Selkie

In Orkney, the selkies are the seal-folk. In the water, they are grey seals or common seals. On moonlit nights, they come ashore, peel off their seal skins, and dance on the beach as naked humans. When they put the skins back on, they return to the sea.

The Stolen Skin

The most common selkie story follows a pattern: a man sees a selkie woman dancing on the beach. He steals her skin and hides it. Without it, she cannot return to the sea. She marries him, bears his children, and lives as a human wife. She is good and kind but always watching the sea. One day, years later, a child finds the skin hidden in a chest, in the thatch, or behind a wall. The selkie puts it on and walks into the water. She does not return.

The Children

In many versions, the selkie loves her children but cannot stay. She sometimes visits them in seal form, swimming close to shore, watching them play on the beach. The children grow up knowing their mother is in the sea. In some versions, they inherit the ability to speak to seals or to swim beyond human endurance.

The Seal Hunts

Selkie stories carry a pragmatic function in island communities that depended on seal hunting. If the seals are people, killing them has consequences. The stories may have served as a check on overhunting, or as a way of processing the guilt that comes from killing an animal that looks at you with human eyes when it surfaces.