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Kopakonan (seal woman) bronze statue, Mikladalur, Kalsoy, Faroe Islands
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Photographer: Sean Barry
ID: 0000 0000 0618 0779 (2018-06-15)Copyright © 2018 Sean Barry
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INFORMATION PROVIDED WITH THE PHOTO
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date of photo Jun 5, 2018
location
Edge of the ocean channel at Mikladalur, Kalsoy Island (Kalsoy, Faroe Islands)notes Mikladalur is a small village on the remote Faroe Island of Kalsoy, and it is the setting for many stories involving ancient powers and beings. Part of the legend was that seals were former humans and were capable of transforming to humans by coming ashore and shedding their skins. Kopakonan, a selkie or 'seal woman,' was a woman who transformed from a seal that had come temporarily ashore, and as she shed her seal skin and became human she was exploited by a local young farmer who wanted her as his wife. The rest of the story is a lesson in the consequences of mistreating others. The statue, beautifully executed by the Faroese sculptor Hans Pauli Olsen was placed on a flat rocky site at the edge of the surf near the village in August 2014, and it is now one of the most visited sites in the Faroes despite the relative difficulty of reaching Kalsoy Island.photo category: People - culture
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Using this photo The thumbnail photo (128x192 pixels) on this page may be freely used for personal or academic purposes without prior permission under the Fair Use provisions of US copyright law as long as the photo is clearly credited with © 2018 Sean Barry.
For other uses, or if you have questions, contact Sean Barry sjbarry[AT]thegrid.net. (Replace the [AT] with the @ symbol before sending an email.) |
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