caela-argent

Bi Fork Claded -@derharkil

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Red Fox, Bi Enby Chaos Wizard, Writer of Smut and fiction. BLM + Trans Rights

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hystericempress
@hystericempress

Alright, look, I'm not gonna lie and say my version of this vibe isn't a bit more... excessive than the typical take on the folklore, but maybe less than you might think. One of the interesting bits about Celtic folklore is how often it's been remixed, altered, and adjusted over centuries to better fit its cultural environs. In very few cases is that more true than the Selkie, the seal-woman of the Northern Isles. Let's dive in, shall we?


The selkie crops up in a number of different cultural attestations, but in general almost every culture that borders the North Sea has some variation on it. The selkie, or something like it, appears in not just Scottish and Irish myth, but also those of the Faroe Islands, Iceland, and Norway. The word selkie itself is just a diminutive version of the Scots 'selch,' and yes, all the FFXIV nerds may begin making jokes about identifying Emet-Selch's fursona now. It also has like eight gazillion alternate spellings but I'm going to stick with Selkie for consistency.

Speaking of consistency, there's so many versions of the selkie myth that it's probably best to hit the broad strokes that are shared between most versions. In general, the selkie is some kind of magical creature that is a seal in the ocean, but sheds their tail as a seal-skin when they walk onto the land. In Ireland, the selkie is just part of the broader merrow myth(where they're considered fae), with the terms being used somewhat interchangeably, but in other regions the selkie is a more specific and more unique creature. Many of the most common folktales, Celts being who they are, involved... um, marriage-by-hostage?

See, the idea was you'd wait for the selkie to come on land, then steal or hide its seal-skin, forcing it to abandon the sea and become your bride. This of course always ends in tragedy, since she never stops pining for the sea, and if she ever finds the skin she'll ditch immediately. Possibly because, y'know, you stole from her and then forced her into an unhappy marriage. In some tales the selkie, if let go voluntarily, will return once a year with the tides to her mortal family, but most often she just kinda bails. Nearly every culture associated with the selkie myth has this story, and it's kind of the defining one. Now, granted, my seal-skin is a bit more buoyant than the average, but what do you want? I can't hide my nature anymore than they can.

The selkie was long regarded, though, as a sort of distant shepherd of seafaring communities. To capture a selkie was one thing, but killing a selkie was considered as taboo as killing a mermaid or unicorn in other Celtic folklore. The superstition around them was so strong that villagers and sailors in the Northern Isles of Orkney and Shetland would only kill a seal for their skins and blubber out of absolute necessity, as it was believed it would curse them. And unlike most such stories, there wasn't a penance you could pay, either. The sea doesn't forgive.

Orkney in particular has more specific selkie lore. It was believed that selkies were always particularly large seals in their nonhuman form, which... well, okay, maybe my selkie form is from Orkney. Most likely these selkie were harp seals or hooded seals, as they're the largest varieties that frequent the island. Often children with particularly defined webbing on their fingers and toes were considered 'selkie children,' and were suspected to be the results of romantic trysts between unfaithful fishers and the selkie. Which... man, people in the Isles just love stories about that kind of thing, huh?

Now, granted, I'm perfectly happy in MY relationships. I'm probably not going to be grabbing my seal-skin and making for the Hebrides anytime soon. But I might have some loaner skins you can borrow! Just, uh. They're a little on the large side, though I guarantee you'll fit them eventually.

(art by @Daikanu!)


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