selkies
Scottish seal people
Selkies are mythical creatures from Scottish and Irish folklore that live as seals in the ocean but can shed their skins to take human form on land.
The legends typically involve a human who hides a selkie's skin, trapping them in human form and often forcing them into marriage.
Stories nearly always end with the selkie finding their skin and returning to the sea, abandoning any human family they've made.
She always felt drawn to the ocean, like a selkie longing for home.
The word comes from the Scots term for seal.
Traditional stories or icons
- talesSpoken or written narratives
- mythologyBody of traditional tales
- fablesDidactic animal stories
- loreTraditional knowledge transmitted orally
sagas · oral-history · ballads · narratives · heritage · traditions · superstitions · beliefs
Flippered marine mammal group
- blubberMarine mammal fat
- flippersFoot-worn swim aids
- whiskersFacial sensory hairs
- pupYoung canine or seal
haul-out · rookery · diving · swimming · coastal · shoreline · rocks · beach
Massive saltwater body
- shoreLand bordering water
- wavesTraveling energy disturbances
- tidalOf sea rhythms
- seafoamFrothy bubbles on waves
coastline · harbor · fishing · lighthouse · currents · depths · islands · cove
Magically change physical form
- metamorphosisProfound biological restructuring
- sheddingLosing outer covering
- changeTo make different
- morphChange form gradually
transmute · transfigure · disguise · reveal · concealment · moonlight · threshold · liminal
Intense, persistent desire
- seductionEnticing someone romantically
- marriageFormal union between partners
- yearningIntense prolonged craving
- childrenYoung human beings
abandonment · heartbreak · devotion · melancholy · bittersweet · pining · freedom · entrapment
legends
Traditional stories or icons
lore · sagas · oral-history · ballads · narratives · heritage · traditions · superstitions · beliefs · Orkney
pinniped
Flippered marine mammal group
pup · haul-out · rookery · diving · swimming · coastal · shoreline · rocks · beach · ocean
ocean
Massive saltwater body
seafoam · coastline · harbor · fishing · lighthouse · currents · depths · islands · cove · kelp
shapeshift
Magically change physical form
- metamorphosisProfound biological restructuring
- sheddingLosing outer covering
- changeTo make different
morph · transmute · transfigure · disguise · reveal · concealment · moonlight · threshold · liminal · identity
longing
Intense, persistent desire
- seductionEnticing someone romantically
- marriageFormal union between partners
- yearningIntense prolonged craving
children · abandonment · heartbreak · devotion · melancholy · bittersweet · pining · freedom · entrapment
- fantasywizard, witch, magic, dragon, elf
- mythical beingsdragons, dragon, unicorns, unicorn, phoenix
- sea lorekraken, mermaids, mermaid, sea serpent, sirens
- sea mythologykraken, merfolk, merpeople, sea serpents, sea monsters
- British Folklorefairy, fairies, pixie, pixies, brownie
- Icelandic folkloretrolls, elves, sagas, dwarves, giants
selkiessalamanders
Tailed amphibians, often aquatic
phoenixes · djinn · dragons · sylphs · fire spirits