Brought to you by OBS staff member Heidi
Selkies or silkies come from Irish and Scottish Fokelore. They are believed to be seal people. In the oceans where they live they swim around in their seal form, but when they come upon shore they take their seal pelts off and hide them and walk around as humans. In human form they are more beautiful than any normal human and can easily be-spell people to fall in love with them, even though the selkie rarely stays in relationships with humans for long. If someone should find their pelt the selkie is basically enslaved to that person, having to do their bidding or whatever the person commands (in most stories this is for female selkies only and the selkie usually ends up married to the one who finds their pelt, but a few stories have this fate for the male as well). If they find their pelt they will leave that person and any children they may have and return to the sea.
It is often said that if a human woman wishes to have an encounter with a male selkie she is to go to a rocky beach and shed seven tears into the ocean at high tide. They are said to be adventurous lovers, even though they don’t stick around long.
Books with Selkies
- Tempest Series by Tracy Deebs
- Storm Prince by Terri Lynn Wilhelm
- The Selkie Spell by Sophie Moss
- The Selkie Bride by Melanie Jackson
Movies with Selkies
- Selkie
- The Secret of Roan Inish
What do you think of Selkies as mythical creatures? Have you read any other books as them being the main character? I’m actually reading Seanan McGuire’s “A Local Habitation” and they are mentioned there, though I’m not going to tell you how it ends 😀
