In Shetland, some stories bring us tales of selkies luring islanders into the sea where the lovelorn humans never return to dry land.
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When he’s not around, she searches the house and finds her seal-skin thanks to her youngest daughter. In one tale, a confirmed bachelor falls in love with a selkie and steals her skin. The selkie-wife tale had its version for practically every island of Orkney.
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For example, it was thought that killing a seal would bring misfortune for the perpetuator. Just like any other supernatural tales in Scotland, there are several superstitions related to selkies. Well, some legends say that selkies could turn human every so often when the conditions of the tides were correct. We’ve all heard the story of Pinocchio, the young wooden boy who wishes he can be human and is finally granted his wish. Not only are they abandoned by their selkie parent, children born between man and seal-folk may have webbed hands or feet and that trait can be passed down to their descendants.
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They are also thought by some to be either human who had committed sinful wrongdoing or fallen angels. The number seven shows up in the stories once again as some say that the selkie could only assume human form once every seven years because they are bodies that house condemned souls. If these women wish to contact their male selkies, they would shed seven tears into the sea. One version states that although the selkie wife was never seen again in human form, her children would sometimes witness a large seal approaching them and greeting them wistfully.Īlthough most stories revolve around female selkies, there are also tales of male selkies who are said to have very handsome human forms, as well as seductive powers that are irresistible to human women.Īs the tales go, the male selkies usually seek those who are dissatisfied with their lives, such as married women waiting for their fishermen husbands. In some versions of the story, the selkie revisits her human family on land once every year, but in most versions of the tale, she is never seen again by them. Some also say that she had a first husband from her own kind. The story varies from place to place, as some say that she discovers the whereabouts of her skin, and some others say that one of her children comes upon it by accident. Throughout her captivity, the wife longs to return to her true home in the sea and always gazes longingly at the ocean.Īlthough she may appear to settle into her human life and may even have children with her human husband, as soon as she can find her skin, she will immediately flee and return to the sea.
#KELPIE THE LEGEND DOCUMENTARY. SKIN#
According to the tale, a man finds a female naked selkie on the seashore, so he steals her skin and compels her to become his wife. There is a famous legend in Scottish folklore that revolves around a selkie wife and her human lover.
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Most of the myths involving selkies recount the tales of female selkies who were forced into relationships with humans by someone stealing and hiding their sealskin. They are mythological beings capable of changing from seal to human form by shedding their skin. Perhaps one of the most notable mythical sea creatures in Irish and Scottish legends are the Selkies who are also called Seal Folk. Selkies Image for Connoll圜ove (Image Source: Flickr – Siegfried Rabanser)