October
02
/ 2018
For thousands of years, shanty tales of half-human, half-marine beings called mermaids, selkies, and finfolk have drifted ashore with sea beaten sailors. They stitch together the mythologies of northern Europe, the Near East, Europe, Asia, and Africa. Famously, Christopher Columbus claimed to have spotted one during his exploration of the Caribbean. Since then, mermaid tales have become popular subjects of art and literature, such as in Hans Christian Andersen's well-known fairy tale "The Little Mermaid" (1836). They have subsequently been depicted in operas, paintings, films, books, and comics. [[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_original","fid":"53132","attributes":{"alt":"‘A Mermaid’ (1900) by John Williams Waterhouse. Royal Academy of Arts. (Public Domain)","class":"media-image","height":"700","style":"width: 482px; height: 700px;","typeof":"foaf:Image","width":"482"}}]] ‘A Mermaid’ ( 1900) by John Williams Waterhouse. Royal Academy of Arts. ( Public Domain) The
