North of Great Britain, there exists a small cluster of islands at the cusp of the north
sea and the Atlantic ocean.
They are known as the Orkney Islands, and its estimated that they’ve been inhabited
for 8,500 years.
They have a rich history, as well as unique traditions and legends.
And perhaps one of the most interesting of these legends is the legend of the finfolk.
Finfolk is from Orkney folklore, they are sorcerers of the sea who travel from the depths
to the Orkney islands north of Great Britain and Scotland in order to capture humans.
Finfolk has an insatiable lust for humans, and they kidnap fisherman and unsuspecting
young people from the shoreline and force them into living a life as their mate.
Finfolk are just part of Orkney folklore, but what if they weren’t?
Today, life’s biggest questions ask, what if the finfolk were real?
Hello and welcome back to life’s biggest questions, I’m Charlotte Dobre.
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The Orkney islands were inhabited by both Celtics as well as the Norse.
In fact, the islands bear striking similarities to Scandinavian tradition, rather than Celtic.
Throw in some influence from the Picts, and you’ve got a special culture that’s very
unique.
The finfolk are found nowhere else on earth.
They are amphibious sea people that can actually grow legs and walk on land.
Finfolk looks a lot like humans, in fact, they are more humanoid than fish.
And they are magical beings.
They can control the weather and are often blamed for rough seas or praised for blue
skies.
Occasionally they ask humans to do them favors, and the reward is a copper coin.
Finfolk is different from mermaids, in that they can shapeshift.
Their bodies are draped in fins that hang in a way that makes them look like they are
wearing human clothing.
They can disguise themselves as sea animals, plants and also floating clothes.
Finwives can appear as mermaids, in fact, they often do appear as beautiful mermaids
so in order to lure unsuspecting fishermen.
So now that you know a little about finfolk, let's talk about what would happen if they
really existed.
If finfolk were real, it's unlikely that the fisherman culture of the Orkney islands would
exist in the first place.
It would be far too dangerous to go out fishing.
When finfolk are out trying to capture humans, they disguise themselves and begin approaching
their prospective mate.
They float closer and closer until they are close enough to grab them.
People would blame every abduction and missing person on the finfolk.
Once you are captured, they take you to a mysterious, sometimes disappearing island
called Hildaland which means hidden land, where you are forced to spend the rest of
your days as their husband, or wife.
Why don’t the finfolk just marry each other?
Well apparently its because if a finwife marries a finman, she loses her powers as well as
her beauty.
If a finwife waits too long, her ugliness increases in increments of seven years until
she becomes an unsightly finwife hag.
So needless to say, they need humans.
Gotta keep that glow ya feel?
According to folklore, there is a way to ward off finfolk, and for that, you need silver.
Finfolk love silver, in fact, it's their weakness.
If you’re traveling by sea or hanging out on the shoreline, bring silver coins, or jewelry
and toss them into the water.
But seeing as finfolk love silver so much, you’d have to bring quite a lot of it on
every voyage in order to keep them happy.
The only other option would be to find the finfolk, stop them and rescue everyone that
had been captured.
Finfolk actually has two homes.
Finfolkaheem is the kingdom where the finfolk live.
It's an underwater dwelling that also serves as their ancestral home.
They live in houses made of coral, and apparently, pearls are plentiful, some are the size of
boulders.
If finfolk were real, there would be government-led missions to try and find held land and Finfolkaheem
to attempt to find the people who had been kidnapped and bring the finfolk to justice.
Hildaland is often described as a disappearing island so it may be difficult to find.
But finfolkaheem would be easier to find because it's never dark in Finfolkaheem, its lit up
by bioluminescent sea creatures at night.
Once finfolkaheem was found, it would probably a wise idea to harvest the plentiful pearls.
I’d be down for a boulder-sized pearl, I know exactly where I can put it in my apartment.
But let's be honest, if finfolk were real, it's probably pretty unlikely that early Orkney
settlers would have even made it to the Orkney islands.
That part of history would be completely lost.
The finfolk would have captured everyone that crossed their paths, not to mention, they
would have made sailing next to impossible since they control the weather.
What do you think would happen if the finfolk were real?
Let me know in those comments.
For now, I’m Charlotte Dobre, and you’ve been watching life’s biggest questions.
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