Why We Keep Telling Legends of Sea Monsters - The Wall Street Journal

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Earlier this month, Cape Cod lobster diver Michael Packard made headlines around the world when he claimed to have been swallowed by a humpback whale and then spit back out. Though the story has its skeptics, its popularity reminds us of the continuing power of sea myths, which are as old as the art of storytelling.

In particular, Mr. Packard’s story echoes the biblical book of Jonah, who languished in the belly of a giant fish or whale for three days before being freed by God’s command. There are other sea monsters in the Bible as well: The prophet Isaiah refers to Leviathan, “the dragon that is in the sea,” which Christian scripture associates with Satan. Christ’s victory over Leviathan, and by extension over evil itself, is described in the book of Revelation: “And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years.”

The connection of sea monsters with apocalyptic events is also reflected in Norse myth in the figure of Jorganmandr, the serpent that inhabits the Midgard, the ocean that circles the human world. When Ragnarok—the Norse apocalypse—arrives, Jorganmandr will uncoil itself for a final battle with the god Thor.

An 1845 print by Utagawa Kunioyoshi shows a Japanese ‘sea monk’ capsizing a ship.

Photo: Museum of Fine Arts, Houston/Bridgeman Images

Other sea monster tales are less cosmic and more practical, acting as warnings to sailors or to people who tarry too close to the sea. The Japanese Umibozu are spirits that appear when the sea is calm, quickly turning it wild and stormy. They are depicted with large round heads and wide smiles, and their name—which means “sea monk” or “sea priest”—has given rise to the idea that they are the ghosts of drowned priests. The Qalupalik, of Inuit lore, is an ugly green skinned creature whose hum beckons children toward the water’s edge where they will be dragged beneath the waves. The story may have been used to keep children away from the water or off the ice.

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Many cultures tell stories of sea creatures with human characteristics who lead people to sorrow and death. The Irish selkie or seal-woman was said to occasionally shed her skin and come ashore. If a man could find and hide the selkie’s skin, he might claim her as his bride. She would live with him as a devoted wife and mother, but should she find her skin, she would return immediately to the sea, leaving her human family behind. The siren of Greek myth was deadlier: Part woman and part bird, her song lured sailors to leap into the sea and crash their ships on the shore. The each-uisge, a Scottish water spirit, can take on the form of a handsome man, but it more often transforms into a beautiful horse that lures people onto its back before galloping into the sea.

Mami Wata, who appears in many African traditions, is a more benevolent figure, associated with good luck and wealth, although—like the sea itself—she can be both seductive and dangerous. Sometimes she appears in the form of the traditional mermaid, with a fish tail and human face and torso, while elsewhere she is depicted as a snake charmer. The name Mami Wata likely derives from the English “mother water,” and according to a recent exhibit at the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, the development of her mythology coincides with the beginning of the slave trade in the 15th century and the spread of the African diaspora across the Atlantic, especially to Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Brazil. Her myth incorporates elements of Christianity, Hinduism and the stories of water spirits from West African cultures such as the Igbo of Nigeria.

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While many sea myths involve more or less humanoid beings, others seem to reflect the appearance and behavior of actual ocean creatures. In 1493, Christopher Columbus wrote of encountering mermaids near the present-day Dominican Republic, which are now believed to have been manatees. The huge and many-tentacled kraken of Scandinavian myth bears a strong resemblance to the giant squid, which was also the main antagonist in Jules Verne’s 1871 classic “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.” Giant squids themselves have an almost mythical aura because of their elusiveness: They had never been photographed in the wild until 2004, when Japanese scientists Tsunemi Kubodera and Kyoichi Mori managed to capture an image.

It remains to be seen whether the ningen of modern Japanese folklore also has a basis in reality. The ningen—literally, “human”—are long, white and featureless humanoid creatures that have been supposedly sighted in the waters around Antarctica. These reports are sometimes accompanied by photos that, in their blurriness, recall the snapshots used as “evidence” of the Loch Ness Monster.

“ Actual sea creatures can take on an aura of myth because of their size and rarity. ”

Actual sea creatures can take on an aura of myth because of their size and rarity, or simply how long they have been swimming the globe. The blue whale, the largest animal that has ever lived, is rarely witnessed, and since the creature is considered endangered, each sighting is an occasion for celebration. Sharks have been around for 450 million years, long before human beings came along. They inspire primal fear, still best expressed in Steven Spielberg’s 1975 film “Jaws,” but also a strange devotion, with the Discovery Channel’s “Shark Week” programming drawing millions of viewers and becoming part of the American cultural lexicon.

The edges of medieval and Renaissance maps were often decorated with sea monsters and merpeople, to represent the unknown that lay beyond the marine horizon. While no extant historical maps actually include the Latin words Hic sunt dracones (“Here be dragons”), they are inscribed on the Hunt-Lenox Globe, made in 1504 and now owned by the New York Public Library. The phrase has entered the popular imagination as a symbol of the dangers of the unknown.

Our continuing fascination with sea myths reveals our continued need to touch the mystery these creatures represent, as well as our understanding of their vulnerability. As temperatures rise and the oceans change, our fate has become linked to that of our terrible but beloved sea monsters, our squids and whales and sharks. Our challenge will be to not let them fade into myth.

—Dr. Hansen is Master Lecturer of Rhetoric at Boston University’s College of General Studies and the author of the young adult novel “The Coming Storm,” published this month by Atheneum.

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June 24, 2021 at 09:25PM
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Why We Keep Telling Legends of Sea Monsters - The Wall Street Journal

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