| 释义 |
sealchie, -kie Orkney and Shetland.|ˈsiːlxɪ, ˈsiːlkɪ|
Forms: 6 selchie, 8– selkie, 9 selky, selchy, sealkie, sealchie, saelkie, silkey, 9– silkie, silky.
[dim. form of sealgh seal n.1]
= seal n.1 Also, in folklore, a creature or spirit having the appearance of a seal; spec. one able to assume human form.
c1550Monro Descr. Hebrides (1774) 29 Ane ile callit Ellan Askerin,..guid for fishing and slaughter of selchies. 1744Preston Zetland in Phil. Trans. XLIII. 61 There are many Otters, which they call Tikes; and Seals, which they call Selkies. 1822Scott Pirate xxviii, Our kinswoman has got a pretty seal, too—Here, sealchie, my man. 1852in Proc. Soc. Antiquaries Scotl. I. 88, I am a man, upo' the lan' An' I am a Silkie in the sea. 1856E. Edmondston Sk. & Tales Shetland Islands vii. 80 The seal..retired to the neighbourhood..where a mermaid had her abode. The latter..asked if she could help him. Selkie imagined she might, but only by regaining for him..the covering of which he had been so ruthlessly bereft. 1888Mrs. Saxby Lads of Lunda 90 Gibbie is no a sealkie, nae mair is Gibbie a cal-loo. 1899J. Spence Shetland Folk-lore 24 In old times there was an aversion to and superstitious dread of killing a selkie lest it should be a metamorphic Finn. 1933J. Buchan Prince of Captivity 28 He has heard the silkies singing at dawn on farther islets than St. Kilda. 1976K. Briggs Dict. Fairies 354 In Orkney..the great seal, the grey seal, the crested seal and others, are called ‘the selkie folk’ because it is believed that their natural form is human, that they live in an underwater world..and put on seal-skins and the appearance of seals to enable them to pass through the waters from one region of air to another. |