Selkie: The Seal Folk

The Dancers of the Shore

The Selkie (Selkie Folk) are the shapeshifters of Orkney and Shetland folklore. They live as seals in the ocean. But on land, they can shed their skin to reveal beautiful human forms. They are not malicious like the Siren or Kelpie. They are gentle creatures of tragedy. They come ashore to dance in the moonlight.

The Stolen Skin

The tragedy of the Selkie is almost always the same. A human man hides in the rocks and steals a female Selkie's discarded skin while she dances. Without her skin, she is trapped in human form. He forces her to marry him. She bears his children and is a good wife. But she is never happy. She spends her days staring at the ocean, weeping salt tears.

The Return

Years later, she finds her skin (or one of her children finds it). The choice is instant. She kisses her children goodbye, wraps herself in the fur, and dives back into the waves. The call of the wild is stronger than the love of man. She never returns, though she may watch her children from the waves.

The Male Selkie

Male Selkies exist too. They are handsome rogues who seek out lonely human wives. Legend says if a woman wants a Selkie lover, she must go to the shore at high tide and shed seven tears into the sea.

The Final Warning

You can capture a wild thing and force it into a domestic shape, but you can never truly own its soul. The Selkie teaches us that love founded on theft is merely a prison. If you love something, let it keep its skin. If you hide it, remember that the tide will eventually return for what belongs to it, as the sea always claims its own.