A-Z Challenge: Finfolk & Ghost Ships

Today's AtoZ Challenge is a dual post for the letter's F & G. My theme, Under the Sea Myths & Legends, has not disappointed me with my findings thus far. For the letter F, I'm posting about a curious legend about...

Finfolk

Does that sound cool or what? These legendary sea creatures are like magicians under the water. They are said to be from Orkney folklore and have sorcery and shapeshifting abilities.  Much like the Each-uise, they like to lure humans into deep water and turn them into domestic slaves in their world. What I found most interesting was their underwater fairy-like castle dwellings known as "Finfolkaheem." Underwater, their city is described as never being dark as it is "lit by the phosphorescent glow of tiny sea creatures." They look like they live in a Victorian underworld era, huh? Sounds wicked too and a place I'd like to visit too.

Source

And now we're onto the letter G. This one might seem a bit blase, but with how much water covers the earth, you shouldn't be surprised about...

Ghost Ships

So think about how many sea vessels venture out every day. Far too many to count, huh? Well, boats and ships--all sizes-- have been sailing waters on earth for centuries and with that many have lost their way. Either by weather, poor sea conditions, loss of direction, war and even sea creatures, ships have met their demise at sea. Way too many to count too. To give you a perspective, according to the most recent report in the shipping industry, "“every year, on average, more than two dozen large ships sink, or otherwise go missing, taking their crews along with them.” If you can picture how many ships have been submerged in the ocean over the centuries, ghost ships legends shouldn't be too difficult to comprehend.

Source

Do you remember the movie Ghost Ship with Julianna Margulies? It probably wasn't much of a fan or critic favorite, but I liked it. Anyway, the Ghost Ship legends could be for real. A ghost ship, also known as a phantom ship -- is one without a crew. Or one with a ghost crew. One fictional ghost ship the I've blogged about before is The Flying Dutchman. Have you read that one?

What's probably most eerie about this ghost ships is the trail of skeletons, ships, artillery and you name it lying at the bottom of the sea. Death and abandonment are all these things have in common. With so many lives lost, no doubt there are many souls haunting the wide open sea. Sailors, who are a superstitious lot, believe ghost ships to be true. It could be that sailors were hallucinating or it could be the real thing. According to various sources, there are many historical references to ghost ships. One account between1750 or 1760, the SV Sea Bird, a merchant ship grounded at Rhode Island without a crew and only "the only living things found on the ship were a dog and a cat."  Creepy, huh? And that's only one account.  

That's it for the letters F & G.

Mina Burrows