Query: Studies of strange sightings by sailors and seafarers

Greg Eghigian Discussion

Dear Colleagues,

I'm hoping that some of you might be able to point me in the right direction. I am interested in identifying some studies of reports of uncanny sightings (strange lights, ghost ships, sea serpents, etc) by sailors and seafarers throughout history. While I have been able to find the equivalent for celestial "wonders," I have been unable to track anything down about this kind of folklore among mariners. (My search terms obviously have been less than adequate). 

I would appreciate any tips and suggestions for reading you might have.

Thanks,

Greg Eghigian

Professor of History

Penn State University

Email: gae2@psu.edu

3 Replies

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One approach might be through Olaudah Equiano's 1789 autobiography. He recounts having seen wonders and strange sights in his first sea journey (the Middle Passage) yet ultimately they are all explained by science, navigation, and the like. John Marrant's 1785 memoir includes being tossed overboard then back on by a huge wave. There's also a giant fish. John Jea's 1816 hymnbook includes religious songs for sailors that recount monstrous waves and a feeling of being in supernatural hands while at sea. It's possible that shipboard ballads or sea chanties might have examples of uncanny events. The American Antiquarian Society has a collection of broadside ballads on line (http://www.americanantiquarian.org/thomasballads/). Your query makes me think that Equiano's, Marrant's, and Jea's examples are "scientific" or "religiously orthodox" versions of what had come before in mariners' lives.

John Saillant

David Hufford's classic study _The Terror That Comes in the Night_ (Philadelphia: U of Penn Press, 1989), which lays out his experience-centered approach to supernatural belief, discusses the empirical basis for early modern and 19th c sailor sightings of the Norse Merman and the giant squid.

Dorry Noyes

I have never actually seen work on these tales done as a study per se. For the most part you'll encounter this type of material in collections of folklore (for example Charles Skinner's 'Myths and Legends of our Own Land' cited here). I've done some work in this general area as part of research into the pervasiveness of treasure tales in North America, but have not made a study of the various types. Interesting material, though! http://www.gutenberg.org/files/6615/6615-h/6615-h.htm for Skinner's book online. You might also be interested in a short type-index of treasure tale motifs I accumulated while debunking a long running Canadian treasure tale some years back. http://www.criticalenquiry.org/oakisland/motif-index.shtml

Richard Joltes