Mythology is the set of myths of a culture, a religion, a people or another human group. The best known and most popular is Greek mythology, which gave rise to Roman mythology and which has survived to this day, reflected in numerous works of art. However, in Europe other very important mythologies such as the Scandinavian or Celtic mythologies were developed. Drinking from the sources of Celtic mythology, we find the mythology or folklore of Scotland, and among the beings that populate it, they stand out the Selkies.
Come with us to know 10 Curiosities about the Selkies, the beautiful beings of Scottish mythology, whose stories and features are sure to impress you. It was believed that they had the power of therianthropy, that is, that they could change shape from human to animal and from animal to human.
10 Curiosities of Selkies
1. The or the Selkie It is a mythological creature that we find in Scottish folklore, especially in that of the Orkney and Shetland Islandsbut also in the Faroe Islands, Iceland and Ireland.
2. The word “selkie” is actually just means «seal». According to the tradition of the Orcas and Faroe Islands it is the large seals, especially the «gray seal», which may be a «folk selkie».
3. A selkie is a mythological creature that has the ability to change its seal form into a human form simply by removing its skin.
4. In addition to selkies These wonderful beings are also known as silkies, sylkies, selchies and folk selkies.
5. The Selkies They do not usually live on the bottom of the sea like the «finfolks», the marine shapeshifting witches, but in rocky areas close to the water.
6. They should not be confused with mermen or mermaids as they are not the same type of magical being in Scottish folklore.
7. To transform into a human being, the selkie only had to take off the seal skin which formed its outer layer, although some legends stated that this action could only be carried out when certain tidal conditions were met.
8. Other versions of the myth said that it was only every seven years when selkies had the ability to take human form.
9. Regarding what these mythological beings actually were, there were different theories: the main one said that they were condemned souls of humans who had sinned, another that they were fallen angels and also that they were beings formed in a supernatural way with the souls of men and women who had drowned near the coast.
10. According to tradition, The male selkies were of extraordinary beauty and with a great power of seduction. They mainly conquered married women who were not happy with their lives and especially the wives of fishermen who spent a lot of time at sea.
11. If a woman wanted to come into contact with a selkie, she had to shed 7 tears into the sea.
12. It was said that female selkies liked to leave the marine environment and become women on full moon days and days when there was a party. They abandoned their skin and went to the towns to dance and drink, but when the sun rose they returned to the sea.
13. If a human fell in love with one of them, he had to wait faithfully for her on the seashore during the following full moons and in the face of such a proof of love, it is possible that the selkie would be moved and agree to leave the sea and marry him. .
14. Legends say that Selkie maidens are beautiful and very good wives as long as her husband keeps the seal skin, but on many occasions they will be plunged into melancholy because they will miss the sea.
15. There are hundreds of legends about Selkie brides and wives from Ireland to Iceland.
16. Legends about female selkies They have many points of relationship with the «swan maidens». Both usually shed their skin or feathers to bathe and that moment is taken advantage of by a human male to steal and hide their animal cover and thus, unable to escape either by swimming or flying, force them to stay with them and make them his wife.
17. Members of the Scottish clan MacCoudrum of the Outer Hebrides claimed descent from the union of a man and a selkie. This legend arose to explain a hereditary abnormality that many members of the clan suffered from: syndactyly. Syndactyly causes skin to grow between the fingers, giving the hands and feet a slight resemblance to fish fins. Since centuries ago there was no medical explanation or solution for these types of different physiological conditions, they were attributed to the influence of magical beings.
18. Folklorist and historians think that the origin of the belief in these curious mythological beings is in the Finns who arrived in their kayaks to the shores of many Scottish islands. The first Scottish settlers possibly had contact with Finnish or Sami women who traveled covered in sealskins and often married them.
19. Another theory about the origin of the selkies He states that it is possibly a misinterpretation of something seen in the distance. As we have said, the Finns reached the coasts of Scotland in kayaks and completely covered in seal skins to protect themselves from the cold. When the seal skins in the kayaks and those they wore got wet, the boat lost buoyancy and it was necessary to dry them. It is possible that the natives of the Scottish islands saw them taking off their skins or lying without clothes next to them on the rocks or the beach. This may have led them to think that they were seals that shed their skin and transformed into humans.
20. For a long time in the Shetland Islands, killing seals was superstitiously avoided, as it was feared that under the skin there could be a selkie.
Did you know the Selkies? Did you know that they were believed to be “shapeshifters” and that they were possibly Finns who arrived on the coast of Scotland covered in furs? If you want to know other shapeshifters from world folklore, we invite you to read the post: Shapeshifter | 5 mythological cases that could have inspired JK Rowling.