Defining The Selkie Archetrope
Defining The Selkie Archetrope
aka - Tiercel figured out storm was a selkie archetrop
There's a question of what a Selkie is, and what the Selkie as a figure represents. Selkies themselves are a mythological nonhuman creature present in Icelandic, Faroese, Scottish, and Irish folklores, they are able to transform themselves between seal and human form at will by putting on/taking off their sealskin (often referred to as their coat) and are frequently considered fae-adjacent, if not simply magical.
What a Selkie represents is different, however. Most tales of Selkies are tragedies. Animal wife tales. Their coats are stolen by greedy men (and yes, unfortunately the offender is nearly always a man) looking to have a gorgeous selkie bride, but they don't realize how much they're hurting her by keeping her from her home in the sea (and in some renditions, her selkie husband or her selkie family), and if they do, they don't care. She always manages to escape in the end, leaving the human man to suffer some sort of tragic fate upon her departure.
The archetypal selkie tells a story in two parts. Capture and Release. Caged and Free. They could also be argued to fall under the Animal Wife (Shapeshifting Lover) trope, however I believe selkies in particular have more specific connotations to them that warrant them having their own archetrope.
Defining the Archetype and Story
The selkie archetype is, I believe, defined by the following series of events.
- A previously free life in the open sea with their kin, undisturbed by the landfolk. They may or may not have heard stories of them, but know to avoid them, as they bring nothing but trouble.
- While sunning or bathing out on the rocky shores, their sealskin is stolen from them by a greedy human, looking to gain something from them. This strips them from their home, culture, and identity and forces them to conform to the human world around them, always against their will. Often they are forced to marry or serve the human in some way, dehumanizing them despite their being dragged into the world of humans. And yet their nonhuman nature always shines through their human guise, whether that be from their strange and unreal beauty, unnaturally good singing, or some other odd aspects about that behavior. The Humans around them can always tell that they're not human in some way. If they have children with the human, their selkie blood shows through as the children take on seal-like features which give away the nature of their selkie parent.
- Eventually, the Selkie has enough and finds a way to get their sealskin back and escape. They do this by tricking the human, waiting till they're gone, or by calling upon their non-landbound kin to assist them in returning to the sea.
- They leave tragedy and pain for the human in their wake, though it's not undeserved pain, and return to their original home, kin, and culture where they belong.
- It's also worth noting that in some stories, selkies do return to the land, but with their kin in tow, and much happier. When they do return it's always with their sealskin and their family, and the ocean is never far.
Now while this series of events follows the more typical animal wife trope, I'd like to draw attention to the few specific differences that I believe make them truly unique.
The Selkie Is Always Known To Be A Selkie
Before they're trapped by the human, they're known to be nonhuman, and even after they're trapped, everyone knows they're nonhuman. Selkies are never made to hide the fact that they are selkies, and the fact that they're trapped in human form is framed as a tragedy rather than a necessary aspect of their integration into human society.
Other animal bride stories will either have the animal wife's original form be human (like The Swan Princess) or will have the animal wife actively try to hide their nonhuman nature, and flee when it's discovered (like in kitsune tales). Selkies are always known to be selkies, and it's the human taking that away from them.
The Selkie's Skin Is Always Stolen From Them
The Selkie's trapping in human form is always due to their sealskin being stolen from them. Unlike other tropes where, again, the animal wife is willingly hiding, or they're actually trapped in animal form, the Selkie's pelt must be stolen from them to trap them in animal form. There is no willing hiding, there is no binding them in the skin of an animal, there's only trapping by taking away.
Their Return To Animal Form Is Framed As Freedom
While this is less specific to selkies, it still mostly shows up in them as opposed to other animal wife tales. In other animal bride tales their return to (or sometimes initial trapping in) animal form is framed as a tragedy, a curse, or something that keeps them from their true ambitions or love (typically, a human). With selkies, their return to seal form means freedom and going back to those they love and consider their family. Becoming an seal again is freeing and always framed in a positive light.
It's these key differences that make the selkie a SELKIE and not a more general animal wife tale (that, and they're always seals).
Defining the Archetrope
With the archetypical selkie laid down, what makes the archetrope identity of a Selkie?
Identifying as a Selkie archetrope, for me, means fundamentally identifying with the concepts of being Known As Inhuman, having a Stolen Self Identity, and only being free when I Return To My Animal Self. I have lived the selkie story, I am a selkie in many many ways. My life and all that has happened to me is that of a selkie, both in and out of the contexts of my alterhumanity. I am the archetypical selkie, and so I identify as a selkie archetrope.
On a more personal level as well, I'm Irish but don't live in Ireland. I've lost a devestating portion of what should've been my language and culture because of my parents insistence on integrating themselves into usamerican culture. I cannot speak Gaeilge, I cannot read it either, I know a pitiful amount of words because I have not had the time to learn. All I have is my name to remind me. Being a selkie archetrope connects me back to it, in a way.
All of this, to me, is what defines the selkie archetrope.
