Editing Mermaid (section)

== Scandinavian folklore ==

=== Haffrue ===
The mermaid corresponds to [[Danish language|Danish]] and [[Bokmål]] Norwegian {{lang|da|{{linktext|havfrue}}}}, whereas merman answers to Danish/Norwegian ''havmand''.<ref name="olsen-dansk-engelsk-havfrue&havmand"/><ref name="brynildsen-norsk-engelsk-hav-frue&mand"/>{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|Tracing this etymologically to Old Norse is elusive. Old Swedish ''haffru'' was used as a translation word in the Sweidish saga of Didrik (14 cent.) as mentioned under [[#Etymologies|§Etymologies]].}}

As a side-note, a supposed Old Norse ''haffrú'' is the etymological source of [[Norman French]] ''havette'' for a man-snatching water-sprite, according to one linguist.{{Refn|[[Walther von Wartburg|Wartburg, Walther von]] (1922-) ''Französisches etymologisches Wörterbuch'', '''XVI''': 112, [https://apps.atilf.fr/lecteurFEW/index.php/site/index searchable index], translated by Gorog, in his supplementary list of Norman words borrowed from Old Norse which were missed by [[Jan de Vries (philologist)|Fries, Jan de]] (1962). ''Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch''.<ref name="gorog1964"/>}}{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|The initial "h" is an [[aspirated h]] here could very well be pronounced, even in modern Normandy, especially for words borrowed from the Germanic, as Gorog points out elsewhere.<ref name="gorog1961"/> Wartburg (Gorog tr.) glosses ''navette" as "sort of water-sprite (''[[undine|ondine]]'') which attracts passers-by at night.. and plunges in with them", adding that in the patois of [[Valognes]], it is used as a bugbear to frighten children from approaching water.}}

An early description of the ''Havfrue'', and her mate ''Havmand'', was given by the [[Denmark–Norway|Danish]] [[Erik Pontoppidan|Bishop Pontoppidan]] (1753).<ref name="pontoppidan"/><ref name="pontoppidan-eng"/> They were considered the mating female and male of the creature, inhabiting the [[North Sea]],{{sfnp|Pontoppidan|1753a|p=302}}{{sfnp|Pontoppidan|1755|p=186}} and their offspring was called {{lang|no|marmæle}} (var. {{lang|no|marmæte}}),{{sfnp|Pontoppidan|1753a|pp=304, 312, 317}}{{sfnp|Pontoppidan|1755|pp=187, 192, 195}} as repeated by later commentators.<ref name="faye-havmaend">{{harvp|Faye|1833|p=59}}: "''Havmaend og Havfruer'' (mermen and mermaids)", in the plural</ref><ref name="thorpe2-p027-norw"/>

Though he was aware of fabulous fables being told about them,{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|And documented some of these fables, as the mermaid purportedly foretelling the birth of [[Christian IV of Denmark|Christian IV]].}}{{sfnp|Pontoppidan|1753a|p=303}}{{sfnp|Pontoppidan|1755|p=186}} he was convinced such creature existed. But as they were non-human, he argued the term ''Havmand'' (merman) should be avoided, in favor of some coined term such as '''sea-ape''' ({{langx|da|hav-abe}}).{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|Or even the eccentric "Sea-Quoyas Morrov", after apparently the native Angolan name for some ape, because a mermaid capture in Angola was also documented.}}{{sfnp|Pontoppidan|1753a|p=306}}{{sfnp|Pontoppidan|1755|p=188}} He also knowingly employed [[Old Norwegian]]/Old Norse ''maryge'' [sic.] and ''hafstrambe'' [sic.]{{efn|Recté ''margýgr'' and ''hafstrambr'', as described below}} as the Norwegian names of the mermaid and merman respectively.{{sfnp|Pontoppidan|1753a|loc=p. 302n; p. 304}}{{sfnp|Pontoppidan|1755|loc=p. 183; p. 186n}}

==== Havfrue cognates ====

The Icelandic cognate form is ''{{lang|is|haffrú}}'' with several synonyms,{{efn|{{lang|is|margýgur, hafgygur}} ('mer-troll'), {{lang|is|haffrú}} ('sea-maid'); {{lang|is|mey-fiskr}} ('maiden-fish').}}<ref name="jon_arnason-saebuar"/><ref name="jon_arnason-eng-vol2-intro"/> though instead of these the commonly used term today is ''{{lang|is|hafmey}}''.<ref name="olina_thorvardardottir"/>

The Faroese forms are ''{{lang|fo|havfrúgv}}'' ({{lang|fo|havfrúg}}).<ref name="jakobsen"/>{{sfnp|Hayward|2017|p=8}} The Swedish form is {{lang|sv|hafsfru}},<ref name="tauchnitz"/> with other synonyms such as {{lang|sv|sjöjungfru}},{{sfnp|Hayward|2017|p=8}}{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|In Sweden also and {{lang|sv|sjö-kona}} ({{lang|sv|sjö-kuna}} in the dialect of [[Ruhnu]], Estonia).<ref name="rietz"/>}} or {{lang|sv|sjörå}}<ref name="tauchnitz"/> ('sea-fairy', the maritime counterpart of the forest {{lang|sv|[[skogsrå]]}}).<ref name="thorpe2-p076-swedish"/>

=== Other aliases ===

The terms ''margýgur'' or ''havgýgur'' as aliases for mermaid were apparently current among the populace in modern-age Iceland, according to [[Jón Árnason (author)|Jón Árnason]]{{Refn|Though he is clearly dependent on past written literature also, e.g.  [[Jón lærði Guðmundsson|Jón Guðmundsson]] the Learned (d. 1658), who also classified the mermen/mermaids among elves.}}<ref name="jon_arnason-saebuar"/><ref name="jon_arnason-eng-vol2-intro"/> alongside the ''marbendill'' (modern Icelandic for ON ''marmennill'')<ref name="nansen"/>

[[Benjamin Thorpe]] (1851) writing on Norwegian folklore gave ''margygr'' for mermaid (and ''[[marmennill]]'' for merman) as Norwegian folk terms,<ref name="thorpe2-p027-norw"/>{{efn|And also {{harvp|Bassett|1892|p=172}}}} but these are interpolations, which the source, [[Andreas Faye]]'s ''Norske sagn'' (1833),{{Refn|Thorpe,<ref name="thorpe2-p027-norw"/> identifies Faye as the general source on p. 9, note 2. .}} only side-noted as occurrences of old terms in medieval literature.<ref>{{harvp|Faye|1833|p=59}}. Note (''Anm.''). The merman ({{langx|non|marmendill}}) in ''[[Halfs saga]]'' (fourteenth century) and ''[[Landnámabók]]'';  ''margygr'' ({{langx|non|margyr}}) in the saga of St. Olaf.</ref>

=== General characteristics ===
The beautiful ''havfrue'' of Scandinavia may be benevolent or malicious, and legends about her abducting maidens (cf. infra) is given as a case of point for her malice.<ref name=keightley1850/>

It is said the ''havfrue'' will avenge harm done to it, as in the Norwegian anecdote of one who was lured near the ship, and had her hand cruelly lopped off on the [[gunwale]]. She caused a storm that nearly drowned the wicked sailor.<ref>{{harvp|Faye|1833|pp=59–60}}, cited by {{harvp|Bassett|1892|pp=172–173}}</ref>

=== Omen, prophecy and wisdom ===

The appearance/sighting alone betides an impending storm.<ref name=keightley1850/> Norwegians do not wish to see the havfrue, as she heralds storm or bad weather (Norway).<ref>{{harvp|Faye|1833|p=59}}: "bebude Storm og Uveir"; {{harvp|Bassett|1892|p=172}}: ""</ref><ref name="thorpe2-p027-norw"/> The appearance of the ''sjörå'' forebodes a storm or poor catch in Swedish tradition, much as the appearance of the [[skogsrå]] (wood-nymph) presages poor catch for the hunter.<ref name=keightley1850/><ref name="thorpe2-p076-swedish"/> According to the superstitions of Swedish fishermen, if one saw a ''sjörå'' who was harbinger of tempest and bad catch, one should not tell his comrades but strike flint against steel to light a spark.<ref name="thorpe2-p076-swedish"/>

In other cases the Scandinavian mermaid is considered to be prophetic.<ref name=keightley1850/>

The tale type "[[The Mermaid's Message]]" ({{langx|no|[[:no:Havfruas spådom|Havfruas spådom]]}}, ML 4060) is recognized as a {{interlanguage link|Migratory Legend|no|Vandresagn}}, i.e., a group of tales found in Scandinavia with parallels found elsewhere, according to the scheme devised by [[Reidar Thoralf Christiansen]].<ref name="kvideland&sehmsdorf"/> This may not necessarily involve the mermaid's spaeing, and in the following example of this ML type tale, she merely imparts wisdom: A fisherman who performs favors and earns the privilege to pose three questions to a mermaid. He inquires about the most suitable material for a [[Flail (tool)|flail]], to which she answers calf's hide, of course, and tells him he should have asked about how to brew water (into beer), which would have benefited him more greatly.<ref>Chapter 52: Spirit of the Sea / 52.4 "Mermaid and the Fisherman" in: {{harvp|Kvideland|Sehmsdorf|1988|pp=261–262}} ''apud'' [[:no:Olav Rekdal|Rekdal, Olav]] (1933) "Havfrua og fiskaren", ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=_w1RAQAAMAAJ&q=Havfrua Eventyr og segner]'' p. 110. Collected in 1923 from Guri Finnset in Eikisdalen, Romsdalen (Norway).</ref>

=== Merfolk as abductors ===

The Swedish ballad "Hafsfrun"<ref name="arwidsson"/> (≈{{interlanguage link|Havsfruns tärna|sv|lt=''Havsfruns tärna''}}, [[List of Sveriges Medeltida Ballader|SMB]] 23, TSB A 51<ref name="visdatabas-havfruns_tarna"/>) is an instance where a mermaid kidnaps a human girl at age fifteen, and when the girl's brother accomplishes the rescue, the mermaid declares she would have cracked{{efn|The original text gives ''knäckt'' (i.e. cracked), rather than ''kneckt''<ref name=keightley1850/> or ''knackt''.{{sfnp|Grimm|Stallybrass tr.|1883|loc='''2''': 494–495}}}} her neck if she knew she would be thus betrayed.{{Refn|Folksong text published by [[Adolf Ivar Arwidsson]],<ref name="arwidsson"/> discussed by Grimm{{sfnp|Grimm|Stallybrass tr.|1883|loc='''2''': 494–495}} and Keightley.<ref name=keightley1850/>}} The Swedish merman Hafsman[nen] steals a human woman to become his bride according to folklore.<ref name="grafstroem&forssell"/>{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|The Swedish ballad "Hafsmannen" is based on the abduction theme, and recounts the same myth as Danish ballad "[[Rosmer Havmand]]".<ref name="goedecke"/>}}

=== Marmaele ===
As aforementioned, the mermaid ({{langx|no|havfrue}}) takes the merman ({{langx|no|havmand}}) for husband, and produce children called ''marmæler'' (sing. {{langx|no|marmæle}}, "sea-talkers"), which the fishermen sometimes bring home to gain insight into the future.<ref>{{harvp|Faye|1833|pp=58–59}}, cited by {{harvp|Bassett|1892|p=172}}</ref>

Early sources say that Norwegian fishermen who capture the ''marmæte'' or ''marmæle'' may bring them home but do not dare keep it for more than 24 hours before turning them back into the sea whence they found it.{{sfnp|Pontoppidan|1755|p=195}}

=== Margýgr ===
Jón Árnason describes the ''margýgur'' as yellow-haired woman who is fish from the waist down, who drags careless seamen to the depths of the sea.<ref name="jon_arnason-saebuar"/><ref name="jon_arnason-eng-vol2-intro"/>

[[File:Flateyjarbok Olaf Tryggvason (cropped).jpg|thumb|The margýgr vs. St. Olaf{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|Facsimiles of the miniature painting are found in [[Fridtjof Nansen]]'s book<ref name="nansen"/> and Dubois's paper.<ref name="dubois">{{cite journal|last=DuBois|first=Thomas A. |author-link=Thomas A. DuBois |title=A History Seen: The Uses of Illumination in 'Flateyjarbók' |journal=The Journal of English and Germanic Philology |volume=103 |number=1 |date=January 2004 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MWxXAAAAYAAJ&q=B%C3%A6singr |pages=33–35 (fig. 15)<!--1–52--> |jstor=27712401}}</ref>}}{{right|{{small|―Flateyjarbk fol. 79r}}<ref name="dubois"/>}}]]

However, ''margygr'' literally means something like "mer-troll",<ref name="jon_arnason-eng-vol2-intro"/> and in medieval tradition, the ''margygr'' is more of a "sea monster"<ref name="sayers"/> or "sea-ogress".<ref name="laity"/>{{Refn|Also "giantess who emerges from the sea",<ref name="borovsky"/> and "described.. as disgusting trolls".<ref name="bugge-tr-schoefield"/>}}

According to a version of the ''[[Óláfs saga helga|Saga of St. Olaf]]'' ([[Olaf II of Norway]]) the king encountered a ''margygr'' whose singing lulled voyagers to sleep causing them to drown<ref name="thorpe2-p027-norw"/><ref name="olafs_saga_helga-flateyjar"/> and whose high-pitched shrieks drove men insane.<ref name="sayers"/><ref name="olafs_saga_helga-flateyjar"/> Her physical appearance is described thus: "She has a head like a horse, with ears erect and distended nostrils, big green eyes and fearful jaws. She has shoulders like a horse and hands in front; but behind she resembles a serpent".<ref name="olafs_saga_helga-flateyjar"/><ref name="bugge-tr-schoefield"/> This ''margygr'' was also said to be furry like a seal, and gray-colored.<ref name="olafs_saga_helga-flateyjar"/><ref name="borovsky"/>