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Hans Christian Andersen's classic fairy tale The Little Mermaid has captured the imagination of generations of readers and has, in recent times, been reprised and adapted into a popular animated Disney film. Through this website, I am seeking to explore the cultural and historical influences that inspired Hans Christian Andersen's story and how this story has continued to evolve in popular culture.

Mermaids are mythical creatures which have been a part of folk lore and literature for thousands of years. Originally, mermaids were part of ancient mythologies associated with the great mysteries and fears surrounding the sea. The most famous of these being the Greek legend of Odysseus' encounter with the Sirens.

Folk depictions of mermaids were often of magical, hostile, alluring and dangerous creatures and stories about mermaids traditionally involved sailors or common folk being enchanted and drawn into the watery world they inhabited.

While there are common elements to mermaid tales, the role of the motif in literature is far from fixed. In fact, Hans Christian Andersen's original story turns the traditional archetype on its head! Rather than a man being seduced into the mermaid's world, the 'Little Mermaid' becomes enchanted by the world of human beings. In reversing the tradition, he uses the mermaid motif to meditate on spiritual values and beliefs about the immortal soul.

Andersen's tragic tale of unrequited love was reinterpreted by the Disney studios in more recent times and it is this representation of the motif which is most commonly known in popular culture today. The 'Disney formula' has again transformed the mermaid motif, this time the mermaid is a harmless and innocent young mermaid-girl who rescues the Prince and lives happily ever after. The amazing evolution of the mermaid motif in literature has seen a symbol of mystery, danger and magical 'otherness' transformed and domesticated into a girl-child that children can relate to.