Faerie Tale Creature: Selkies

My first encounter with the Selkies was on a Magic the Gather card. During the Lorwyn block, ther e were a lot of lesser-known faerie tale creatures that made a comeback. But, since the 

cards weren’t the coolest, the creatures found therein didn’t catch on either among the masses that play the game.

But, then a friend pointed out that Selkies weren’t creatures created solely for the purpose of the game. These creatures originated in Icelandic, Irish, and Scottish legends. And they have little to do with the image portrayed on the Magic card, though the image is cool.

Selkies have the ability to become human by removing their seal skin. The story goes that farmers and women will hunt for a selkie to steal their skin and force this beautiful human to become their spouse. Male and female selkies are supposedly beautiful examples of their gender whether seal or human.

Why am I regalling you with information about a creature like this? With TV shows like Grimm and Once Upon a Time coming out, which are attempts to return to the true faerie story, it won’t be long before the lesser known creatures like selkies take their turn in the media spotlight. Grimm especially where so much time is devoted to German faerie tale creatures that many people are unfamiliar with. With that, I think we’ll also see the original characteristics of common Fae creatures that have become distorted by popular media.

I’m currently in the process of writing a modern day faerie tale about Selkies, and hope I can do them justice.