Haunted Britain proposes that the mer-woman represents an early depiction of the goddess Aphrodite. The goddess was seen as a warning by medieval Christians against the sins of lust. A variety of fish-tailed gods were worshipped by the first civilisations of the Middle East. The earliest known of these was Oannes, Lord of the Waters, who appeared some 7000 years ago. There are also fish-tailed gods in one form or another found in the legends and beliefs of countries as diverse as India, China, Japan and Greece.

In 2014 indie band The Hit Parade released their album Cornish Pop Songs featuring the song "Zennor Mermaid." [17] In a curious twist, the local arts writer who interviewed Hit Parade founder Julian Henry for The Cornishman was named "Lee Trewhela." [18]

a b Martin, Greg (21 October 2018). "Inside the abandoned Cornwall house full of dark secrets". CornwallLive. Local World . Retrieved 19 January 2021.

Ignored by her callous parents and bullied by her peers at school, the young girl finds herself quite alone. Nobody wants to talk to her save Aislinn, her bubbly classmate, and Mrs Khoury, the school's councillor - but, even then, Lilac suspects they only do so out of pity. But rather than focusing on the oft-told tale of the Mermaid of Zennor, let’s focus on the chair itself and the symbolism of these watery sirens of the deep. The Mermaid of Zennor", is a poem by John Heath-Stubbs, who lived in Zennor for a while in the 1950s. To the left of the south porch is a plaque to John Davey (d. 1891) said to be the last person to have a real working knowledge of the Cornish language. Natives of Mousehole, on the south coast, may like to point out that Dolly Pentreath (d. 1777), who is buried at Paul church just outside Mousehole, was the last person to speak Cornish as her native language, but let's not split hairs! I am Ariel Goodbody, your host for this show. Today’s story is for pre-intermediate learners. The name of the story is The Mermaid of Zennor. You can find a transcript of the episode at EasyStoriesInEnglish.com/Zennor. That’s EasyStoriesInEnglish.com/Zennor. This contains the full story, as well as my conversation before it.You can still see medieval wall paintings of mermaids in other Cornish churches, such as Altarnun and Breage, but only at Zennor is there a surviving mermaid carving. So a few weeks ago, I went on holiday to visit my girlfriend, and this was actually the first time I met her in real life! British writer Helen Dunmore was inspired in part by the Mermaid of Zennor when writing her Ingo Chronicles. The first book of the series, Ingo, published in 2005, begins with the story of the mermaid and the main story line is loosely based around the legend.