Water Fae: Origin of the Fae, #4

By Ronel Janse van Vuuren

Folklore.

Magic.

Fae.

 

Sixteen of the scariest fae living in the water. Fifteen magical short stories featuring these fae. Fifteen quick, yet thorough, explorations of the folklore of these aquatic fae.

 

Scroll up to buy now and learn more about the fae who dwell in the water.

 

*This is the fourth book in the Origin of the Fae series.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ronel Janse van Vuuren
• Release date: Jan 30, 2023
• ISBN: 9798201073091

Book preview

Mermaids

Folklore in a Nutshell by Ronel

The Mermaid

A familiar figure in folklore from around the world, this half-woman, half-fish creature is usually depicted as being a beautiful woman from the waist up and a glistening fish from the waist down. For the most part, the mermaid sits on a rock and combs her lustrous hair without a care in the world. Mere comes from Old English meaning sea or lake (large body of water) and maid means young woman, thus mermaid is a young woman of the water.

Each culture has its own version of the mermaid and thus the appearance (and name) varies from region to region. In Brazil, Iara is the mermaid of the Amazon River. Like most mermaids, she functions as a siren that lures men to their death – usually those lost in the jungle. In Britain, there are various names for the mermaid – and her vicious merman husband. Mermen are found in most periods of Mesopotamian and Babylonian history – they are even called fish-man in Syria.

The belief in mermaids has been present for a very long time, seen in how similar they are the world over. As recently as 1947, an octogenarian fisherman from the Inner Hebrides claimed to have seen a mermaid combing her hair near the shore.

Sometimes the mermaid is portrayed as a vicious, lustful temptress using her charms to lure men to their watery deaths. Other times she is a gentle, wish-granting creature that also warns about storms and imminent danger. Depending on the culture and tale, different aspects of the mermaid’s character are emphasised. But stereotypes shouldn’t be believed: the mermaid, by whatever name, is a capricious faery with an agenda all her own.

Origin of the Fae: Mermaids

Mermaids appear in two forms: the first is attractive to their human prey, the other their true form which is usually with gills, sharp teeth, scales all over, webbing between their fingers, and an all-together otherworldly look that would scare humans off if they ever saw it, but gives them lots more power, protects them from the depths of the ocean (cold, pressure, darkness), and boosts their speed.

Just like Merrows and Sirens, they work for the Otherworld and make sure that those lost at sea – human or fae – go to a proper afterlife. They also find human flesh a delicacy and ignore all rules about interacting with humans that the Faerie monarchs might have in place.

They’re not a fan of Mami Wata or the Jengu, seeing them as overstepping their place as merfolk with their interactions with other fae – and their war with the Obayifo.

Just as folklore warns, they are beautiful, deadly, and capricious.

Short Story

Too Hot to Handle

‘It’s way too hot to get out of the water. Our prey will have to come to us today.’

‘You’re insane. No human in their right mind would venture this far out.’

‘We don’t need them in their right mind,’ she said and adjusted her strappy bikini top.

‘Mother said that we have to practice our skills. This far out, it will be suspicious to find pretty girls such as ourselves sitting on rocks. Humans aren’t as gullible as they used to be.’

‘What’s that noise?’

‘Hush! Look!’

Two jet skis approached with young men astride them.

‘You ladies lost?’

‘We were scuba diving and, well...’

‘Poor things! We’ll help you.’

The sisters looked at each other. Human men haven’t changed all that much: They still thought themselves superior to females.

‘Why don’t you come out on the rocks with us?’

They patted the black surface in front of them.

The guys grinned and got off their jet skis.

‘Hey, what’s that?’ one asked when he looked in the water and clearly caught sight of their fishtails.

Grinning, the mermaids pulled the guys from the rocks and dragged them underwater. Their appearances changed to their otherworldly scary looks before they kissed the breath from the humans and then devoured their flesh.

Mami Wata

Folklore in a Nutshell by Ronel

Mami Wata or La Sirene is a water spirit venerated in West, Central, and Southern Africa, as well as all the places African slaves were sent to in the Atlantic islands and southern North America (known as the African Diaspora).

Mami Wata has been depicted as a classical mermaid, combing her hair while sitting on the rocks of a river, waiting for her prey, and as a beautiful snake charmer. In either incarnation, she seeks one thing: devotion. She is usually seen with long, healthy hair, enviable beauty and a dark, appealing mysteriousness. She also appears to be the same ethnicity as the women in the area she is in.

She can even turn into a tornado – though that seems to be an aspect of another water spirit amalgamated, as so many others, under the umbrella of Mami Wata. Which seems to be confirmed by one of her high priests in West Africa when he says that the Mami Wata tradition consists of a huge pantheon of deities and spirits, not just the often portrayed mermaid. Not that anyone outside the priesthood is supposed to know anything more...

Mami Wata can grant her devotees wealth, wisdom, healing, divinatory powers, fame, and beauty. She can also just as easily take it away. She’s been known to cause disease and natural disasters when displeased. Her followers dance in her honour, usually going into a trance state where they commune with her. They also leave her offerings of jewellery and sweet smelling soaps at the many shrines