The selkie myths (selkie being Scots dialect for seal), are well known in many North European folk cultures under various names. This makes the alliterative verse form of the Anglo Saxons (the oldest written poetic form in the English language) appropriate to their retelling here. The medieval device of linking verses with a single word, phrase or even syllable hook that similarly links final and opening lines, is also employed here to give circularity to the whole piece. The central feature of most of these myths is that, having taken human form, selkie cannot return to the sea until they have put their selkie skins back on.

Aegir is the Norse sea god and I use his name under poetic license here as there is no record that I can find of his fathering any selkie, but given the proclivities of these deities, I wouldn't place it beyond the bounds of possibility.

The lover's need for the human selkie to nurture their family may smack of male chauvinism to the modern ear, but this is a tale of antiquity, where gender-orientated roles were more clearly defined than is the case today.

Probably the saddest feature of this story is that, despite being held by the fisherman against her will the union with the selkie is actually a happy one; in one version she bears him seven sons!

The final sentence of the poem is written in the full Scots dialect that I have used sparingly, in the interests of accessiblity - have you ever tried to read Robert Burns? But this is the punch line, so I felt it needed some authenticity. It translates as Much more than you know! A modern Scot would probably say ken rather than wit but then he doesn't have to alliterate!

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