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"The oldest recorded merpeople were known as sirens (Greece) and it is in warmer waters that we find the beautiful mermaids more frequently depicted in Muggle literature and painting. The Selkies of Scotland and the Merrows of Ireland are less beautiful, but they share that love of music which is common to all merpeople."
Newton Scamander, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them[src]

Merrows were Irish merpeople, generally considered less beautiful than their warmer-water counterparts, and comparable to the selkies of Scotland.[1]

Physical description[]

Merrows were described as less beautiful than other forms of merpeople; rather than taking a more humanoid appearance, they had far more fish-like attributes.[1]

Behind the scenes[]

  • Merrow is the Gaelic equivalent of the mermaids found in the mythologies of other European cultures.
    • Merrows are the only Merpeople who come closest to their folkloric counterparts. In fact, the Sirens aren't half-bird hybrid maidens like in Greek mythology and the Selkies are not seal shifters maidens like in Scottish legends. The Merrows have a fish-like physiognomy, with the only difference that in the stories it was only the Mermans who were warlike, instead in the Wizarding World universe even the Mermaids Merrow share this characteristic.
  • The Merrows are the only Merpeople who do not appear anywhere in the books (or films) dedicated to the Wizarding World. The only exception is Newton Scamander's Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them book, where they make their debut.

Appearances[]

Notes and references[]

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