The Secret of Roan Inish is a perfect example of traditional Irish legend. Surrounded by such a large body of water and separate from the rest of Europe, Ireland has a plethora of legends that have arisen involving the sea. The misty landscape of coastal Ireland is the perfect place for magical and even supernatural things to happen, so it is no surprise that a story such as that of the selkie has evolved into an Irish legend. The selkie myth is not one that is hugely known to those outside of Ireland, but is certainly interesting to hear
According to legend a selkie is a seal that can shed its skin and transform into a human. The human is typically shown as a beautiful but wild dark haired woman. If she goes ashore and a man captures her seal skin, she is bound to him, and usually becomes a very devoted wife. However, her heart belongs to the sea and she will always long to put her seal skin back on and return to where she is from. Her husband hides the skin for this reason, but if she ever finds it there is no stopping her from diving back into the sea and never returning to her husband and children.
There are several variations on this story, including ones where a male selkie has children with a human woman and then returns with the children to the sea. Many of the selkie legends have a similar structure, but they all involve romance and children to a certain degree, and end with the selkie recovering his or her skin and returning to the sea, since that is where their heart and soul belong. They can never be truly happy in their human form, since they are always wistful and longing to return to the sea, leaving their human partners broken-hearted. The selkie legend is a beautiful one but never has a happy ending.
In the Secret of Roan Inish this tale is told, and the main characters are descendants of a selkie woman and her husband. Because of this unique ancestry, some of her descendants exhibit traits of a selkie such as an obsession and familiarity with the sea, as well as having a similar physical appearance (dark hair and eyes), which is construed as a little queer by the people of Roan Inish. The movie itself was written and directed independently by John Sayles, and was released in 1994. Despite being set and filmed in Ireland, it is actually an American film (hence why the actors speak mostly English). The Secret of Ron Mor Skerry, by Rosalie K. Fry, is the name of the novel that the Secret of Roan Inish is originally drawn from. The novel was published in 1959 in New York but is little known for the most part.
According to legend a selkie is a seal that can shed its skin and transform into a human. The human is typically shown as a beautiful but wild dark haired woman. If she goes ashore and a man captures her seal skin, she is bound to him, and usually becomes a very devoted wife. However, her heart belongs to the sea and she will always long to put her seal skin back on and return to where she is from. Her husband hides the skin for this reason, but if she ever finds it there is no stopping her from diving back into the sea and never returning to her husband and children.
There are several variations on this story, including ones where a male selkie has children with a human woman and then returns with the children to the sea. Many of the selkie legends have a similar structure, but they all involve romance and children to a certain degree, and end with the selkie recovering his or her skin and returning to the sea, since that is where their heart and soul belong. They can never be truly happy in their human form, since they are always wistful and longing to return to the sea, leaving their human partners broken-hearted. The selkie legend is a beautiful one but never has a happy ending.
In the Secret of Roan Inish this tale is told, and the main characters are descendants of a selkie woman and her husband. Because of this unique ancestry, some of her descendants exhibit traits of a selkie such as an obsession and familiarity with the sea, as well as having a similar physical appearance (dark hair and eyes), which is construed as a little queer by the people of Roan Inish. The movie itself was written and directed independently by John Sayles, and was released in 1994. Despite being set and filmed in Ireland, it is actually an American film (hence why the actors speak mostly English). The Secret of Ron Mor Skerry, by Rosalie K. Fry, is the name of the novel that the Secret of Roan Inish is originally drawn from. The novel was published in 1959 in New York but is little known for the most part.
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