The Fisherman and His Soul characters

Appears from the start

A young fisherman who catches a mermaid and falls in love with her. When she says they can live together only if he gives up his human soul, he seeks a way to separate from it despite religious warnings.

Appears from the start

A mermaid caught in the Young Fisherman's net. Her songs entrance him, and she returns his love, but as a creature of the sea she has no soul and will not accept his presence beneath the water while he keeps his.

Appears from the start

The spiritual part of the Young Fisherman, given a separate voice when he decides to cast it away. It begs him not to proceed and asks to receive his heart if it must leave, but the Fisherman believes his heart belongs wholly to the Mermaid.

Appears from the start

A young witch whom the Fisherman approaches after the Priest and the merchants refuse to help him part from his soul. Attracted to him herself, she agrees reluctantly to reveal the ritual that will free his soul from his body.

Appears from the start

A priest who tells the Fisherman that the soul is beyond price and condemns his wish to surrender it for a sea creature. His teaching represents the religious law that the Fisherman rejects for love.

Appears from the start

A barefoot dancer described by the returning Soul after riches and wisdom fail to tempt the Fisherman away from the sea. Because the Mermaid has no feet, the promise of seeing the dancer gives the Soul a way to awaken the Fisherman's curiosity about the human world.