The Siren of Denmark: The Real Little Mermaid

Copenhagen, 1827. Fishermen report strange disappearances near the Øresund coast. Bodies surface days later — lips blue, throats shredded, their faces serene as if drowned in dreams.

A woman named Alhed Holm, known for her voice that could calm storms, is accused of witchcraft. She is said to bathe in the tide and whisper to the sea. Andersen, a struggling writer and her unrequited admirer, visits her often.

After her mysterious death, he begins writing Den lille Havfrue. He tells friends it was “a love letter and an apology.”

In his private diary (discovered in 1972), a line stands out:

“She asked to trade her song for legs. I gave her silence instead.”

Months later, the first statue of the mermaid is unveiled. Divers claim that beneath its bronze tail lies an older, rusted skeleton bound by iron chains — its ribs hollow, as if something once lived inside and swam away.