Huldrefjord
Mermaid
NorskHavfrue
- Names
- mermaid, siren
- Habitat
- mostly under the sea, but sometimes near the shore, around rocky outcrops, or at the skerries
- Danger level
- Moderate
Listen · 2:21
AI voice
Our audio guide is being renewed. While we update the exhibition, the new recordings are read by an AI voice in English and Norwegian. They will later be recorded by real voices in more languages. Thank you for your patience!
All over the world, legends tell of seductive creatures in the sea, half women and half fish, who enchant sailors off their course and drag them into the depths. Norwegian sailors, too, are familiar with mermaids.
Appearance
A mermaid’s upper body is that of a stunningly beautiful, often naked woman with long hair that glitters in the sun as she combs it. Below the waist, however, she has a fishtail. In addition to her beauty, she relies on an eerily captivating voice to lure sailors into their death.
Behavior
Between their appearance and their song, mermaids are nigh irresistible, especially for sailors on long journeys out at sea. If a man is somehow able to resist a mermaid’s charms, her voice will put him to sleep, incapacitating him and leaving his ship unattended to sail off-course and into danger. It is, therefore, said that anyone who hears a mermaid’s song is lost, whether he jumps into the sea after her, is dragged out of his boat by her, or simply falls into a deep sleep never to wake up. For this reason, mermaids are considered to be a bad omen. Though not outright malevolent, they can be vengeful when wronged. In those cases no one is safe: even women, who are not a mermaid’s target usually, can get caught up in her search for vengeance.
Fairy tale
The Mermaid from Torbjørnskjæret
At Torbjørnskjæret off Kråkerøy, it is said that a mermaid once dwelt in the old days. One evening, a fisherman was out alone near the skerry when he noticed the horizon darkening and realized a storm was on its way. He knew he ought to begin rowing for shore, yet he hesitated, for he had caught very little fish that day.
Just then, a mermaid rose from the sea and called out: “Branches are growing, great stones are rolling up from the deep, ho hey!” Then she disappeared beneath the waves again.
The fisherman understood that she was giving him a warning. Hoping she might help him reach shore in time, he threw a sheepskin cloak he had with him into the sea as a gift. The mermaid was pleased and said: “Go home now, at once.”
The fisherman immediately turned for land and reached home safely, only just ahead of the storm.