Selkies exist in the folklore of Ireland, England, Scotland, and Iceland, as well as the Scandinavian countries whose shores border that particular area of the globe. They are related to Finfolk, and perhaps to swan maidens, as well as other creatures of myth and legend the world over who transform from animal to human form, and back again. Like “The Mermaid Wife,” many versions of the selkie stories tell of a magical creature trapped by a human man, forced to marry him and bear his children. She sometimes appears happy with her lot until she finds her stolen skin, the means to return home. At this point she escapes, often gleefully, into the sea, with only a passing, regretful glance back at her earthborn children. I was excited by this aspect of the legend because it seemed so taboo: a woman who leaves her children? Shocking. But is it? Should it be? If that woman has been captured and kept for years against her will? And would it be shocking if a man did the same? Constance didn’t choose to get pregnant or give birth, but she does love her daughter. She has this in common with generations of women the world over: her story is their story. It is my story and the story of my ancestors.

There’s no way of knowing, but I like to imagine that the selkie legend has roots in real events. Imagine a fishing and farming community on a remote island centuries ago. One day a woman emerges from the waves, wearing sealskins, speaking a language no one can understand. Those big gray seals with their intelligent eyes, always watching from a nearby skerry. The onlooker glances from the seals to the woman and makes the connection, sees the evidence: she is a seal. Modern, logical minds might suggest that there is a more earthly explanation; perhaps the onlooker has missed the fact that the woman has come from a shipwreck, that she was always human. Nevertheless, the rest of the story is the same: she cries when her sealskin is taken away. She reluctantly becomes a wife. He hides her skin, naturally assuming that she would try to return to the ocean if he let her have it, despite her love for her children that anchors her to him and to the land. Perhaps she would. The question is, would you blame her?

EPIGRAPHS AND SOURCES FOR FURTHER RESEARCH

Chapter 1

Excerpt from “The Forsaken Merman,” in Matthew Arnold, The poetical works of Matthew Arnold (New York: Thomas Y. Crowel, 1897), available at https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_poetical_works_of_Matthew_Arnold/The_Forsaken_Merman.

Chapter 6

Quotation from “The Goodman of Wastness,” in Black, G. F. and Thomas, N. W., Examples of Printed Folk-lore Concerning the Orkney & Shetland Islands (London: The Folklore Society, 1903), available at: https://www.alternatewars.com/Mythology/Example_FL_Orkneys_Excerpt.htm.

Chapter 8