Mermen

## Merfolk

**Merfolk**, are legendary creatures, which arehuman from the waist up and fish-like from the waist down, but may assume normal human shape. Sometimes they are described as hideous and other times as handsome.

## Antiquity

Perhaps the first recorded merfolk was the Assyrian-Babylonian sea-god Ea, linked to the figure known to the Greeks as Oannes. However, while some popular writers have equated Oannes of the Greek period to the god Ea, Oannes was rather one of the apkallu servants to Ea.

## Medieval Period

A merfolk is called marmennill in Old Norse, attested in the Ladnámabók. An early settler in Iceland allegedly caught a merman while fishing, and the creature prophesied one thing: the man's son will gain possession of the piece of land where the mare Skálm chooses to "lie down under her load". In a subsequent fishing trip the man was drowned, survived by the boy who stayed behind.

## Renaissance

Konrad Gesner in his chapter on Triton in Historia animalium IV gave the name of "sea-Pan" or "sea-satyr" to an artist's image he obtained, which he said was that of an "ichthyocentaur" or "sea-devil".

## Scandinavian

Icelandic folklore beliefs speak of sea-dwelling humans known as marbendlar, which is the later Norse, and modern Icelandic form of marmennill.

## English folklore

English folklorist Jacqueline Simpson surmises that as in Nordic countries, the original man-like water-dwellers of England probably lacked fish-like tails. A "wildman" caught in a fishnet, described by Ralph of Coggeshall was entirely man-like though he liked to eat raw fish and eventually returned to the sea. Katharine Mary Briggs opined that the merfolk are "often uglier and rougher in the British Isles".

## Celtic folklore

The Irish folklore story of "The Soul Cages" features a male merrow named Coomara, a hideous creature with green hair, teeth and skin, narrow eyes and a red nose. The tale was created by Thomas Keightley, who lifted the plot from one of the Grimms' collected tales.

## Folklore

In Finnish mythology, a vetehinen, a type of neck, is sometimes portrayed as a magical, powerful, bearded man with the tail of a fish. He can cure illnesses, lift curses and brew potions, but he can also cause unintended harm by becoming too curious about human life.

## Heraldry

Merfolk or "tritons" see uncommon use in British heraldry, where they appear with the torso, head and arms of a man upon the tail of a fish. They are typically used as supporters, and are rarely used as charges.

## Capabilities

Merfolk are beings with the upper body of a humanoid and the lower body of a sea animal. Some are able to transform completely into humanoid form to move on land and some can split their tail into legs. Others have to find other ways to move while on land.

## Common powers

**Aquatic Adaptation:** Merfolk are able to survive and adapt to underwater environments, being able to breathe water in lieu of, or along with, a gaseous breathing medium, to swim well and to endure high water pressure and extreme water temperatures.

**Cetacean Physiology:** Merfolk either are or can mimic cetaceans, including whales, dolphins and porpoises.

**Speed Swimming:** Merfolk can swim at incredible speeds, unrestricted by water resistance.

**Swimming Tail:** Merfolk possess or turn their lower body into a tail to swim faster through the water.

**Underwater Senses:** Merfolk have extremely accurate senses while underwater, allowing them to see, hear, taste, feel and smell underwater with the utmost of clarity without having to lose any clearness in any of their own senses, and have more clarity than anyone else that is the part of the same race as they are.

**Water Maneuverability:** Merfolk can move effectively under water and other liquids, allowing for great acrobatics and swimming in the water or jumping out of the water like a dolphin.

**Weapon Proficiency:** Merfolk, either innately or through training, are masters of handling and wielding weapons, any implement or device that can be used with the intent to inflict damage or harm, beyond that of the peak members of the species.