The Selkie Wife | Dark Scottish Folklore Bedtime Story

The Selkie Wife of Wastness is one of Orkney’s most haunting selkie legends — a dark Scottish folklore bedtime story about a seal-woman, a stolen skin, and the sea she never stopped longing for. Tonight on Bedtime Myths & Mysteries, we return to the mysterious selkies: the seal people of Scottish and Orcadian folklore who were said to shed their skins and walk upon the shore in human form. This episode retells The Goodman o’ Wastness, a traditional Orcadian selkie-wife tale preserved in the nineteenth century by folklorist Walter Traill Dennison. A prosperous farmer discovers selkie folk upon the shore. He steals the skin belonging to one of the women, preventing her from returning to the sea. She follows him inland, becomes his wife, and raises a family beside his hearth. But she never stops watching the ocean. Years later, their youngest daughter discovers something hidden inside the farmhouse. And the sea begins calling again. This is a traditional folklore story presented as legend rather than literal history. Beneath its supernatural imagery lies a much darker story about captivity, identity, possession, longing and freedom. If you watched Britain’s Living Myths: Blodeuwedd to Selkies, tonight we return to the selkies for a deeper journey into one of Orkney’s most enduring tales. ▶ Britain’s Living Myths: Blodeuwedd to Selkies [ADD YOUR VIDEO LINK HERE] 🌙 BEDTIME MYTHS & MYSTERIES Dark folklore, ancient myths, forgotten legends and strange stories told by firelight. If you enjoy atmospheric mythology, Scottish folklore, Celtic folklore, dark fairy tales, supernatural legends and bedtime stories, subscribe and join us for the next tale. Each episode is written, researched, narrated/produced, edited and visually directed for this channel, combining original music, folklore, history and original cinematic storytelling. Episodes use original scripts and editing, with AI-assisted visual/Audio production where appropriate, narration is done by a clo