Sierra Suelzle

Dr. Pressman

ECL 305

9 May, 2024

The Ocean in European and Hawaiian Mermaid Myths

Mermaid stories have been around for thousands of years, but they have only recently been looked at as a way to understand the views of the environment individual cultures had at a given time. In the 1837 Danish story, The Little Mermaid, and the 1857 German story, The Nixie in the Pond, the use of terracentric language emphasizes the lack of cultural significance of the Ocean and other bodies of water in 19th century Europe. However, in the Hawaiian mermaid myths, The Mermaid of Honokawailani Pond (1979) and Kalamainuߵu, the Moߵo Who Seduced Punaߵaikoaߵe (1869), the Ocean is treated in the same manner as land, showing a deeper respect for it and other bodies of water. The way the Ocean and water are discussed in these stories is exemplary of the differing perspectives that Hawaiian culture and European cultures had of the Ocean in the 19th century. The ability to compare the views of the Ocean in different parts of the world in the same time period showcases the importance comparative literature has in understanding history. 

Terracentrism is a relatively new term that has been circulating in the academic field of blue humanities. Terracentrism is the act of centering the land in stories, verbal conversations, media, etc. This is an unconscious action that can be seen in all forms of media from “writers [who] have embedded a terrestrial bias in virtually all stories about the past” (Rodzadowski, 2018, p. 7). Examples of terracentric language include “field, ground, progress, state, and landscape” (Mentz, 2020, p. xv – xvii). The Ocean has been an important figure in all of history but goes unrecognized in favor of the seemingly important actions that happen on land. Blue Humanities is a new field under the umbrella of Environmental Humanities that aims to study and understand “the significance [the Ocean] holds for modern culture and society” (Gillis, 2013, para. 14). Blue Humanities encourages scholars to reframe their way of thinking to center the Ocean rather than the land. The most visible way to do this is to recognize the terracentric language used in everyday phrases, literature, and more. Recognizing the use of terracentric language allows people to understand the role that land and the Ocean play in our daily lives. This also encourages people to see the Ocean as a more prominent feature in culture and society rather than a secondary feature in the environment. 

Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Mermaid (1837) uses clear terracentric language to assist 19th-century readers in understanding the setting of the Ocean. Readers at this time were not familiar with the Ocean because the depths of the Ocean had not been explored in any way. When choosing to write a story that takes place in the Ocean, Andersen had to use analogies that centered around land to ensure that readers could visualize the story. Andersen describes the location of the underwater world as being “so deep, indeed, that no rope can fathom it; and many church steeples need be piled one upon the other to reach from the bottom to the surface” (Andersen, 1837, p. 107). By using church steeples and ropes to explain the depths of the Ocean, Andersen is using land as an analogy for the Ocean, therefore using terracentric language. Church steeples only exist on land and would not be able to exist underwater as they would erode, but in 19th century Denmark, they were all over the nation. It was nearly impossible to enter a town and not see a church steeple as Christianity was the most prominent and official religion of Denmark at that time (Britannica, 2024). This description was made so that anyone who read the story would be able to have a vague idea of how deep in the Ocean this story takes place. Although Denmark itself is a peninsula and contains many islands, the Ocean is not seen as an important feature of the environment as land is because European culture at the time was not focused on water exploration. 

The Brothers Grimm’s story, The Nixie in the Pond (1857),  also employs terracentric language to clarify the setting and warn readers about unknown bodies of water. In the story, a man makes a deal with the water spirit who resides in the pond near his house to gain wealth in exchange for his son, who eventually gets taken by the water spirit. After the son is taken underwater by the water spirit, the pond is described as being “as calm as a mirror” (Grimm, 1857, p. 50) with “only the face of the half-moon” (Grimm, 1857, p. 50) reflecting off the water. The water cannot be described without using an object that people of the time would be familiar with and in this case, that would be a mirror. By using a land-based object to describe the pond, the Brothers Grimm show a preference and centering for land. The phrase “the water looks like glass” comes to mind when discussing this topic because that is essentially what the Brothers Grimm are saying when comparing the surface of the pond to a mirror. That phrase is an example of terracentrism because it places the body of water being described as secondary to the land.  In Germany at this time, there was a large shift to industrialization which drew people’s attention away from the natural world to technological advancements. The literature of this time showcases that as in The Nixie in the Pond, the natural world is shown as a challenge to overcome. 

Conversely, the Hawaiian myth, The Mermaid of Honokawailani Pond, exhibits a deeper respect for bodies of water by discussing the pond in the story in association with the Ocean rather than land. This myth was first published in Hawaiian in 1979 but was passed down orally for generations before it was written down. In the initial description of the pond, the features of the water are described in detail and are done so with no comparison to land. The pond is described as being “always full of water from beneath the earth” (Nākoa, 1979, p.247), and “when it was high tide, the freshwater of Honokawailani rose like that of the sea, and the water of the pond rose and became a stream” (Nākoa, 1979, p. 247). A description of the color of the water was even given: “The water was a dark blue-green until the sun hit it, and then made it transparent” (Nākoa, 1979, p. 247). The attention to detail of the tidal patterns of the pond, as well as the changing of colors shows how important bodies of water were to the Hawaiian people. Most land-based cultures do not pay that close attention to the changes of a pond because it is not seen as important as the land. When the pond is compared to anything, it’s to the Ocean, demonstrating the value and understanding of water in this culture. There is no need to compare ponds to anything other than water because Hawaii is comprised of islands, so the people of this culture are surrounded by water and understand its characteristics, unlike the European countries.  

Similarly, the story Kalamainuߵu, the Moߵo Who Seduced Punaߵaikoaߵe (1869) uses ocean-centered language to portray situations that display a culture centered around water. The story Kalamainuߵu, the Moߵo Who Seduced Punaߵaikoaߵe (1869) main goal in Hawaiian culture was to explain how two deities came to be but is a great example of how to decenter land in language. The main character of the story, Punaߵaikoaߵe, was a chief on Oߵahu who was lured away from his family and community by a “reptilian water deity” (Bacchilega & Brown, 2019, p. 246) named Kalamainuߵu. When Punaߵaikoaߵe discovers that Kalamainuߵu can shift between being a lizard and human, Kalamainuߵu yells at him. During this fight, it is described that Punaߵaikoaߵe “stood in the sea spray of her anger” ( ‘Ī‘ī, 1869, p. 252). The use of sea spray as a metaphor to describe the distance that Kalamainuߵu’s anger reaches reveals how integral the Ocean and water are to Hawaiian culture. The audience who hears this story does not have to guess how far that description means because they are well acquainted with the distance that sea spray can reach. A terracentric view of this phrase would be that of standing in the line of fire. The choice to not use a phrase based on land also showcases an understanding of fluidity. Sea spray never reaches the exact same spot, so measuring a distance using an ever-changing entity displays an acceptance of change in the environment. Living in a culture that depends on water means that there has to be an understanding of change and an ability to shift because of how often tides and the size and shape of the waves change. 

In the Danish and German stories, a clear preference for land was shown which signifies a land-based culture. The Little Mermaid (1837) and The Nixie in the Pond utilize land-based structures to describe the Ocean and other bodies of water while the Hawaiian story, The Mermaid of Honokawailani Pond, does not. The level of detail that was given in The Mermaid of Honokawailani Pond is unlike that of The Little Mermaid (1837) and The Nixie of the Pond where the basic features of the Ocean were explained, such as size, depth, and the environment surrounding it. The use of church steeples to explain depth is a constant measurement that showcases a lack of understanding of the Ocean because the depth of the Ocean is always changing. When the sand shifts and the tides change, the floor of the Ocean can become deeper or shallower. This understanding is shown in The Mermaid of Honokawailani Pond because the pond is described as having varying depths when the tides change. This is an example of how European cultures do not prioritize or respect the Ocean or bodies of water to the extent that Hawaiian cultures did at this time. Danish and German culture in the 19th century viewed the environment as something to conquer and fear, and since the Ocean is unconquerable, it was deemed as unworthy of attention. The Hawaiian story, Kalamainuߵu, the Moߵo Who Seduced Punaߵaikoaߵe, also demonstrates a deeper respect for the Ocean because it uses water as a way to measure distance even if it is done so figuratively. Danish and German cultures did not have this advanced knowledge of the Ocean but they had a lot of knowledge about land and the differences in soil composition, crops, etc. These descriptions bring to light what Hawaiian culture viewed as important information compared to what Danish and German cultures thought. European cultures held technological advancements as important, while Hawaiian culture held the environment in higher regard. 

Being able to read a variety of stories from the same time in different parts of the Earth showcases the importance of Comparative Literature. The awareness and knowledge that is gained from reading these stories is incomparable. Reading and comparing these stories promotes a better comprehension of history and how cultures view differing aspects of the environment than is gained from just reading a textbook. The Ocean has been a constant for all of history but has only recently been studied as history. Mermaid stories are a crucial aspect of learning how environmental humanities and perspectives of the Ocean have shifted and developed throughout the centuries. 

Works Cited 

Andersen, Hans Christian. “The Little Mermaid.” The Penguin Book of Mermaids, edited by Christina Bacchilega and Marie Alohalani Brown, Penguin Books, 2019, p. 107-130.

Bacchilega, Christina and Brown, Marie Alohalani. The Penguin Book of Mermaids. Penguin Books, 2019.

Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. (2024). Religion of denmark. Encyclopædia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/place/Denmark/Religion 

Grimm, Jacob and Grimm, Wilhelm. “The Nixie in the Pond.” The Penguin Book of Mermaids, edited by Christina Bacchilega and Marie Alohalani Brown, Penguin Books, 2019, p. 49-53.

 ‘Ī‘ī, John Papa. “Kalamainuߵu, the Moߵo Who Seduced Punaߵaikoaߵe.” The Penguin Book of Mermaids, edited by Christina Bacchilega and Marie Alohalani Brown, Penguin Books, 2019, p. 250-259.

Nākoa, Sarah. “The Mermaid of Honokawailani Pond.” The Penguin Book of Mermaids, edited by Christina Bacchilega and Marie Alohalani Brown, Penguin Books, 2019, p. 246-249.