History Main / SelkiesAndWereseals

* In the ''Literature/{{Tempest}}'' trilogy, selkies comprise one of the five main aquatic kingdoms of the Pacific. Unlike most examples, they can breathe underwater in both their human and their seal forms, although they can swim faster when they're seals. Kona and his eight siblings are selkie royalty and live in a castle on a small island. When not in seal form, they use a shrinking spell on their pelts, which they carry in small pouches around their necks.

* In ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'' there are [[http://magiccards.info/query?q=selkie&v=card&s=cname three cards]] with the name selkie in them. They are classified [[OurMermaidsAreDifferent as merfolk]], are all green/blue hybrid-mana creatures, and pictured as half seal, half human. The flavour text for the card Wistful Selkie says, "Selkies call to a sea they never swam, in a tongue they never spoke, with a song they never learned." This is not just a bit of MeaninglessMeaningfulWords but in fact a very necessary LampshadeHanging: the selkies' home plane has no oceans, just rivers [[ArtisticLicenseGeology that don't go anywhere]], so these selkies are adapted to freshwater and presumably very confused.

* In ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'' there are [[http://magiccards.info/query?q=selkie&v=card&s=cname three cards]] with the name selkie in them. They are classified as merfolk, are all green/blue hybrid-mana creatures, and pictured as half seal, half human. The flavour text for the card Wistful Selkie says, "Selkies call to a sea they never swam, in a tongue they never spoke, with a song they never learned." This is not just a bit of MeaninglessMeaningfulWords but in fact a very necessary LampshadeHanging: the selkies' home plane has no oceans, just rivers [[ArtisticLicenseGeology that don't go anywhere]], so these selkies are adapted to freshwater and presumably very confused.

* In the fantasy book from Paul Edwin Zimmer ''Literature/AGatheringOfHeroes'' the Sea Elves can turn into Seals. It's much likely a reference to the Selkie myth.

* In ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'' there are [[http://magiccards.info/query?q=selkie&v=card&s=cname three cards]] with the name selkie in them. They are classified as a merfolk, are all green/blue hybrid-mana creatures, and pictured as half seal, half human. The flavour text for the card Wistful Selkie says, "Selkies call to a sea they never swam, in a tongue they never spoke, with a song they never learned." This is not just a bit of MeaninglessMeaningfulWords but in fact a very necessary LampshadeHanging: the selkies' home plane has no oceans, just rivers [[ArtisticLicenseGeology that don't go anywhere]], so these selkies are adapted to freshwater and presumably very confused.

* ''ComicBook/{{Providence}}'' by Creator/AlanMoore spends much of its pagecount highlighting the social, cultural, and mythological context and background from which Creator/HPLovecraft crafted his Franchise/CthulhuMythos. When protagonist visits Salem, MA (here revealed to be the underlying model from which [[Literature/TheShadowOverInnsmouth shadowed Innsmouth]] was conceived, he mistakes the [[InterspeciesRomance hybrid Deep Ones]] returning to the sea as seals, highlighting the resemblance that story's [[TomatoInTheMirror shocking twist]] bears to the Selkie myth.

Selkies (also known as silkies, selchies, and seal wives) are mythological creatures that are found in Faroese, Icelandic, Irish, and Scottish folklore. Traditional selkies can [[FurIsClothing become human by taking off their sealskins and return to seal form by putting the skin back on]]. Stories concerning selkies are often ShapeshiftingLover romantic tragedies. Sometimes the human will not know that their lover is a selkie, and wakes to find them gone. Other times, the human will hide the selkie's skin, thus [[ShapeshifterModeLock preventing them from returning to seal form]]. A selkie can usually only make contact with one particular human for a short amount of time -- seven years, at most, and often less -- before they must return to the sea.

May overlap with SweetSeal. Related tropes include OurMermaidsAreDifferent, OurWerebeastsAreDifferent, {{Animorphism}}, WaterIsWomanly and TheSwanMaiden (which has the same "stolen clothing, trapped in human form" theme). See also UnscaledMerfolk.

May overlap with SweetSeal. Related tropes include OurMermaidsAreDifferent, OurWerebeastsAreDifferent, {{Animorphism}}, and WaterIsWomanly. See also UnscaledMerfolk.

* Dutch symphonic metal group Blackbriar has a song called "Selkie" on their album ''The Cause of Shipwreck''. The song tells the story of a man who steals and hides a selkie's sealskin, only for her to steal it back and escape. Afterward, the man [[DrivenToSuicide jumps off a cliff to join her in the sea]].

* James A. Hetley's books, ''Dragon's Eye'' and ''Dragon's Teeth'', have a family of characters with the hereditary ability to transform into seals.

* Terry Farley wrote ''Seven Tears into the Sea'', a modern and slightly different selkie tale for teenagers. It is a teen romance novel following the story of a young girl who returns to her hometown in search of a selkie she encountered seven years earlier.

* ''Literature/TheSleepingDragon'' by Joel Rosenberg briefly mentions silkies, also referred to as were-seals

* In the ''Literature/{{Tempest}}'' trilogy by Nicole Peeler, the main character, Jane True, is the adult child of a selkie and a human man.

* Creator/RobertHoldstock's novel ''Merlin's Wood'', contains a fantasy short story, ''The Silvering'', in which the human protagonist is transformed into a selkie.

* ''Sea Change'', by Aimee Friedman is about a girl who comes to Selkie Island during the summer after a drama-filled year. She meets Leo, who is a selkie.
* ''Seal Child'' is a children's novel by Sylvia Peck which details a modern telling of the selkie myth.
* Creator/DavidBischoff and Creator/CharlesSheffield wrote the novel ''The Selkie'', a modern treatment of the selkie legend.
* British fantasy author Creator/SusanCooper has written both a picture book and a novel featuring selkies. The picture book, ''Selkie Girl'', recounts a traditional selkie legend from Ireland. The novel, ''Seaward'', features characters who turn out to be selkies.
* In ''Selkie Girl'' by Laurie Brooks, the main character Elin Jean has had webbed fingers her whole life. She finds out that her mom is a selkie. Elin then becomes a selkie as well.

* Creator/AEVanVogt's SF novel ''The Silkie'' features genetically modified people who can transform into aquatic, seal-like creatures or into living spaceships.
* ''The Sleeping Dragon'' by Joel Rosenberg briefly mentions silkies, also referred to as were-seals

* Creator/MollieHunter's novel, ''A Stranger Came Ashore'', has a character named Finn Learson, a TallDarkAndHandsome young man who turns out to be the Great Selkie, lord of all the other selkies. He has his eyes set on Elspeth, the prettiest girl from the local village; Elspeth's little brother Robbie, however, doesn't trust Finn and decides to uncover his true identity to save her...
* In the 2009 novel ''Tempest Rising'' by Nicole Peeler, the main character, Jane True, is the adult child of a selkie and a human man.
* In Creator/AnneBishop's ''Tir Alainne'' trilogy selkies are a member of the Fae race who must help witches avoid the mass murdering black inquisitors in order to stay alive.
* In Mildred Downey Broxon's fantasy novel ''Too Long a Sacrifice'', the female protagonist Maire ni Donnall has an encounter with a male selkie.
* In Creator/PatriciaAMcKillip's novel ''The Tower at Stony Wood'', a character is revealed to be of selkie origin when she regains her former shape by donning the seal suit she has made.
* ''Uist Skerrie: The Inheritance'', by Ellen S. Cartwright involves an island in the Chesapeake Bay where descendants of the Uist Islands in the Hebrides off Scotland live on in both Selkie and peacekeeper roles as a young doctor receives her birthright in a legacy filled with mystery, romance, and suspense. Selkie legend and modern science coexist with a constant struggle for protection against mainland intrusions and curiosity.

* The book ''Water Shaper'' by Laura Williams [=McCaffrey=] is based on some myths about selkies.
* American author Christina Dodd published a romance novel entitled ''A Well Favored Gentleman'' about Ian Fairchild. His character made his first appearance in the first book of the ''Well Pleasured'' series, ''A Well Pleasured Lady''. Ian is the son of a selkie and has powers due to that legacy.