#finfolk

It's biology time! (Yay) This was very fun to make (and honestly about... at least 2 years on the "i should make this" -board to the point where I actually can't remember if I've made something like this before already).

I might be missing a few, been posting on this for quite a while now so I probably skipped over something x-x

EDIT: yes I did miss some, I'll try to find them all-

The Lore

The finfolk are part of the Orkney Islands folklore. They are similar in nature to Selkies from Scottish folklore.

Finmen

Finfolk in general are freakishly strong. The finmen are generally stronger than finwives. It is said they are able to row between Norway and Orkney within 7 strokes of the oar. Finmen are also extremely territorial and will kill any fisherman found fishing in his claim of the ocean. Though the finmen do not like Christian crosses and will avoid any boats with one on board. A finman's favorite activity is to cheat human fishermen out of their silver and their wives. Finman do not want a finwife. If they marry a finwife, they will be borderline abusive and send her away to work. Because they're ugly.

Finwives

Finwives are also freakishly strong compared to a human. All finfolk are shapeshifters, and finwives make use of this to pretend to be beautiful mermaids and beautiful maidens walking along the shoreline to capture a husband. Why not just get a finman as a husband, you ask? Because a finwife who marries a finman is cursed to become an ugly hag. Nobody wants to be an ugly hag. So instead they marry a human husband and everybody is happy. Except for probably the human husband who gets enslaved and is unable to leave/live to tell the story.

Finfolkhaem/Finfolkaheem

I've seen it spelled both ways. Anyway this is the place where they live for at least their young life. This is where finfolk are made and their ancestral place. Finfolkhaem literally translates to "finfolk's home" so that makes sense. It is said to be immensely beautiful, with colorful corals and plants and seaweed surrounding it, and made of beautiful expansive crystal halls. It is said to never be dark here because of tiny bioluminescent sea creatures.

Hildaland

I was wondering about your selkie lore? Mainly courtship stuff because I'm doing a little something and I'm collecting info from wherever it exists

Also you have no idea of how many times I've read your stuff, it makes me extremely happy and I have way too many tabs bookmarked to find them easily. You're amazing ( ◕◡◕)っ ♡

My personal selkie lore/headcanons? Sure! (for more information on 'traditional' selkie lore, I'd recommend checking out this page that I found when I went to Orkney. It also covers the Finfolk, who I want to write a story about as well...

Anyway, Ghosti's Personal Headcanons:

Courtship with humans is not encouraged by selkie communities on the whole. Traditionally, it doesn't tend to end well for the selkie.

If they do decide to go ahead with it, they'll be shy to start with; watching their chosen human from the water as they go about their life on land. Then, maybe, they'll shift and try and interact with them on land a little to get to know them. Selkies value community and connection, so it's important that if they're courting someone (as opposed to just sleeping with them as a one-off, which happens a lot more than humans realise, probably!), they need to get to know who they are. They also need to learn if their chosen human is the kind of human to keep their sealskin from them and stop them returning to the sea...

If they go ahead with it, they bring their human gifts from the sea. Whether that's helping fishermen with their catches or bringing beautiful and rare pearls for decoration, or treasures lost in shipwrecks.

Selkies are tactile lovers, so expect lots of touches and hugs and contact, even in the early stages. It's how they let people know they're interested, after all.

I'm sure there's more but that's all I can think of right now. Thanks for reaching out, and I'm glad you enjoy my work.