Mermaid

Drowned women, water spirits, mermaids, kikimoras—these creatures have many names, but no one could figure out what they really were. Some said they were the souls of drowned maidens, others said they were nymphs who came to the aid of poets and craftsmen, but few had ever seen them. Over time, these were reduced to rumors and stories, used to scare children away from lakes and rivers.

×Only then young men started disappearing, one after another. They'd go fishing or fetch water, and never return. The women wouldn't let their husbands out of the house, wouldn't let them near lakes and rivers, and in the evenings, all the villagers were forbidden from going out. Groups would go to the rivers, looking for the missing, and after a while, they'd find them drowned. Then the people got really scared. Drowned men appeared, damned ghouls, but no one could ever see these creatures. ×

Mythology of Ancient Rus'. Myths about mermaids and drowned women.