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Living off the coasts of the Orkney and Sheltland islands, these seal-people live under the water. Also called Silkie and Selchie, their normal appearance is human, however, they have seal skins with which they swim through the sea. When Selkies come ashore, they hide this seal skin. If a man finds a selkie maiden's seal-skin and can successfully hide it from her, he can force her to marry him. If however, at any point, the selkie finds her skin, she will return to the sea. They say that male selkies can take human lovers. It is also said that people born with webbed hands or feet are selkie-born.Orkney(an island close to England) has many stories concerning a magical race of creatures known locally as the "selkie-folk" (meaning seal people). |
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The male members among the selkie-folk were thought to have had many encounters with human females, married and unmarried. A selkie man in human form was a handsome creature with almost magical seductive powers over mortal women. These selkie-men had no qualms in shedding their skins, stashing them carefully, and heading inland, seeking illicit intercourse with an "unsatisfied woman". Should a mortal woman wish to make contact with a selkie-man, there was a specific rite that she had to follow - the woman had to shed seven tears into the sea at high tide. |
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