Folktales

Ireland | Britain and Scotland | The Continent | North America | Caribbean | South America | Other folktales | Other collections

D. L. Ashliman's Folklore and Mythology Electronic Texts , an enormous collection of text and links by a retired professor. Because his collection is so large and well-organized, I have not linked to specific stories. You may want to start there, and look at the links below later. Mermaids are mostly found on these pages:

• Water-Spirit Legends— mostly lake and river spirits, eg., Lorelei, Nixies, etc.
• Melusina— Melusia and related stories.
• The Mermaid Wife— Including some selkie stories.

Ireland

Flory Cantillon's Funeral. Curious mortal waits upon a sea-burrial to discover the truth about merrows. Source not stated, but apparently Thomas Crofton Croker's Fairy Legends and Traditions (1825), from shee-eire.com's The Merrow-Folk.

The Wonderful Tune. Piper's tune compells people to dance, from Thomas Crofton Croker's Fairy Legends and Traditions (1825), from shee-eire.com's The Merrow-Folk.

The Lady of Gollerus. Man meets mermaid, from Thomas Crofton Croker's Fairy Legends and Traditions (1825), from shee-eire.com's The Merrow-Folk . Great Irish description:

"But what was his astonishment at beholding, just at the foot of that rock, a beautiful young creature combing her hair, which was of a sea-green colour; and now the salt water shining on it, appeared, in the morning light, like melted butter upon cabbage."

Liban the Merrow summarized, from Shamus O'Toole's page of Folktales from Ireland.

"The Lady of Gollerus" from W. B. Yeats' Fairy and Folk tales of Ireland. I wish I could get by saying thing like:

"By all the red petticoats and check aprons between Dingle and Tralee!"

"The Sea-Morgan's Baby" Short Irish folktale. Unsourced.

Britain and Scotland

"Johnny Croy and his Mermaid Bride" told by Orkneyjar's Sigurd Towrie. In this mermaid-bride story the golden comb—an imported notion—functions somthing like the magic cap or sealskin, ends unexpectedly with a crusading son, and "enemies fell before his blade like thistles to the reaping-hook."[1]

Cornish Myths and Legends: The Mermaid of Zennor , from Shirley Climo, Piskies, Spriggans, and Other Magical Beings: Tales from the Droll-teller. This piece is found all over. If it breaks, you can also find it here, here and here

The Continent

French: "Melusina". Retold by Edward Hardy, from Curious Myths of the Middle Ages (1978)

"Undine" by Friedrich de la Motte Fouque (1811), trans. F. E. Bunnett. From Sur La Lune.

North America

Ottowa: "Menanna and Piskaret" from Humanity.org's mermaid stories

Native American: "Squant, the Sea-Woman"

African American Tale from Michigan: "Sam and The Mermaid" — odd, great short story. I like how the mermaid starts conversations:

"'Oooh, you sure do look nice. Do you like fish? Sam says, 'No, I won't even cook a fish.' 'Well, we'll get married.' So they were married."

Caribbean

Antilles tale: "Fish Lover" — "There was a gyril a fish was courtin'."[2]

Trinidad: "The Mermaid's Twin Sister"

South America

Chile: "The Mermaid and the Poor Fisherman" Starts out simple, and gets very complex.

Other folktales

Yoruba: "The Beautiful Girl and The Fish." This one vies with Thyestes on the gross-out factor.

Iceland: "Then the Merman Laughed" — an irritating, prophetic merman.

Other collections

Ten mermaid stories from all around the world, beautifully illustrated by Chloe Hedden, from Humanity.org.