The Little Mermaid is a literary fairy tale by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. It was first published in 1837 as part of a collection of fairy tales for children. The story follows the journey of a young mermaid willing to give up her life in the sea as a mermaid to gain a human soul. 

The Little Mermaid lives in an underwater kingdom with her widowed father (The Sea King), her dowager grandmother, and her five older sisters, born one year apart.