Mariners Anthology of Myth: Siren's Sorrow

“What is in a name? Is a name merely a label or descriptor, or is it the personification of the entity? Does it perhaps encompass all that makes up an individual? Is the identity lost without a name? If you were to lose your name, would you lose sense of who you are? What if your name changed, would the person you once were be lost?” 

A fire crackled sending ash and debris up into the air. As the black smoke towered towards the sky, ash rained down like snow on a winter’s day. Alexander drew his legs up into himself as the woman droned on.

She turned her attention towards Alexander, watching as he cowered in front of her. Her lips turned up at the ends, a devilish smirk slowly formed across her face.

“Afraid? As the lone survivor, I assumed your resolve would be such as stone.” She poked the fire, making it roar to life.

“I- What are you going to do to me?” Alexander stammered, stumbling over his words. He still wasn’t over the shipwreck. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw the giant wave sweeping over them. The images of the crash played on repeat, never once stopping. Due to this, rest wasn’t a luxury he could partake in.

“Perhaps it’s not me you should worry about. The songs of those forgotten will come for you sooner than myself.” The woman threw another stick in the fire and leaned back against the stone behind her and shifted her gaze towards the sky.

“You, you did this to me. Back in the brothel, you cursed me.” Alexander practically spat at the woman. The fire had warmed him and with that, he gained a hint of comfort. Just enough so that he could attempt to defend himself verbally.

“I did no such thing. On the contrary, I warned you, and you decided that you didn’t wish to listen. I, just like every other being, have no control over what happens at sea when Poseidon beds his wife and no longer watches the water.”

Alexander wanted to argue, but she was right. She had told him not go on the voyage, yet he ignored her plea. He wanted to reach the horizon so all his dreams could come true. He thought it nothing more than simple superstition. No one was to blame but himself. Though, he was the lucky one. He survived the horrors out at sea. Not that it mattered, he was now stuck on a rocky island with the witch who warned him.

He leaned back and stared at the starry sky above him. Why had he survived? Why did no one else? There must have been a reason? What did the fates have in store for him? He didn’t know what would happen next, but he knew it couldn’t be worse than what he had already endured. As his mind wandered, his eyes became heavy and for the first time in gods only knows how long, the images of the wave didn’t emerge. Instead he could hear a soft song on the wind. A gentle melody that lulled him to sleep. As darkness enveloped his mind, all he heard was the melody and the woman’s last words to him.

“Through the songs of those forgotten, they draw you near with their song of sorrow. A rocky grave will come for you, for forgetting their name, you shall pay.”

Alexander jerked awake. For a moment, he thought he heard screaming but as he looked around, there was nothing to be found. He found himself alone, in the dark, and cold. The fire in front of him had long since burned out and the moon now hid behind clouds. There was only darkness.

He pulled himself to his feet, and looked around. For the first time he noticed he was in a clearing surrounded by trees on all sides. The ocean was not in view. How did he get here? He couldn’t remember. He blacked out when he was out at sea with the island in view, and the next thing he knew, he was in the clearing with the woman. Had she brought him here?

He began walking towards an opening in the trees, when he heard a voice.

“This way.” A soft female voice whispered.

“Not that way, over here.” Another voice gently rang out. He whipped around, but there was no one beside him.

“Who’s there?” He asked, his voice breaking as it left his body. He knew it wasn’t considered manly, but he was terrified. Alone on an island and no idea what lie before him.

“This way sailor.” A third voice broke through the silence. The voice felt as though it entered him, and vibrated through his entire body and down into his legs. Slowly, one step at a time, his feet began moving in the direction of the voice. He had not taken the step himself, his feet were now moving on their own.

“No!” Alexander screamed out into the darkness. Slowly his walking turned into a jog and eventually a run. Branches and twigs slapped his face as he rushed through the trees towards the voice.

“Keep running sailor!” The voice screamed, though there was still something melodic about it. Alexander tried to look around him as his feet rushed forward. Slowly, figures had begun to fill in the shadows between the trees. They rushed beside him. He was no longer alone, he was surrounded. 

Alexander came to a halt as he reached the edge of a cliff. Before him was the ocean, and down below a rocky cove. Waves crashed into the jagged rocks, and quickly rushed around them as they broke up. Among the rocks was large amounts of wood. Wood from the hulls of multiple ships.

“This way sailor!” The female’s voice again sang out. This time, a song followed the words. A nude woman, covered in mud and hair of seaweed stepped up beside Alexander, with her gaze towards the sea. She opened her mouth and the most beautiful song he had ever heard lept from her vocal chords. The ethereal sound of her song lulled Alexander into a blissful trance. A trance so powerful he could see himself leaping from the cliff onto the rocks below. 

As his feet reached the edge of the cliff, another voice broke through the song.

“The voice of the Siren, a song of sorrow. A song of vengeance.” Alexander froze. He turned to see the woman standing a few feet away from him. Slowly he backed away from the edge and towards the woman.

“The song of those forgotten, left at sea to die. The song of the soul who was thrown away without a second thought. The song of those who were never properly laid to rest.”

“What- What are you talking about?” Alexander asked, confused. He turned his attention back to the Siren singing her song. Tears fell down her face as she continued her song. Out at sea, a ship slowly drifted towards the rocky cove.

“We were forgotten.” Another woman emerged from the trees. She too was covered in mud and hair of seaweed. “They left us for dead.”

She walked up and placed her hands on her side of Alexander’s face.

“See our song!” She sang out. Alexander stumbled backwards as the world fell around him, leaving only a dark void. Slowly, an ocean appeared beneath his feet. The wood of a ship sprang up around him until it was fully formed. One by one crew filled the deck of the ship.

“Fuck Yggdrasil!” The captain sang out and took an axe to the former piece of transom that held the name Yggdrasil. A blood curdling scream filled the air. Where the transom lie on the deck was now a woman, an axe in her chest covered in blood. She tried to climb to her feet but struggled. 

“No name of some dumb Viking will lie on this ship any longer. It still burn in Davy Jones’s Locker.” The captain cried out as he kicked the woman. She rolled towards the edge of the deck. Finally she climbed to her feet, her back against the edge. Alexander tried rushing towards her as the Captain flipped her over the edge and into the water. 

“No!” Alexander screamed but no one could hear him. Just as quickly as everything appeared, it all changed again. In the blink of an eye tentacles engulfed the boat, crushing it. Screams from the crew rang out filling the air. All Alexander could hear were the dying screams of the captain and his crew. Alexander backed away, leaned against the mast and curled up in a ball as he watched the crew die before him. For the second time, he watched a crew die right before his eyes.

Again the world changed. Now he stood upon the largest most glorious ship he had ever laid his eyes upon. A Captain in a powdered wig stood several feet in front of him. He appeared to be Britannian, but Alexander couldn’t be sure.

A crewman walked up behind the captain carrying a piece of wood.

“Sir, the name.” The crewman handed the piece of wood to the captain. It read Frigg. Alexander watched as the captain ran his fingers through the lettering. Something about it felt wrong, like he was violating her. Alexander took a step forward but frozen when the wood turned in the woman from the brothel. She stared at the captain, tears in her eyes. She tried to pull away from him but he grabbed her arm and pulled tighter.

“The dying breath of a long forgotten people. We shall not hold onto their savagery any longer. This ship is ours now, and our name will fill her transom. Not some artificial goddess.” The captain took Frigg and threw her overboard without a second thought.

Clouds began to swirl around the ship, the sunset, and the moon filled the sky all within a matter of seconds. A song of a Siren filled the air and the Brittannian ship rushed towards the rocky cove. The cove below the cliff that Alexander had been standing on merely seconds earlier. Alexander tried to rush towards the back of the ship, but did not succeed. The ship crashed into the rocks, killing the captain and his crew.

Alexander again curled into a ball. One by one, he watched as crew after crew was devoured by the demons of the ocean. Countless ships crashed into the rocks and died a bloody death. Alexander screamed at the top of his lungs. As the crew met their demise, he felt his sanity slipping from him.

“What is in a name? Is a name merely a label or descriptor, or is it the personification of the entity? Does it perhaps encompass all that makes up an individual? Is the identity lost without a name? If you were to lose your name, would you lose sense of who you are? What if your name changed, would the person you once were be lost? Each of these men threw away these women without a second thought. So, again I ask, what if your name changed, would the person you once were be lost?” Frigg grabbed Alexander by his collar and pulled him to his feet. And pushed him towards the edge of the cliff. 

Alexander stared down as another ship crashed into the rocky cove below him. Tears rushed down his face like a rapidly flowing river. He tried to stop them, but he could not.

“In each vessel is a soul. A soul with a name. To throw that soul away without a single thought is nothing more than murder. In our final moment before our death, we each swore an oath of vengeance. An oath that every captain who threw us to our death would pay.”

“Names change all the time.” Alexander whimpered. His voice barely audible.

“Yes, they do. But just like a human life, you lay that life to rest. You respect the dead and send them on their way to peace. You hold a ceremonial funeral for every soul lost. You don’t throw them to Davy Jones’s Locker to suffer among the other beasts. To throw us away without a ceremonial funeral will equal your demise.” Frigg shifted Alexander’s gaze back towards the ship in the cove.

“Lay the name to rest before you rename the vessel. That’s all we ask. Let us Rest In Peace like your kinsman. Lest you meet the rocks.”

-Jake