Tradition / Region: Scottish Mythology
Alternate Names: Mareel
Category: Fish
The Myth
In the storm-dark seas around Shetland there dwells a malevolent being known as the Marool, a devil of the deep that wears the shape of a fish. Its head is covered in eyes, watching in every direction, and upon its crown burns a crest of living flame.
The Marool is most often seen amid mareel—ghostly, glowing sea-foam that shines with cold light at night. When storms rise and the waves grow wild, sailors fear its presence, for the Marool delights in disaster. As ships are overturned and dragged under by the sea, it is said that the creature sings, its voice carried on the wind, wild with joy at the destruction.
In later times, the name Marool came to be used for strange deep-sea fishes such as the anglerfish or monkfish. Yet in the old tales of Shetland, the Marool is remembered not as a mere animal, but as a watching, singing spirit of shipwreck and storm.
Sources
A Book of Creatures contributors. (n.d.). Marool. In A Book of Creatures, from https://abookofcreatures.com/2016/03/04/marool/