''The Merman's Children'' is a 1979
fantasy novel
Fantasy literature is literature set in an imaginary universe, often but not always without any locations, events, or people from the real world. Magic, the supernatural and magical creatures are common in many of these imaginary worlds. Fa ...
by American writer
Poul Anderson
Poul William Anderson (November 25, 1926 – July 31, 2001) was an American fantasy and science fiction author who was active from the 1940s until the 21st century. Anderson wrote also historical novels. His awards include seven Hugo Awards and ...
, inspired by legends of
Mermen and
Mermaid
In folklore, a mermaid is an aquatic creature with the head and upper body of a female human and the tail of a fish. Mermaids appear in the folklore of many cultures worldwide, including Europe, Asia, and Africa.
Mermaids are sometimes ass ...
s from
Danish folklore
Danish folklore consists of folk tales, legends, songs, music, dancing, popular beliefs, myths and traditions communicated by the inhabitants of towns and villages across the country, often passed on from generation to generation by word of mout ...
, in particular the ballad
Agnete og Havmanden. Set at the end of the
medieval
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
era, ''The Merman's Children'' details the
Faery peoples being displaced by the advancing tide of Christianity.
Plot summary
The city of Liri, ruled by King Vanimen, lies beneath the waves off the shores of
Denmark
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, song_type = National and royal anthem
, image_map = EU-Denmark.svg
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, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark
, establish ...
and peacefully coexists with the landbound humans. Vanimen was once married to a human woman, Agnete, until she returned to land; their four halfling children are Tauno, Eyjan, Kennin, and Yria.
A zealous new archdeacon gets permission from the bishop to perform an exorcism that will drive the soulless merfolk away. Upon the exorcism, an earthquake destroys Liri, and a bright light and deafening sound force the merfolk to flee with only what they can carry. The king's halfling children are the only ones unaffected, and Tauno stays to wait for his younger siblings, who are away from the city at the time. The four plan to track down the other merfolk, but they decide to leave the youngest and most vulnerable, Yria, on land with a kindly priest. However, the priest christens Yria, and she gains an immortal soul and loses all memory of her previous existence. Now known as Margrete, she does not recognize her siblings and is terrified of them.
Learning that Margrete is to be sent into a convent, the older three halflings decide to find enough money to provide other options for her. They hire a crew and sail in search of a sunken city filled with treasure. Aiding them are Ingeborg, a prostitute who is in love with Tauno, and Niels, a young sailor who falls for Eyjan, but tensions with the rest of the crew are high. After the halflings defeat a kraken and retrieve the treasure, the crew betrays them. Kennin is murdered in the fight. Killing the crew and freeing Ingeborg and Niels, Tauno and Eyjan head back to Denmark. A storm affects their journey home, but they are aided by the
Great Selkie of Sule Skerry.
Meanwhile, Vanimen leads the merpeople to steal a ship to travel the sea in search of safe waters. The storm blows them far off course, and many die or are badly wounded on the journey. Fleeing pirates, they land in
Dalmatia. The local
zhupan treats them well but holds them prisoner, unsure whether to trust them. A friendly priest, Father Tomislav, befriends Vanimen and teaches him the language. Vanimen and the merfolk earn acceptance by driving away a murderous
vodianoi that had haunted the nearby lake, although Vanimen is unsettled when he encounters a
vilja, the ghost of Father Tomislav's daughter who committed suicide. Vanimen gradually accepts that Faery is dying and that the merfolk's best prospect is to assimilate with humans. He is still reluctant to become Christian, knowing that faeries lose their memories when baptized, until Father Tomislav receives a sign from
Saint Andrew that the merfolk will be allowed to keep their memories.
Leaving Ingeborg and Niels in Denmark to discreetly sell off the treasure, Tauno and Eyjan set out to search for their people around Greenland. There they hear rumors from the Inuit about an underwater town. They track the rumors to a
Norse settler, Haakon Arnorsson, whose group is starving and trapped on land by a
tupilak after they slaughtered an Inuit village. The rumors of an underwater town turn out to be false, but Haakon holds Eyjan hostage to force Tauno to help kill the tupilak. Tauno successfully kills the creature, and the repentant Haakon dies of his injuries from the hunt. Tauno and Eyjan inform the Inuit, and the
angakok is able to divine that the other merfolk are in Dalmatia. He gives Tauno and Eyjan an amulet which can translate languages but also capture a person's soul.
With the patronage of a bishop, Niels is able to become a wealthy and respected businessman. He and Ingeborg give Margrete her share of the treasure and arrange for her to move out of the convent to an adopted family. Margrete accepts, but still wants nothing to do with her merfolk siblings.
Tauno and Eyjan travel to Dalmatia, where they discover the merfolk fully integrated with humans and living as devout Christians. Vanimen, now known as Andrei, has become a Navy captain. Disturbed by the changes in their personalities and the loss of their culture, Tauno takes refuge in the forest with Nada the vilja. He falls in love with her, but due to her undead nature, they can't be together or he'll die.
After speaking with Andrei, Eyjan chooses to be baptized, takes the name Dagmar, and returns to Denmark to marry Niels. Nada enters the amulet in order to stay with Tauno. He accompanies Dagmar to Denmark and bids her goodbye, feeling that his sister is gone forever. He reunites with Ingeborg and tells her about his journeys and about Nada. He reveals to the horrified Ingeborg that Nada can merge souls with whoever holds the amulet, and he plans to do so and give up his identity in order to be with her. While he sleeps, Ingeborg takes the amulet and merges with Nada herself, giving up Christian salvation in order to become faery and spend an immortal life with Tauno.
Publication
Portions of the work had previously been published as an identically titled novella and the novelette "The Tupilak" in the anthologies ''
Flashing Swords! #1'' (1973) and ''
Flashing Swords! #4: Barbarians and Black Magicians'' (1977).
The complete novel was first published by hardcover by
Berkley/Putnam in September 1979, which also issued two later editions, a Science Fiction Book Club hardcover edition in February 1980 and a paperback edition in October 1980. The first British editions were issued in 1981 by
Sphere Books
Sphere Books is the name of two British paperback publishers.
History
The original Sphere Books was launched in 1966 by Thomson Corporation. Sphere was sold to Pearson PLC in 1985 and became part of Penguin. The name was retired in 1990.
In 19 ...
(paperback) and
Sidgwick & Jackson
Sidgwick & Jackson is an imprint of book publishing company Pan Macmillan. Formerly it was an independent publisher; as such it was founded in Britain in 1908. Its notable early authors include poet Rupert Brooke and novelist E.M. Forster. In mo ...
(hardcover). It was also included in the Sidgwick & Jackson omnibus ''Science Fiction Special 44'' in 1983.
Reception
The book received fifth place in the polling for the 1980
Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel The Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel is a literary award given annually by '' Locus Magazine'' as part of their Locus Awards.
Winners
References
External links
The Locus Award Index: FantasyThe Locus Award: 2011 winnersExcerpts and summaries ...
.
References
External links
*
Fantastic Fiction entry
1979 American novels
American fantasy novels
Novels by Poul Anderson
Novels set in Denmark
Danish folklore
Berkley Books books
1979 fantasy novels
Mermaid novels
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