"A perfect gift for the mermaid lover in your life. This nuanced and comprehensive look at mermaids and water deities includes stories I had never heard of; I found it enchanting." --Zoraida Córdova, author of The Vicious Deep trilogy

"Superb: the first substantial anthology of mermaid stories. Nobody knows what mermaids are, but there is great enjoyment in reading tales that make us believe in them. They are alluring, demonic, vengeful, innocent, hypnotic, enchanting, and divine, and you can find all of them and more in The Penguin Book of Mermaids." --Jack Zipes, Professor Emeritus, University of Minnesota

"Tapping into the seductive sorcery of mermaid lore, The Penguin Book of Mermaids reminds us why these aquatic beings--who awaken both dread and desire--continue to attract our attention." --Maria Tatar, Harvard University

Dive into centuries of mermaid lore with this captivating volume that brings together tales of mermaids from around the world.

A Penguin Classic

Among the oldest and most popular mythical beings, mermaids and other merfolk have captured the imagination since long before Ariel sold her voice to a sea witch in the beloved Disney film adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen's "The Little Mermaid." As far back as the eighth century B.C., sailors in Homer's Odyssey stuffed wax in their ears to resist the Sirens, who lured men to their watery deaths with song. More than two thousand years later, the gullible New York public lined up to witness a mummified "mermaid" specimen that the enterprising showman P. T. Barnum swore was real.

The Penguin Book of Mermaids is a treasury of such tales about merfolk and water spirits from different cultures, ranging from Scottish selkies to Hindu water-serpents to Chilean sea fairies. A third of the selections are published here in English for the first time, and all are accompanied by commentary that explores their undercurrents, showing us how public perceptions of this popular mythical hybrid--at once a human and a fish--illuminate issues of gender, sexuality, spirituality, and ecology throughout history.