The novel’s occasional references to mermaids are nods to
Stardust’s epigraph, John Donne’s poem “Song: Go and catch a falling star.”
Stardust has, thus far, made it very clear that in its world, mythical and magical things are real—contrary to what the speaker of the poem might suggest. Tristran’s sudden bravery when wind from Faerie reaches him is an early indicator that he’s perhaps better suited to living there than in Wall—even if his current crush resides firmly in the mortal world.