Elena's Drowning
"Do not wander too far out to sea - for, you see, there is a reason the sailors have weapons upon their ships..."
Summary
The myth outlines that children who disobey their parents when playing by the sea and wander too far away will be enticed by a Siren and dragged to the bottom of the depths.
Parents would use a fictional tale of a young girl named Elena, who ignored her parents plea to remain in sight to swim further out to sea, wanting to explore and swim with the aquatic life that resided further out. The tale follows that she heard some singing from a siren, who enticed her to follow them further out to sea.
Once Elena was far enough away, the siren took ahold of her and dragged her below the depths, drowning her. Her body was never found but one of her bones washed up on the shore two years later.
Historical Basis
Originating in Fallkirk, when children would often spend time with their families near the sea, their parents created a myth to keep them from wandering off too far. As Fallkirk has a history of Siren attacks, the natural scapegoat of this legend became a siren who lurked specifically for children.
In reality, there is barely any historical basis to this story. There have been no confirmed reports of sirens targeting children as well as no reports of attacks happening that close to land. It would, logically, be too risky for sirens to hunt for such small prey there with such a high potential of capture.
There have been reports of children disappearing near the sea, but this seems to be more likely a result of drowning due to inexperience with swimming and are individual cases who no link to each other.
Spread
Generally, you would commonly hear this myth in Falkirk only. However, versions of the story have spread across the south coast of Glaiburg, each with a different child.
People residing in the north of Glaiburg and other countries would rarely hear this story.
Variations & Mutation
Seaside towns and cities along the south coast of Glaiburg would have a similar story, but would regularly change the name of the child involved (some examples of this include Deorin and Sera) to suit the common names of the area. However, the story always bases the sirens near Fallkirk. Parents of nearby towns would alter the story to state that the siren that resides there has now gotten 'bored' of the children from Fallkirk and is now roaming the south coast for more, unsuspecting children.
Cultural Reception
Within the culture of siren colonies (such are Azuri and Sirelore), this tale is viewed as slander against the sirens. They maintain that though there has been multiple cases of sirens attacking land-dwellers and vice versa, they would never target a young child. They believe that this myth encourages the slaughter of sirens and the trade of 'siren fin soup'.
Date of First Recording
532 F
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