Selkie Tales from the Orkney Islands

An excerpt from an interview with Willie Thomson of North Ronaldsay, Orkney, Scotland. Transcribed by Nancy McEntire (1983) 

 

The story goes something like this, 

 

There was a handsome young man who was often nagged by the village women to get himself a wife. One day, while he was walking along the misty shore, he heard music coming from somewhere. He then spied several naked women dancing, and saw that they had seal skins lying all about. As he reached for one, he slipped and made a noise, startling the dancing ladies. They began to scramble about for their skins, and all got away save one. Her skin was captured by the man, and he took her home with him. 

They eventually married and had four children together, and lived quite happily for many years.

Then came a particular day when the man was out to sea with the eldest child, and the seal-wife stayed home with the youngest who was injured. The child had a thorn in her foot, and as she was soaking in the bath, asked her mother about the seal skin that her papa sometimes looked at, which he kept hidden above the lintel. At once the seal-wife sought the hidden skin, and, finding it, ran to the sea.

She put on her skin and leapt to the water, her sleek seal body darting through the waves. Her husband and child were  on their way home in their boat when they saw her. She called out to her husband, “It’s been fun boy, but now I’m off! Watch over the bairns!” It was said that she came by to see her children and comb their hair while they met on the rocks. 

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This is a warm and lively tale, which exhibits the tamer characteristics of selkies-as-humans. The connection between the sea and man is evident here, with elements of the supernatural woven into the fabric of everyday life. The selkie returns to brush her daughter’s hair, and see that she’s healthy and fed. The everyday acts such as hair brushing and eating are done by a mythical creature, which results in the  transmuting of two worlds; the ordinary and the magical. 

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