A Scottish lord hears a woman drowning in his loch. Every instinct tells him to dive in and save her. But his servant grabs his arm: "My lord, that's no woman."
This is the mermaid most of human history has feared – not Disney's lovestruck princess, but something far more alien and dangerous. What's truly wild is how universal these stories are. From Brazil's Iara to Japan's Ningyo, from Scotland's selkies to Africa's Mami Wata, cultures worldwide independently created tales of deadly female water spirits.
But why? Why do humans across continents and centuries keep telling the same basic story about dangerous women who live in water?
In this deep dive into global mermaid mythology, we explore ancient Greek bone-heaps, oceanic folklore, and a disturbing truth about humanity's relationship with the natural world. Because what if these stories were never really about women at all?
Key moments
- 1:02 – The Laird of Lorntie meets a mermaid
- 4:06 – Welcome to the party! Meet the mermaid
- 6:59 – The universal mermaid mythos
- 9:19 – The original sirens
- 12:36 – Why is the ocean "female"?
- 14:53 – Nature's indifference to humanity
- 18:30 – Would you rather have a shipwreck or an existential meltdown?
- 19:30 – What to do when your ocean mommy doesn't love you
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