The Secretive Selkie

The Legend of the Selkie

Once upon a time, a man was walking along the windswept sands of the seashore early one morning, when he heard sounds of festivity, frolic, and merriment from within a nearby cave. Just outside of the cave lay a great many seal skins. He crept toward the cave, curious. Not wanting to be seen he halted and deftly took one of the skins. Then he brought it home to his small fishing village and locked it in a chest within his house. He went about his business that day, but his sleep was troubled by dreams that night. The following day he returned to the mouth of the cave to find a beautiful young woman there. However, she was naked and crying desperately. Here was the seal whose skin the man had taken, unable to return to the sea. He gave her clothes, comforted her, and took her to his home. A certain fondness formed and they began to get along well enough. She was shy and reserved though, and did not take to others due to her otherworldly nature. She would often sit and gaze longingly at the sea. As time passed, they eventually married. Their union was harmonious and several children were born to them as a family grew. During all this time, the skin was kept locked away in the chest, and the man kept the key on his person always.

After many years had passed, there came a day when he forgot the key at home as he departed and rowed out to sea. He returned, hauling his catch home, but upon entering perceived a sense of vacancy. He called out but received no reply. His unease increasing, he then found the chest was open and both the woman and the skin were gone. Having found the key, she opened the chest out of curiosity, and found her skin there. She felt the irresistible allure of the sea, her natural place and true home. So, she tearfully bade her children farewell, as she had spent many years there and loved her children dearly. She put on her skin and plunged into the sea. Before doing so, she is said to have uttered the following: “Woe is to me, I have seven children on land, and seven in the sea”.

“Woe is to me, I have seven children on land, and seven in the sea”

The distraught man walked down to the water, and for the first time the crashing of the waves echoed with anguish and melancholy. Since then, when he went fishing, a seal would come and swim around his boat from time to time with watery seeming eyes. Though try as he might, he was never able to discern if this was her or simply his troubled mind playing tricks on him. (Ever since then, the man was lucky in his fishing and many fortunes awaited him.) But from that point forward, when their children walked along the shore, a seal would often swim close by and toss beautiful shells and small treasures to them. But never again would their mother return to land.

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The above is a pretty well known legend of the mythical creature known as the selkie, that was inspired while sorting through photos of seals I took in Iceland.

Regarding the story, there are a number of variants, particularly among the different geographic regions most closely associated with the selkie legend- Scotland (the Orkney and Shetland Islands in particular), Ireland, The Faroe Islands, and Iceland. Made particularly interesting that in many of these locales, the killing of seals is seen as a bad omen or taboo. In some cases, she has a prior family in the sea, while in others she vanishes into the sea never to be seen again. However the main theme of the selkie wife, constrained by the hiding of the seal skin, remains consistent. The term itself has origins in the Scots language word for seal- “selch”. Typically referring to harbor or gray seals.

It is worth noting that selkies are not exclusively women and there are tales of seal men as well. A perfect example being the tale of the great selkie of Sule Skerry. (You can hear the ballad here, by the Corries- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSxrH8yYI_E. There is another version you can find performed by John Denver).

Selkies are a fascinating mythical creature that are lesser known than their mermaid and siren cousins. But they are distinct and the variety of their tales and cultural resonance are no less profound. Capable of altering their form from seal in the sea to human on land, they are first-rate shape-shifters. They remove their seal skin in order to take human form and don it again to change back. I wonder if the movie "Tusk" was a twisted version on a selkie tale. Not a strong recommendation unless you enjoy body-horror. However there is a movie related to selkies that I heartily recommend called "Song of the Sea". It is a 2014 animated film by the Irish studio Cartoon Saloon. This film is well made with an interesting art style that is funny and heartfelt, with enchanting music steeped in Irish culture and lore.

The expressive eyes and expressions of a seal truly do spark the imagination and seem to reflect the very depths of the sea itself within them. It seems easy to see why superstition and myth arose around these playful creatures.