Am I a selkie?
Native to the coasts of the British Isles, the selkie spends most of her life underwater. In her natural form it is impossible to tell her from an ordinary sea lion, but if she so chooses she can remove her seal-skin and walk on land as a human woman. The Selkie must hide her skin carefully while she is out of water, because if any man finds her skin and hides it from her he has power over her, and she cannot return to the sea until she finds it.
There are many Welsh and Irish legends of unhappy Selkies, forced by human men to be their wives. A Selkie will never stop searching for her true skin, no matter how much her husband may try to please her, and should she find it she will flee immediately, even abandoning her children.
The children of Selkies are drawn to the sea; they will never drown, and have a terrible wanderlust. A particularly lucky sailor might be said to have a Selkie mother.

















