Editing Mermaid (section)

====Mirror and comb====

While the siren holding a fish was a commonplace theme,<ref name="clark" /> the siren in bestiaries were also sometimes depicted holding the comb,{{sfnp|George|Yapp|1991|p=99}}{{Refn|Cf. three sirens with two holding fish and third a mirror, as in Getty MS. 100 (''{{linktext|olim}}'' Alnwick ms.)<ref name="Getty-MS100-ex-Alnwick"/>}} or the mirror.{{Refn|British Library Ms. Royal 2.B.Vii, fol. 96v.{{sfnp|George|Yapp|1991|p=99}}<ref name="BL-Roy2.B.vii-catalogue"/>}}

The comb and mirror became a persistent symbol of the siren-mermaid.{{sfnp|Holford-Strevens|2006|p=36}}<ref name="peacock"/>

In the Christian moralizing context (e.g the bestiaries), the mermaid's mirror and comb were held as the symbol of vanity.<ref name="peacock"/>{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|In the bestiaries. And that is generally accepted to be the intended symbolism in ecclesiastical art, such as church carvings of mermaids,{{sfnp|Waugh|1960|p=77}}<ref name="chunko-dominguez"/> but this church view has been derided as misogynistic from a modern perspective,{{sfnp|Bacchilega|Brown|2019|p=xiv}} and it has been noted that the mirror and comb were originally the accoutrements of the love goddess Venus in Classical Times.{{sfnp|Wood|2018|p=68}}<ref>Warner, Marina ''From the Beast to the Blonde'', p. 406 ''apud'' {{harvp|Fraser|2017}}, Chapter 1. {{URL|1=https://books.google.com/books?id=EP-WDgAAQBAJ&lpg=PT16|2=§ Prehistory: Mermaids in the West}}: "comb and mirror.. probably inherited from the goddess of love, Aphrodite".</ref>}}