I MARRIED A MERMAID historic lineages tied to our favorite water-fairie
by paul himmelein
W
e all know the stories of mermaids and sirens luring men to their demise, dashing their ships upon the rocks, or pulling sailors to the bottom of the murky sea. But there are other stories. Stories of mermaids coming on land in search of love. Hans Christian Andersen’s “Little Mermaid” is one such tale, however, her love is unrequited, and she fails to wed the prince of her dreams. In the tale of Undine, a water spirit manages to marry a human, but this marriage doesn’t last and ends in tragedy before any children are born. However, if we cast a wider net, we can find tales of mermaids and water spirits that do end with a mixing of human and faerie blood. Amazingly, some of these unions are branches of family trees whose descendants walk among us. Shouts of “long live the king” were heard frequently this past May 6th at the coronation of Charles III when the United Kingdom celebrated the crowning of its new monarch, the first in 70 years. As the eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II, Charles, the prince of Wales, ascended to the throne upon his mother’s death. As a member of the royal House of Windsor, most would agree that Charles ha
