IRISH SELKIES
The shape shifting selkies, who are also known as silkies or
roane (Gaelic for seal), occupy the seas surrounding the
Orkney and Shetland isles. The exact nature of their undersea
world is uncertain, though some believe it to be encased in
giant air bubbles. Their true forms are those of faeries or
humans, though they take the form of large seals when
traveling the through the oceans. In particular: great seals
and grey seals are said to take human forms. Older tales tell
that selkies are only able to take on human forms on certain
nights of the year, such as Midsummer's Eve or All Hallows.
Occasionally they encounter humankind, sometimes becoming
their mates. A human male may take a selkie female as his wife
if he finds her seal skin on the beach and hides it from her.
In the end she always recovers the skin and returns to the
sea, though she may return occasionally to watch over her
human family from the safety of the waves.
A human woman may bear the child of a selkie male if she
weeps seven tears or seven drops of blood in the nighttime
sea. Such relationships are rarely lasting. Seven years hence,
the selkie would return for his child, offering the mother a
fee for nursing her own babe.
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