Mermaid
In a man, an idealized image of a
woman. In a woman, doubts about her femininity. For a man it may mean a fear of being
drowned by his feminine side. From
- Dream Dictionary.
A race of amphibious beings. Probably they
originated on the coast of Brittany and swam across the English Channel to
Cornwall, where
the inhabitants gave them the Anglo-
French name of mermaids and mermen, i.e. sea-maids and sea-men.
From Cornwall they spread up the west coast of the British Isles and around northern
Scotland to Scandinavia. Merpersons are occasionally sighted along the other coasts of
Europe (although the nereids of the Mediterranean are only distant relations) but they
seem to prefer the cold water and rugged Atlantic coasts of Britahl and Ireland (where
they are known as merrows or merucha) and the cliffs and fiords of Scandinavia.
Merpersons are also sighted on other coastlines of the world, including North America and
China, but they often differ greatly in appearance from European mermaids. The theory that
they are, however, related to dugongs or manatees is incorrect.
Mermaids and mermen live in and beneath the sea but can make themselves at home on land.
They have their own language and customs, but are also able to speak the language of
humans living on the nearest coastline. They like to make frequent trips ashore, if only
to sit on rocks and comb out their long hair, and so they generally live in soundings
rather than in the deep sea.
Most mermaids are strikingly beautiful, even if this beauty sometimes appears a trifle
cold. They are blonde, with long tresses ranging in color from light brown to the tint
known as strawberry blonde', and possess large green or blue-
green eyes. Their skin is an immaculate pearly white, with a silvery sheen when it is
slick with seawater. Breasts, arms, shoulders, hips, and waist are all in perfect
proportion. The species develops slowly and it is impossible to tell the age of a
merperson. The exquisitely beautiful children take a long time to reach adolescence, they
enjoy a prolonged maiden hood, and when they reach their prime they retain the appearance
of a mature human female for innumerable years. From
Your
Dictionary
Songs referenced:
Merman