Iara, mother of the water bodies

Iara by  Brasil Fantástico.

Now, I'll tell you the story about the brazilian mermaid called Iara (also known as Yara ou Y-îara).

This is a legend about a very beautiful indigenous girl that was praised a lot by her father, but her brothers were very jealous and they planned to kill her. Iara heard about their plan and killed them defensively. However, she was afraid of what her father would think about her and she ran away to the forest.

Her father, the tribe's healer, looked for her in everywhere and, then, found her. As punishment for deaths that she caused, the healer threw her in the Solimões river.

When Iara sank into the water, some fishes helped her and took her to the surface transforming the indigenous girl into a mermaid, the mother of the water bodies. 

This legend is popular in the whole country, but specially in northern region where the story happened. Some people believe so much in it that in the evening they try to don't go out near to rivers because they believe that she can attract men to the water and then, they die.

She is described as a very beautiful woman that has no legs, instead of legs, she has a fish tail and she likes to admire her own reflection on the water singing with an extremely beautiful voice. Iara is sometimes considered as the indigenous goddess of the water bodies.

I hope you guys liked it!

Let me know what you thought about this myth! Leave a comment! ;)