BBC Home

Explore the BBC

h2g2
27th December 2009
Accessibility help
Text only

.

Conversation Forum


SEARCH h2g2
Edited Entries only
Search h2g2Advanced Search


New visitors: Create your membership
Returning members: Sign in
BBC Homepage
The Guide to Life, The Universe and Everything.

This is the Conversation Forum for Mermaids
Contact Us


Like this page?
Send it to a friend!

 
Conversation list
Another Literary Item >>

Dear oh dear
Post: 1
Posted Aug 9, 2004 by Didactylos
Just how well researched was this entry? I’ve spotted two major errors, and I’ve not even read halfway!

The entry refers to the Scandinavian “havfrue (merman) and the havmand (mermaid)”. Wrong way round! Should be “the havfru (mermaid) and the havmand (merman)”.

And I’m pretty sure there’s no such town in Germany as Lorelei. (I’ve been past a number of times, and studied the maps, and I’ve never noticed it.) Lorelei is the name of a large rocky outcrop overlooking the Rhine (the name means “lurking rock”) and the maiden of folklore took her name from the rock.

According to the famous poem by Heinrich Heine (set to music by er-um, and they play it to you on the Rhine steamer as you pass), she was not even a mermaid, but a siren who sat atop the rock to lure passing boats on to the rocks below.

D.

Reply 

No Previous PostNext Post
Click to Make a Complaint
The Parent Posting, to Which This is a Reply
An Older Reply to the Parent PostingThis PostingA Newer Reply to the Parent Posting
The First Reply to This Posting

Dear oh dear
Post: 2
Posted Aug 9, 2004 by returningLisekit
Another couple of corrections: the Indian celsetial nymphs are "apsaras", not "asparas", and most representations of apsaras show them as having human form (ie having four limbs, not being part fish),
In Sanskrit, Ap + saras means movement in water; hence Apsaras signify the water nymph-like graceful beings known for the fluidity of movements. They were semi-divine, celestial dancers, a personification of feminine charm coupled with an aesthetic vivacity, rather than actual mermaid-like water nymphs.

The author of the Faerie Queene, Edmund Spenser's name is usually spelt like that (with an "r" on the end).

Reply 

Previous PostNext Post
Click to Make a Complaint
The Parent Posting, to Which This is a Reply
An Older Reply to the Parent PostingThis PostingA Newer Reply to the Parent Posting
The First Reply to This Posting

Dear oh dear
Post: 3
Posted Aug 10, 2004 by flyingtwinkle
i have read somewhere dolphins are like the mermaids many a times there to save the drowning and passing ultrasonic signals

Reply 

Previous PostNo Next Post
Click to Make a Complaint
The Parent Posting, to Which This is a Reply
An Older Reply to the Parent PostingThis PostingA Newer Reply to the Parent Posting
The First Reply to This Posting

Key
Navigation Example
A: An older reply to the parent Posting
B: The parent Posting, to which this is a reply
C: A newer reply to the parent posting
D: The first reply to this Posting
Click to Make a Complaint
 Click on this icon to make a complaint about a specific Posting
Conversation list
Another Literary Item >>






Disclaimer

Most of the content on h2g2 is created by h2g2's Researchers, who are members of the public. The views expressed are theirs and unless specifically stated are not those of the BBC. The BBC is not responsible for the content of any external sites referenced. In the event that you consider anything on this page to be in breach of the site's House Rules, please click here. For any other comments, please click on the Feedback button above.




About the BBC | Help | Terms of Use | Privacy & Cookies Policy