ABSTRACT
The titular mermaid of Edam—and the idea of mermaids and other sea creatures more broadly—is a monstrous being of the first order. She, within the context of what is often called the scientific revolution, is the subject of Hans Peter Broedel’s chapter. In this era scientists considered and cataloged mermaids and other cryptozoological creatures, placing them firmly in the animal kingdom. Mermaids are a natural subject for this volume, as they sat on so many boundaries: between human and animal, between the natural and supernatural, between fact and fiction. It is this final wall, between the credible and the incredible, that she sits atop that proves so important for us. Because that wall might crumble so easily she demonstrates just how fungible those borders were (and are).
