Early Sirens and Mermaids

From the Liber Monstrorum (9th-10th century)

'Sirens are sea-girls [marinae puellae] who deceive sailors with the outstanding beauty of their appearance and the sweetness of their song, and are most like human beings from the head to the navel, with the body of a maiden, but have scaly fishes' tails with which they always lurk in the sea.'

(Translation from Andy Orchard _Pride and Prodigies: Studies in the Monsters in the Beowulf-Manuscript_ (University of Toronto Press, 1995, repr 2002) pp 262-3)

From a posting in Britarch by John Clark

Norman carving of a mermaid from Norman Chapel Durham

http://www.sacred-destinations.com/england/durham-castle-photos/slides/eos_146pl

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