Selkie's

I found a fascinating blog post by Christchurch writer, Joel le Blanc here about Selkie's - those mythical sea/human creatures of the Scottish coast. For some reason, the Selkie has always fascinated me - and I'm not alone. There seems to be something about these  creatures that draws writers and film makers repeatedly. There is a pathos to the selkie tale, of lost freedom for the (usually) woman who tries to live as a human, but inevitably returns to the freedom of the sea.

Films using the Selkie myth include the hauntingly entrancing  The Secret of Roan Inish  and Colin Farrell's Ondine -   both set in Ireland, although the Selkie myth belongs more to Scotland and the Orkneys. In books, the selkie is found in both SciFi and fantasy: Ann McCaffrey and Elizabeth Ann Scarborough's Petaybee  series, A.E. van Vogt's The Silkie, some of Juliet Marillier's novels, Beside the Ocean of Time by George MacKay Brown and Seaward  by Susan Cooper.

But why is that we are drawn to this myth; what is it about tales of tragedy and pathos that call to us, and this one in particular?

My own theory is that it is the intensity and drama of the story, layered with emotion and yearnings, plus the longing for freedom in all of us that free-swimming Selkie represents. Or maybe for specfic readers in particular, it is the sense of otherness, of being part of a world unimaginable to their neighbours that appeals.

What ever it is that draw us, the Selkie legend is unique and enduring.