The islands of Orkney, scattered off the north coast of Scotland, are places where sea and story are inseparable. Here, the Atlantic and the North Sea meet in restless tides, shaping lives, livelihoods and legends. Among these tales, none is more haunting than that of the selkies: seal-folk who slip their skins to walk as humans, caught between two worlds.
Creatures of Land and Sea
The word selkie comes from the Scots for “seal”, yet the legend goes far beyond simple animals. According to Orkney folklore, selkies live as seals in the water but, when the moon is full, they can shed their skins on shore to become human.
By day they may be glimpsed basking on rocks, sleek and watchful. By night, villagers told of seeing beautiful men and women dancing on beaches beneath the stars, their seal skins lying hidden nearby. If the skin was stolen, the selkie was trapped in human form — a theme that recurs in many of the old tales.
Love and Longing
Most selkie stories are not about monsters or danger, but about love — and the sorrow that often follows.
One of the most common tales tells of a fisherman who discovers a selkie woman dancing on the shore. Enchanted by her beauty, he hides her skin, leaving her unable to return to the sea. She marries him and bears his children, yet she always longs for the waves. Eventually she finds her hidden skin and, torn between love for her family and the call of the sea, she returns to the water, never to be seen again.
In other versions, it is human women who fall in love with selkie men. Known for their charm and kindness, selkie men are said to appear to women waiting by the shore, particularly those trapped in unhappy marriages. But such encounters are fleeting, for the sea always reclaims its own.
Orkney’s Norse Connection
Orkney’s selkie folklore has deep roots in Norse mythology. The islands were under Norse rule for centuries, and many of their traditions and place names reflect this heritage. In Old Norse stories, there are tales of seal wives and sea people that bear striking resemblance to the selkies of Orkney.
Some folklorists suggest that selkie legends may also have grown from real encounters: perhaps stories of outsiders arriving by sea, or seals observed in the moonlight, seeming strangely human in movement. Over time, these observations blurred with imagination to create the enduring myth.
Symbolism of the Selkie
The selkie embodies themes that still resonate today: freedom, belonging, and the pull between different worlds. To be human is to know longing, and the selkie’s tale captures that in its most poignant form.
For island communities, the selkie may also have reflected the precarious balance of life at the edge of the sea. The ocean gave food and trade, yet it could also take lives in storms and shipwrecks. The selkie, half of land and half of water, symbolised that duality of blessing and loss.
Echoes in Modern Culture
Selkie legends have not been lost to time. They continue to inspire writers, musicians and filmmakers. George Mackay Brown, the celebrated Orcadian poet, often wove island folklore into his work. Contemporary novels such as Sealskin by Su Bristow retell selkie stories with new sensitivity, while songs like those of folk singer Julie Fowlis carry the legends into the present day.
In cinema, films such as The Secret of Roan Inish and the animated Song of the Sea draw directly from selkie myths, capturing their bittersweet tone for international audiences. The image of the selkie remains potent: mysterious, beautiful, and tinged with sadness.
Visiting Orkney’s Folklore
For travellers, the Orkney Islands offer not only scenery and archaeology but also a living sense of myth. Beaches like those at Deerness or Sanday seem ready-made for selkie tales, with their wide sands, rolling surf and silence broken only by seabirds. Local museums and heritage centres share stories of folklore alongside Viking history and Neolithic treasures.
In Stromness and Kirkwall, you may find references to selkies in art, souvenirs and storytelling events. Folklore is not tucked away in Orkney but remains part of its identity, woven into daily life as much as the sea itself.
A Living Legend
The selkies of Orkney are more than old stories; they are part of the islands’ soul. They speak of the sea’s allure and its power, of love that cannot last, and of the eternal pull between home and freedom.
When you stand on an Orkney beach at twilight, with the wind sharp from the waves and the light fading over the horizon, it is not difficult to imagine figures moving in the surf, half-seen and half-remembered. The selkies endure because they capture what is timeless in human experience: the ache of longing, the mystery of the sea, and the beauty of stories that never truly end.