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Overview
Vicuña Cifuentes recalls hearing this story in childhood at La Serena. An ill mother tries to prevent her wilful daughter Serena from going alone to bathe in the river. The daughter strikes her mother’s face and receives a curse. She ignores it, enters the swollen river and is swept toward the sea. When her mother comes searching, fishermen described in the account as Changos report seeing a half-woman, half-fish creature struggling against the current with arms and tail, trying to reach shore.
Fishermen subsequently encounter her off that coast. They gather their nets when she appears because the fish leave the waters around her. This is not the book’s general introductory image of a siren luring sailors with song. Vicuña remembers trying to correct his unnamed male informant’s pronunciation to Sirena; the teller insisted on Serena. The collector’s later suggestion of a Greek-derived explanatory tale remains an interpretation, not proof of where this local story began.
The same section adds a distinct Chiloé description quoted from Cavada: a Serena inhabits sea, lakes and wells, combs abundant golden hair with a gold comb and holds a mirror. A well she inhabits has milky-looking water, and seeing her there portends a short life. Those features are not assigned to La Serena’s cursed daughter. Vicuña explicitly revises his earlier view that siren lore lacked local roots after reading this Chilote evidence; Cavada’s account also distinguishes Serena from Pincoya.
Origins & earliest records
Julio Vicuña Cifuentes, Mitos y supersticiones recogidos de la tradición oral chilena, Santiago: Imprenta Universitaria, 1915. Collection localities, remembered testimony and quoted writings are distinguished; publication dates do not establish the beginning of oral transmission.
Records & interpretation
Section XXXV, Las Sirenas, complete pp. 85–87: collector’s childhood La Serena recollection, disagreement over the name, and later correction after quoted Cavada p. 102. Cavada here remains an indirectly read comparison.
In the literature
“mitad mujer, mitad pescado,”
XXXV Las Sirenas, complete printed pp.85–87, La Serena reminiscence on86–87; quoted printed p.86 · Not applicable: inspected original Spanish
Vicuña first doubts how locally rooted generic Siren accounts are, then recounts a tale heard in his La Serena childhood: Serena strikes her ill mother, is cursed, bathes in a swollen river and is swept toward the sea. Fishermen report a woman-fish figure struggling against the current; later fishers gather their nets because fish flee its appearances, not because the being tears nets. An unnamed male informant insists the name is Serena despite the collector’s suggestion Sirena. Vicuña subsequently revises his broad judgement on local roots after reading Cavada’s distinct Chiloé material, quoted on87.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
Mitos y supersticiones recogidos de la tradición oral chilena
Section XXXV, Las Sirenas, complete pp. 85–87: collector’s childhood La Serena recollection, disagreement over the name, and later correction after quoted Cavada p. 102. Cavada here remains an indirectly read comparison.
- 02
Mitos y supersticiones: recogidos de la tradición oral chilena — XXXV Las Sirenas, complete printed pp.85–87, La Serena reminiscence on86–87
Julio Vicuña Cifuentes, Santiago de Chile: Imprenta Universitaria1915; original title page previously checked, selected complete sections below visually read in National Library MC0008702 PDF. No claim of whole-volume review.
Family & connections
A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.
Located primary passages
Specific passages supporting details in this entry, grouped by their published witness.
Primary source witness
Julio Vicuña Cifuentes, Santiago de Chile: Imprenta Universitaria1915; original title page previously checked, selected complete sections below visually read in National Library MC0008702 PDF. No claim of whole-volume review.
- Vicuña first doubts how locally rooted generic Siren accounts are, then recounts a tale heard in his La Serena childhood: Serena strikes her ill mother, is cursed, bathes in a swollen river and is swept toward the sea. Fishermen report a woman-fish figure struggling against the current; later fishers gather their nets because fish flee its appearances, not because the being tears nets. An unnamed male informant insists the name is Serena despite the collector’s suggestion Sirena. Vicuña subsequently revises his broad judgement on local roots after reading Cavada’s distinct Chiloé material, quoted on87.
XXXV Las Sirenas, complete printed pp.85–87, La Serena reminiscence on86–87
The local childhood episode and later Cavada102 quotation are distinct witnesses. Cavada’s original passage was not independently rechecked in this batch. The mother’s curse is narrative causation, not a claim about real transformation; no Greek-origin hypothesis promoted to an established derivation.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- Primary textVicuña Cifuentes 1915: complete regional accountResearch access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
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