What do you think of, when you hear the word “siren?”
An alluring song? A beautiful mermaid beckoning from the water? Ships crashed against the base of a cliff? A blaring alarm?
I recently submitted a short story to a magazine with a theme of Sirens for their current round of submissions, so sirens have been on my brain. So let’s dive into some lore about sirens and discuss how best to adapt them to your writing!
Siren Traits
I’m going to take a slightly different approach in this blog post. As I was brainstorming for the short story I mentioned above, I decided to do a bit of freewriting (an exercise where you write for a set amount of time without stopping or worrying about grammar or even complete thoughts). I want to share some of what I wrote as I thought about sirens:
“Sirens. Tempters. Warners? Keepers of knowledge – forbidden? Song. Anyone can listen, but unless kept from it, will hurl themselves into the sea to follow it. Fish women or bird women. Luring. Calling. Hypnotized. Entranced. Enchanted. Enthralled. Mimic beloved voices. Impersonate loved ones. Rocky outcroppings. Cliffs. Islands. Hidden places hard to sail to. Sailors. Sometimes sexual, sometimes not. Temptation – what tempts a person? Is it universal? Tailored to the individual? Do sirens regret the pull of their voices? Can they turn it off? Are they immune to each other’s voices? Do they get lonely? Is there a motive on their part to lure and drown passing sailors? Are they evil? Benevolent? Misunderstood? Neutral? Medusa-type situation? Are they always women? Are they a creature born or cursed? Are there subtypes – associated with different types of bird or bodies of water? Are the words themselves the temptation or a spell that casts an illusion or hypnosis? Do the words actually matter? Do people hear them differently? If I remember rightly, Ody heard info for safe travels, but the voices were so beautiful he tried to throw himself in the sea to swim after them (at least in OG, other interps have him seeing an illusion of his wife or being convinced he needs to jump off the boat).”
Now, not everything I came up with was correct (I was fully relying on memory) or relevant to the matter at hand (I was, after all, trying to kickstart ideas for a story), but the process was one I’d recommend to people trying to adapt fantastical creatures. Freewrite for a while and try to distill the creature (or character) into a few key traits.
Sirens, for example, have some very distinct aspects. They are, intentionally or not, tempters, as their lore is tied up in luring sailors out of their boats and to their death. They possess deep and often secret knowledge, either in the form of the secrets that will tempt passersby or the sort of knowledge that people will take great risks to acquire. They are closely associated with song. And they are passive creatures, staying happily where they are and letting people come to them, rather than hunting down prey.
Make It Yours
In creating your own version of a siren, try to keep the thematic elements mostly the same. Pick one or two to play with, taking an unusual angle or approach, twisting a meaning, or flipping an expectation. Maybe your sirens have to (by nature, contract, or compulsion) lure in a certain number of humans to survive. Maybe they’re stoic keepers of sacred knowledge, which they can only give out to those who sacrifice a secret of their own. Maybe they’re more vulture-like in both nature and appearance, and scavenging from the corpses they create is their only food source.
When it comes to writing and creating, I’ve always found the best way to start is to just ask questions. So be curious in your approach.
What’s your favorite piece of siren lore?
Until next time, word nerds!
Kate G. Jameson 