Mermaids in popular culture

Mermaids, like many creatures of mythology and folklore, are regularly depicted in literature, film and music. Some of the many literary works which feature mermaids include Hans Christian Andersen's fairytale The Little Mermaid (1836), L. Frank Baum's The Sea Fairies, Poul Anderson's The Merman's Children (1979) and E. Nesbit's Wet Magic (1913).

Mermaids have also been portrayed in many films, the first of which was Neptune's Daughter (1914), starring Annette Kellerman who played mermaids in several films of the silent era. Early non-silent films include Miranda (1948), starring Glynis Johns and its sequel, Mad About Men (1954). Modern poplular movies such as Splash (1984, starring Daryl Hannah and Tom Hanks), and The Little Mermaid (1989 film) (a variant of Anderson's story) also focus on the life of mermaids.

Mermaids also find their way into musical works such as the 18th century sea shanty, "The Keeper of the Eddystone Light", and Alexander von Zemlinsky's symphonic poem Die Seejungfrau (The Mermaid).