seal shapeshifter

Sea lion swimming underwater in clear ocean water, evoking selkie folklore

Selkie: Mythology, Folklore, and Cultural Origins

Orin Vale

A selkie is a seal-being of North Atlantic folklore, especially associated with the Scottish Highlands, Orkney, Shetland, and the Faroe Islands, who can shed a seal skin and walk on land as a human. Rooted in oral tradition and recurring in modern literature and art, selkie stories explore transformation, longing, captivity, and the fragile boundary between sea and shore.