Statue of Kopakonan, legendary Selkie sealwoman, Mikladalur village, Kalsoy Island, Faroe Islands
Mikladalur has a legend of a selkie/sealwoman. Seals were believed to be former humans who voluntarily sought death in the ocean. Once a year, on Twelfth Night, they were allowed to come on land, strip off their skins and amuse themselves as human beings, dancing and enjoying themselves. A young farmer from Mikladalur once went to the beach to watch the selkies dance. There he sees a beautiful selkie maiden shedding her seal skin, and he is hit by an intense desire for her. He hides the skin, so that she cannot go back to sea at the end of the night, and confronts her, and forces her to marry him. The man kept her skin in a chest, and kept the key with him both day and night. Like this they lived for several years, having several children together. One day when out fishing, he discovers that he has forgotten to bring his key, and rows back home with his power. When he returns home, his wife has escaped back to sea, leaving their children behind, but has put out the fire and hid away any sharp objects, so that they wouldn't be harmed. Then one day it happened that the Mikladalur men planned to go deep into one of the caverns along the far coast to hunt the seals that lived there. The night before they were due to go, the man’s seal wife appeared to him in a dream and said that if he went on the seal hunt in the cavern, he should make sure he didn’t kill the great bull seal that would be lying at the entrance, for that was her husband. Nor should he harm the two seal pups deep inside the cave, for they were her two young sons, and she described their skins so he would know them. But the farmer didn’t heed the dream message. He joined the others on the hunt, and they killed all the seals they could lay their hands on. When they got back home, the catch was divided up, and for his share the farmer received the large bull seal and both the front and the hind flippers of the two young pups.
Size: 4016px × 6016px
Location: Mikladalur, Kalsoy Island, Faroe Islands
Photo credit: © Roberto Cornacchia / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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