Page 127 - Encyclopedia of the Unusual and Unexplained Vol. 3

Mysterious Creatures 107

From time to time, native inhabitants and assume human shape and marry him, at the
tourists to the islands claim to caught a same time granting him three wishes that may
glimpse of the Menehune as they scurry from make them wealthy. If she feels that she has
bush to bush in the forested regions. Most been disrespected or treated badly, she may
people describe the little people with light or use her beauty to lure a fisherman to the deep-
slightly reddish-colored skin and large fuzzy est part of the lake and drown him.
mops of hair. In Lake Tanganyika in the small East
African country of Burundi, the Mambu-mutu
M Delving Deeper
Beckwith, Martha. Hawaiian Mythology. Honolulu: is very much the classical mermaid, half
University of Hawaii Press, 1970, 1989. attractive woman and half large fish. In her
case, however, she does not fancy humans,
Grant, Glen. Obake Files: Ghostly Encounters in Super-
and her only intention is to drag them under
natural Hawaii. Honolulu: Mutual Publishing,
the lake’s surface and suck their blood.
1996.
Westervelt, William D. Hawaiian Legends of Ghosts In Estonian folklore, the Nakh are shape-
and Ghost-Gods. Rutland, Vt.; Tokyo: Charles E. shifting water demons who walk freely on land
Tuttle Co., 1963, 1971. as handsome young men or beautiful women
who lure their victims with the sound of their
sweet, seductive singing. Once they have
Mermaids
enchanted their victims, they lead them to
There are few tales of the fairy folks’ friends
river, lake, or ocean and entice them to watery
that are as captivating as those that deal with
graves.
the mermaid, those ocean-dwelling divinities
that are half-human and half-fish. Although The Nix is a particularly nasty shape-shift-
there are mermen, the greater fascination has ing entity who, like all the fairy folk, loves to
always been on the mermaid with her top half dance. According to German folklore, the
a beautiful woman and her bottom half that of Nix are attracted to the sound of music at
a fish. Traditionally, the mermaid is also gifted fairs, carnivals, or outdoor concerts, and they
with a lovely singing voice, which can be used appear as attractive men or women who
to warn sailors of approaching storms or jagged enthrall the human audience with their skill
rocks ahead. Or, in many of the ancient stories, and grace on the dance floor. Once they have
the seductive siren song of the mermaids lure lured a charmed human to join them at
the seamen onto the jagged rocks and to their water’s edge with the promise of romantic dal-
deaths. As with all of the “middle-folk,” mer- liance, they reveal themselves to be ugly,
maids can be agents of good or of destruction. green-skinned fairies who drag their victims
into the water and death by drowning.
As in the folklore of the selkie, sometimes
mermaids fall in love with humans and are
M Delving Deeper
able to come ashore in human shape and to Jones, Alison, ed. Larousse Dictionary of World Lore.
live on land for many years. They may even New York: Larousse, 1995.
have children with their human husbands.
Mack, Carol K., and Dinah Mack. A Field Guide to
But in all of these tales of mercreatures and
Demons, Fairies, Fallen Angels, and Other Subver-
human mates, the mermaid longs to return to
sive Spirits. New York: Henry Holt, 1999.
the sea, and one day she will leave her human
Shuker, Karl P. N. “Menagerie of Mystery.” Strange
family and do so.
(spring 1995): 20–23; 54–56.
The Ceasg is a type of mermaid that
haunts the lakes of the Scottish highlands.
Her upper body and facial features are those of Nisse
a beautiful, well-endowed woman, but her In the Scandinavian tradition, the nisse is a
lower half is that of a large salmon. Like most household entity that looks after hearth and
supernatural beings, the Ceasg is of a dual home, a kind of guardian entity—but with an
nature. If a handsome young man should cap- attitude. Nisse can be extremely volatile if
ture her attention and treat her well, she may provoked, and they are often mischievous lit-

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