Sea Legends ยท Scotland and Ireland
Selkie
Seal-folk of North Atlantic folklore who shed skins to become human and often return to the sea.
Legend File
Selkies live between seal and human form, and their stories often turn love into captivity. A stolen seal skin may keep a selkie on land as spouse or parent, but the recovered skin calls them back to the sea. The legend is tender and cruel at once: desire cannot erase the home that was taken away.
Source Framing
Scottish, Irish, Faroese, and North Atlantic coastal folklore around selkie seal-folk, especially Orkney and Shetland tales of seal skins, human marriage or captivity, children, longing, and return to the sea.
