Author: Nessquickian
Imagine swimming along the coast of Scotland. While swimming you come across a beautiful woman. To the unsuspecting, she comes off as an average woman. However, in the blink of an eye, you see the maiden pull on a seal skin and dive into the sea. The beautiful woman before you has become a seal and disappeared without a trace. On the coast of Great Britain and The British Isles, these shape-shifting sea maidens called selkies supposedly ameliorate the seas.
Selkies or Selchies are mythologically half fish, half human creatures. They are also types of fae that tend to have water elemental powers. When in the water with the help of seal skins they can shape-shift into seals. They can be found in Scotland, Ireland, and Iceland, and more often than not rural coastal areas. Mythology or History of Selkies
Historically the origins of selkies are unknown. However, their origins seem to be from contact made between the Scottish, the Irish, and the Sami and or Finnish people. Selkies aren’t known particularly for being dangerous, however, certain stories involve selkies luring their love into the sea as a way to be with them. In most cases, selkies are noted as helpful creatures. They’re often found helping sailors and drowning victims while also being kind to those around them.
Tales of these mysterious creatures are commonplace amongst natives and have endured for ages. One of the most well-known stories of selkies is known as The Selkie Wife. The story of the selkie wife follows a man who under the moonlight spots a group of dancing selkies. One Selkie catches his eye, and he takes her skin to stop her from leaving. Unable to return home the selkie maiden follows her manipulator home and eventually they be-wed and have kids. The maiden was forced to stay against her will and despite loving her kids and some semblance of her life she still craved the sea. One day her son came to her with her seal skin, and she was ecstatic. Now reunited with her seal skin the selkie didn't waste any time returning to the sea. As a result, she was never seen again.
On the opposite end of the Selkie spectrum are the forgotten Selkie men. Unlike Selkie women, Selkie men tend to have prosperous lives and aren’t usually forced to forgo their lives in the sea. One of the most well-known stories of Selkie men is called the Selkie and the Hunter. who takes pride in killing seals for profit. Early in the day, the hunter wounds an unsuspecting seal and heads in. Later, the seal catcher is commissioned by a rider and is taken to a grove of seals. Instead of being able to kill the seals, the hunter is pushed underwater and turned into a seal. Distraught after being turned into a seal, he’s met by the selkie relatives of the seal he harmed earlier. He’s brought to the seal he harmed earlier and is made to heal him in order to turn back into a human. As a reward for healing the seal or rather selkie he’s allowed to go home and is given gold as well.
Works cited:
1. Graeme “Traditional Scottish Selkie Stories” Scotland’s Stories. June 2022. https://scotlands-stories.com/traditional-scottish-selkie-stories/ Accessed 3 November 2024
2. lizzbythesea “Selkies – The Forgotten Seal-Men” staring-at-the-sea October 2020. https://staring-at-the-sea.com/2020/10/30/selkies-forgotten-seal-men/ Accessed 3 November 2024
3. Rainbolt, Dawn “Irish Folklore, Myth & Legend: Selkies of Ireland” Wilderness Ireland. March 2022. https://www.wildernessireland.com/blog/irish-myths-legends-part-4-selkies/. Accessed 3 November 2024.
4. todayinmagicalgirlhistory “The Magical Girl Guide to: Selkies” Tumblr. April 2022. https://todayinmagicalgirlhistory.tumblr.com/post/682970547205832704/the-magical-girl-guideto-selkies. Accessed 3 November 2024.
5. Peuffier, Aube “All the gifs about selkies” Tumblr. December 2014. https://64.media.tumblr.com/94db157235d0794b1bfd508467f6ad3d/tumblr_nhbhk2ahcx1rmiepwo4_1280.gifv. Accessed 3 November 2024.
6. “The Story Of The Selkie Wife | Shetland Folktales | BBC The Social ” Youtube. Uploaded by BBC The Social. July 2021. https://youtu.be/0fE11rw0s8w?feature=shared. Accessed 3 November 2024
7. “Scotland’s Stories: Story of a Selkie - Tom Muir“ Youtube. Uploaded by Scottish Storytelling Centre. May 2017. https://youtu.be/JugM395E0TE?feature=shared. Accessed 3 November 2024
Links for further research
1. Celtic Myths - The Selkies: Youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vA3Mv-LIJ38 Youtuber Count Dankula goes into detail about selkies and talks about selkies. He talks about Female selkie stories and male selkie stories.
2. Living Liminally – Fairy facts |Selkies: Blog Spot https://lairbhan.blogspot.com/2024/04/fairyfacts-selkies.html This blog that seems to have lot’s of other articles about other types of fairiesgoes into detail about selkie misconceptions, folklore and other selkie facts.
3. Selkies, Sex, and the Supernatural: Thebottleimp https://www.thebottleimp.org.uk/2016/12/selkies-sex-and-the-supernatural/ This article is about the sexuality and other aspects of selkie culture.
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