineralization and deposits in Bolivia, Cornwall and South China. Chris took a close interest in his many students at all levels and was highly respected throughout the mining industry, regularly working as a consultant on different projects. After he retired from Imperial College, he continued as a scientific associate at the Natural History Museum of London. That was when we met and started working together.
On the weekend, we would regularly meet at Chris’s house at Higher Bojewyan near St Just, which we called ‘Number Eight’ and which became our ‘Cornish mermaid research centre’. There we would spend time together, hiking along the coast and through the magical Cornish landscape, visiting local friends, collecting stories and writing in front of the fireplace at Number Eight, which seemed to be the navel of the world in those days.
Chris is sadly missed. Through this book his memory continues.

The Mermaid of Zennor (The Mermaid Discovered) by John Reinhard Weguelin, 1900; watercolour; dimensions and location unknown. The painting features Mathew Trewella, a chorister of St Senara’s church in Zennor, Cornwall, staring in astonishment at the mermaid. According to the legend, the mermaid was besotted by Mathew’s voice and so lured him to follow her into the sea. Mathew was never seen again but his voice can still sometimes be heard at Pendour Cove.
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION: WHY MERMAIDS?
For thousands of years, mermaid legends and symbols have captured the imagination. The name ‘mermaid’ comes from the Middle English mĕre , ‘deep and marshy lake or ocean’, and maiden , meaning a virgin girl. The mermaid—a woman with the tail of a fish—appears in folklore all over the world, including Europe, the Middle East, the Caribbean, West and Central Africa, Central Asia, Japan and the populated Arctic regions. Because of this wide geographical range, mermaids show strong variations in their symbolic and mythological representations, while the meanings of these have changed over time. This book investigates the roots and evolution of mermaid iconography and mythology in the Western world, and its exploitation and dissemination in European cultures and art movements. Today, it is often believed that accounts and myths of mermaids have their origins in sightings of aquatic mammals that can resemble humans from a distance, such as manatees, dugongs or seals. In order to be able really to imagine women with fish tails, however, the observer is likely to have been told stories about the existence of such creatures or to have seen illustrations of them.
During the Early Middle Ages, the Christian world’s vision of the mermaid was of a beautiful long-haired young woman with one or two fish tails instead of legs, commonly holding a comb and a mirror in her hands. She was the quintessential symbol of seduction, combining the image of a virgin with that of a soulless, immortal creature, but also encapsulating that profound human fear of the unknown in the depths of the sea. Anyone who has swum far out in the ocean, with no land in sight, can understand this well.
Mermaids are often depicted as half-human, half-animal creatures and sometimes as the guardians of gates, such as in mermaid reliefs on porticos around the doors of Romanesque churches. From a Christian perspective, a natural relationship with a human being would never be possible, so, despite all her female attraction, a mermaid remains a virgin forever. This paradox has been the major inspiration for mermaid tales, songs and images.
The first illustrations of Christian fish-tailed mermaids appeared in manuscripts in Central and Western Europe in the eighth century, if not earlier. These were accompanied by myths that mermaids bewitch mariners with their songs, to lure them off course to be wrecked on the rocks ( Figure 1.1 ), and that treasures from these wrecks are hidden in their deep-sea lairs. This is the same fatal lure as that of the Sirens, described in Homer’s Odyssey ( c. 700 BCE ); however, the Sirens were half-human, half-bird creatures of Greek mythology, very different in appearance to the mermaids of medieval times. Meanwhile, another seductive technique employed by mer