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Шелки — между морем и землей

Faroese legends

Statue of the selkie, «Kópakonan», in Mikladalur.

A famous selkie story from the Faroe Islands is The Legend of Kópakonan, Kópakonan literally meaning «seal woman.» The story tells of a young farmer from the village of Mikladalur who, after learning about the local legend that seals could come ashore and shed their skins once a year on the Thirteenth Night, goes to see for himself. While laying in wait, the man watches as many seals swim to shore, shedding their skin to reveal their human forms. The farmer takes the skin of a young selkie woman, who, unable to return to the water without her skin, is forced to follow the young man back to his farm and become his wife. The two stay together for many years, even producing several children. The man locks the selkie woman’s skin in a chest, keeping the key to the lock on his person at all times, so his wife may never gain access. However, one day the man forgets his key at home, and comes back to his farm to find that his selkie wife has taken her skin and returned to the ocean. Later, when the farmer is out on a hunt, the man kills the selkie woman’s selkie husband and two selkie sons. Enraged, the selkie woman promises vengeance for her lost kin. She exclaims that «some shall be drowned, some shall fall from cliffs and slopes, and this shall continue, until so many men have been lost that they will be able to link arms around the whole island of Kalsoy.» Deaths that occur on the island are thought to be due to the selkie woman’s curse.

Peter Kagan and the Wind by Gordon Bok tells of the fisherman Kagan who married a seal-woman. Against his wife’s wishes he set sail dangerously late in the year, and was trapped battling a terrible storm, unable to return home. His wife shifted to her seal form and saved him, even though this meant she could never return to her human body and hence her happy home.

In popular culture

Selkies—or references to them—have appeared in numerous novels, songs and films, though the extent to which these reflect traditional stories varies greatly. Work where selkie lore forms the central theme include:

  • A Stranger Came Ashore, a 1975 young adult novel by Scottish author Mollie Hunter. Set on the Shetland Islands in the north of Scotland, the plot revolves around a boy who must protect his sister from the Great Selkie.
  • The Secret of Roan Inish, a 1994 American/Irish independent film based on the novel Secret of the Ron Mor Skerry, by Rosalie K. Fry. The film’s story follows a young girl who uncovers the mystery of her family’s selkie ancestry, and its connection to her lost brother.
  • Selkie, a 2000 Australian made-for-TV film.
  • Ondine, a 2009 Irish film in which a woman caught in a fishing net is believed to be a selkie.
  • Song of the Sea, an Irish animated film about a young boy who must deal with the disappearance of his selkie mother and his resentment of his sister, born when his mother disappeared.

Terminology

The Scots language word selkie is diminutive for selch which strictly speaking means «grey seal» (Halichoerus grypus). Alternate spellings for the diminutive include: selky, seilkie, sejlki, silkie, silkey, saelkie, sylkie, etc.

The term «selkie» according to Alan Bruford should be treated as meaning any seal with or without the implication of transformation into human form.

W. Traill Dennison insisted «selkie» was the correct term to be applied to these shapeshifters, to be distinguished from the merfolk, and that Samuel Hibbert committed an error in referring to them as «mermen» and «mermaids». However, when other Norse cultures are examined, Icelandic writers also refer to the seal-wives as merfolk (marmennlar).

There also seems to be some conflation between the selkie and finfolk. This confounding only existed in Shetland, claimed Dennison, and that in Orkney the selkie are distinguished from the finfolk, and the selkies’ abode undersea is not «Finfolk-a-heem»; this notion, although seconded by Ernest Marwick, has been challenged by Bruford.

There is further confusion with the Norse concept of the Finns as shapeshifters, «Finns» (synonymous with finfolk) being the Shetlandic name for dwellers of the sea who could remove their seal-skin and transform into humans according to one native correspondent.

Gaelic terms

In Gaelic stories, specific terms for selkies are rarely used. They are seldom differentiated from mermaids. They are most commonly referred to as maighdeann-mhara in Scottish Gaelic, maighdean mhara in Irish, and moidyn varrey in Manx («maiden of the sea» i.e. mermaids) and clearly have the seal-like attributes of selkies. The only term which specifically refers to a selkie but which is only rarely encountered is maighdeann-ròin, or «seal maiden».

Possible EndingsEdit

Selkie — Free Spirit
Without battle to hold Selkie’s attention, she grew ever more restless and playful, often spending days at a time doing nothing but running and jumping in the forest.
Selkie and Corrin (Birthright)
Corrin was hailed as a hero, working alongside his spouse to spread peace worldwide. Selkie never truly settled down, and could often be found romping wildly in the forest.
Selkie and Corrin (Revelation)
The two spent the rest of their lives together, Corrin ruling as a wise King of Valla. Selkie never truly settled down, and could often be found romping wildly in the forest.
Selkie and Asugi
Asugi stopped appearing in official records, but the Saizo name was passed down at least 100 times. Selkie never truly settled down, and could often be found romping wildly in the forest.
Selkie and Dwyer
Dwyer continued to serve as a butler and was highly in demand for his tea-extraction techniques. Selkie never truly settled down, and could often be found romping wildly in the forest.
Selkie and Forrest
Forrest assisted his father and uncle while simultaneously revolutionizing the fashion world. Selkie never truly settled down, and could often be found romping wildly in the forest.
Selkie and Hisame
Hisame put down the sword and picked up a pen, becoming one of the world’s foremost scholars. Selkie never truly settled down, and could often be found romping wildly in the forest.
Selkie and Ignatius
Ignatius was assigned to Nohr’s heavy cavalry and instituted many lifesaving safety precautions. Selkie never truly settled down, and could often be found romping wildly in the forest.
Selkie and Kana
Scholars believe Kana traveled the world doing good. Most stories of dragons were based on his deeds. Selkie never truly settled down, and could often be found romping wildly in the forest.
Selkie and Kiragi
Kiragi helped his family rebuild the kingdom. Later he left Hoshido and lived quietly in the mountains. Selkie never truly settled down, and could often be found romping wildly in the forest.
Selkie and Shigure
After the war, Shigure traveled the land singing to heal hearts. Love songs were only for his beloved. Selkie never truly settled down, and could often be found romping wildly in the forest.
Selkie and Shiro
Shiro went on a long, solitary journey to learn wisdom. As king he completed Hoshido’s recovery. Selkie never truly settled down, and could often be found romping wildly in the forest.

Scottish legend

Many of the folk-tales on selkie folk have been collected from the Northern Isles (Orkney and Shetland).

In Orkney lore, selkie is said to denote various seals of greater size than the grey seal; only these large seals are credited with the ability to shapeshift into humans, and are called «selkie folk». The type of large seals that might have been seen on the islands include the Greenland seal(also known as the Harp Seal) and the crested seal(also known as the hooded seal). Something similar is stated in Shetland tradition, that the mermen and mermaids prefer to assume the shape of larger seals, referred to as «Haaf-fish».

Selkie wife and human lover

A typical folk-tale is that of a man who steals a female selkie’s skin, finds her naked on the sea shore, and compels her to become his wife. But the wife will spend her time in captivity longing for the sea, her true home, and will often be seen gazing longingly at the ocean. She may bear several children by her human husband, but once she discovers her skin, she will immediately return to the sea and abandon the children she loved. Sometimes, one of her children discovers or knows the whereabouts of the skin. Sometimes it is revealed she already had a first husband of her own kind. Although in some children’s story versions, the selkie revisits her family on land once a year, in the typical folktale she is never seen again by them.
In one version, the selkie wife was never seen again (at least in human form) by the family, but the children would witness a large seal approach them and «greet» them plaintively.

Male selkies are described as being very handsome in their human form, and having great seductive powers over human women. They typically seek those who are dissatisfied with their lives, such as married women waiting for their fishermen husbands. In one popular tattletale version about a certain «Ursilla» of Orkney (a pseudonym), it was rumored that when she wished to make contact with her male selkie she would shed seven tears into the sea.

Children born between man and seal-folk may have webbed hands, as in the case of the Shetland mermaid whose children had a «a sort of web between their fingers», or «Ursilla» rumored to have children sired by a male selkie, such that the children had to have the webbing between their fingers and toes made of horny material clipped away intermittently. Some of the descendants actually did have these hereditary traits, according to Walter Traill Dennison who was related to the family.

Binding rules and sinful origin

Some legends say that selkies could turn human every so often when the conditions of the tides were correct, but oral storytellers disagreed as to the time interval. In Ursilla’s rumor, the contacted male selkie promised to visit her at the «seventh stream» or springtide. In the ballad The Great Silkie of Sule Skerry, the seal-husband promised to return in seven years; the number «seven» being commonplace in balladry.

According to one version, the selkie could only assume human form once every seven years because they are bodies that house condemned souls. There is the notion that they are either humans who had committed sinful wrongdoing, or fallen angels.

Superstitions

It was only during hard times that the people of the Scottish Isles would kill seals to make use of their skin and blubber. It was thought that the killing of a seal would result in misfortune for the perpetuator.

Ernest Marwick recounts the tale of crofters who brought their sheep to graze upon a small group of holms within the Orkney Islands. During the summer, a man placed seven sheep on the largest holm. While on his way home from grazing sheep, the man killed a seal. That night, all of the man’s sheep disappered, however, the other crofters, who had not killed a seal, did not lose their sheep.

Способности

Салки (Сона) атакует с помощью рисунка

Селки обладают магическими способностями открывать и закрывать порталы, а также могут наносить магические удары по врагам. Атаковать селка может, только если впитает магическую силу рисунка на своём лбу, который соответствует типу её магии и магии планеты, чьи ворота она охраняет.

Когда фея попадает в океан, селка способна почувствовать её присутствие и с легкостью отыскать фею в любом месте океана. Каждая селка связана особыми узами с хранительницей соответствующей планеты. У каждой из Винкс есть своя селка, объединение с которой восстанавливает магические силы и облик как салки, так и феи (как, например, это было с Музой). Селка не только способна почувствовать присутствие феи в воде, но и знает все уголки и места своего океана и может быть хорошим проводником.

Название

Шелки (селки/роаны) — мифические существа из шотландского и ирландского фольклора. Прекрасные люди-тюлени. Добрые и миролюбивые существа необыкновенной красоты. Потомки людей, изгнанных в море за свои проступки, могут выходить из воды один раз в девять ночей, сбрасывать тюленью шкуру и представать в виде девушек и юношей.

В Англии словом «селки» называют выдуманных морских обитателей, тюленей-оборотней. По легенде, они могут сбрасывать тюленьи шкуры и превращаться в прекрасных девушек. Если кто-нибудь украдет и спрячет шкуру, селки придется остаться на берегу, но она будет вечно грустить по морю. (журнал «Друзья навсегда»)

Селки

  • Лемми — селка Андроса и связанна узами с Лейлой.
  • Эйлирис — селка Солярии и связанна узами со Стеллой.
  • Сонна — селка Мелодии и связанна узами с Музой.
  • Лития — селка Зенита и связанна узами с Текной.
  • Дезире — селка Линфеи и связанна узами с Флорой.
  • Сирена — селка Домино и связанна узами с Блум.
  • Филла — хранительница врат Земли, а также вероятно, что если бы у Рокси был Сиреникс, то она была бы связанна узами с ней.
  • Нисса (в озвучке СТС Несса) — хранительница врат Магикса она охраняет Озеро Роккалуче, и может быть связанна узами с Дафной.
  • — селки-стражницы с особым оружием, вероятнее всего связаны со столпами, как, например, пикси Конкорда с секретной библиотекой Алфеи.

References

  1. , p. 78, note 1: «A selkie is simply a seal, though readers of the ballad have tended to assume that in itself it means a seal which can take human form». , p. 120: «‘selkie’ in itself does not imply the ability to take human form any more than ‘seal’ does».
  2. , p. 173.
  3. ^ ; I, pp. XII–XIV
  4. , pp. 172–173.
  5. Marwick, Ernest W. (1975) The Folklore of Orkney and Shetland, London, B. T. Batsford: «in Shetland, Fin Folk and Seal Folk were frequently confused, but in Orkney they were completely distinguished», p. 25, cf. pp. 48–49, quoted by Burford
  6. ^ , p. 121.
  7. Fargher, C. English Manx-Dictionary Shearwater Press 1979
  8. ^ , p. 172.
  9. ^ , p. 261.
  10. , p. 331: «Those are always the basic ingredients: an unmarried farmer, a seal-skin, a naked woman in the waves».
  11. ^ Shetland version localized in Unst: , pp. 262–263; , pp. 169–171: «The Mermaid Wife».
  12. ^ , pp. 173–175.
  13. ^
  14. Orcadian versions: Dennison (tale from North Ronaldsay); Capt. Clark Kennedy (1884, tale from Stromness skipper)
  15. , p. 332.
  16. , «Selkie Wife» (from Deerness, Orkney), p. 175.
  17. , pp. 175–176: Dennison believed it to be «an imaginary tale, invented by gossips».
  18. ^ , p. 264.
  19. ^ , p. 176.
  20. ^ , p. 128.
  21. Marwick, Ernest (1975). The Folklore of Orkney and Shetland. Great Britain: B.T. Batsford LTD London. p. 28. ISBN .
  22. , pp. 173–175
  23. , pp. 262–263; , pp. 167–169: «Gioga’s son».
  24. , pp. 121–122.
  25. , p. 126.
  26. . Cited by
  27. , p. 122.
  28. seals, The. «The Boy Who Lived With The Seals : Rafe Martin : Free Download, Borrow, And Streaming : Internet Archive.» Internet Archive. N. p., 2018. Web. 7 Dec. 2018.
  29. Ása Helga Ragnarsdóttir, assistant lecturer at University of Iceland, cited in
    .
  30. , pp. 632–634 «Selshamurinn»; , pp. 100–102 «The Seal’s Skin «; , pp. 81–82 «The Seal-Skin», etc.
  31. «The Sealskin».
  32. Domhnall Ó Murchadha Rannscéalta (1920), cited by , p. 263
  33. The Coneely case and other merrow lineage connected to selkie wife by
  34. , p. 219, n3, citing Joyce, P. W. (1883) 2: 290.
  35. «The Good People.» Google Books. N. p., 2018. Web. 6 Dec. 2018.
  36. Marwick, Ernest (1975). The Folklore of Orkney and Shetland. Great Britain: B.T. Batsford LTD London. p. 28. ISBN .
  37. ^
  38. «The Good People.» Google Books. N. p., 2018. Web. 7 Dec. 2018.
  39. «The Good People.» Google Books. N. p., 2018. Web. 7 Dec. 2018.
  40. Orkney, A. «A Description Of The Isles Of Orkney : Wallace, James, D. 1688 : Free Download, Borrow, And Streaming : Internet Archive.» Internet Archive. N. p., 2018. Web. 7 Dec. 2018.
  41. Silver, Carole B. (1999). . p. 47. ISBN 978-0-19-512199-5.
  42. Brown, George Mackay (1983), «Sealskin», A Time to Keep and Other Stories, New York, Vanguard Press, pp. 172–173, cited in , p. 330.
Bibliography
  • Bruford, Alan (1974). «The Grey Selkie». Scottish Studies. 18: 63–81.
  • JSTOR 
  • JSTOR 
  • JSTOR 
  • (in Icelandic)

    • (in Icelandic)
    • (translated from the German)
Further reading
  • Williamson, Duncan (1992). Tales of the seal people: Scottish folk tales. New York: Interlink Books. ISBN 978-0-940793-99-6.

Название

Шелки (селки/роаны) — мифические существа из шотландского и ирландского фольклора. Прекрасные люди-тюлени. Добрые и миролюбивые существа необыкновенной красоты. Потомки людей, изгнанных в море за свои проступки, могут выходить из воды один раз в девять ночей, сбрасывать тюленью шкуру и представать в виде девушек и юношей.

В Англии словом «селки» называют выдуманных морских обитателей, тюленей-оборотней. По легенде, они могут сбрасывать тюленьи шкуры и превращаться в прекрасных девушек. Если кто-нибудь украдет и спрячет шкуру, селки придется остаться на берегу, но она будет вечно грустить по морю. (журнал «Друзья навсегда»)

Orkney tales

The selkie-wife tale had its version for practically every island of Orkney according to W. Traill Dennison. In his study, he included a version collected from a resident of North Ronaldsay, in which a «goodman of Wastness», a confirmed bachelor, falls in love with a damsel among the selkie-folk, whose skin he captures. She searches the house in his absence, and finds her seal-skin thanks to her youngest daughter who had once seen it being hidden under the roof.

In «Selkie Wife», a version from Deerness on the Mainland, Orkney, the husband locked away the seal-skin in a sea-kist (chest) and hid the key, but the seal woman is said to have acquiesced to the concealment, saying it was «better tae keep her selkie days oot o’ her mind». However, when she discovered her skin, she departed hastily leaving her clothes all scattered about.

A fisherman named Alick supposedly gained a wife by stealing the seal-skin of a selkie, in a tale told by an Orkney skipper. The Alick in the tale is given as a good acquaintance of the father of the storyteller, John Heddle of Stromness.

Способности

Салки (Сона) атакует с помощью рисунка

Селки обладают магическими способностями открывать и закрывать порталы, а также могут наносить магические удары по врагам. Атаковать селка может, только если впитает магическую силу рисунка на своём лбу, который соответствует типу её магии и магии планеты, чьи ворота она охраняет.

Когда фея попадает в океан, селка способна почувствовать её присутствие и с легкостью отыскать фею в любом месте океана. Каждая селка связана особыми узами с хранительницей соответствующей планеты. У каждой из Винкс есть своя селка, объединение с которой восстанавливает магические силы и облик как салки, так и феи (как, например, это было с Музой). Селка не только способна почувствовать присутствие феи в воде, но и знает все уголки и места своего океана и может быть хорошим проводником.

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