What is a selkie?
Selkies are sea spirits of the folklore of Orkney and Shetland in northern Scotland, Ireland, the Faroe Islands and elsewhere. They normally live in the sea in the form of seals, but when they come ashore they shed their sealskins and take the form of beautiful humans, it is said.
The tale of the selkie wife
The most famous story tells of a young fisherman who hides the skin of a selkie woman dancing on the shore, and marries her when she can no longer return to the sea. The two live together and have children, but one day the wife finds her hidden skin and returns to the sea, leaving her family behind. Afterward, she is said to have watched over the children who came to the shore from the sea. It is one of the tales of marriage between a human and a supernatural being, much like Japan’s legend of the celestial maiden’s feathered robe (hagoromo).
Male selkies
Male selkies are also told of, said to come ashore and enchant human women into falling in love with them. In the Faroe Islands there is a statue of the “Seal Woman” based on the selkie legend. Unlike the kelpie, also a Scottish water spirit, the selkie does not attack people and is told of as the protagonist of bittersweet stories.
