A Selkie

So I did a bunch of research into selkies and finfolk--it's pretty interesting stuff! There's a school of thought that suggests it wasn't originally a Celtic folktale, that it came from the Vikings, Iceland, the Faroese, and that the original selkies were fur-clad Finns who kept to themselves and were all mysterious and seemingly magical and therefore untrusted. I tried to find a translation of Kópakvæði which is this enormous, 68-verse Faroese ballad and had a bit of success--I know what the story is, at least.

So I wondered, why are these tales never from the selkie's point of view? Some of them had lives and children and probably would have been completely happy on land, if it weren't for their seaward compulsions.
I think I want this to be a solo for alto, with viola, english horn, string bass, guitar, and piano. And maybe marimba.

Do You Miss the Sea?

Handsome as sin and twice as virtuous
Bad breath, good heart, full of sorrows
Took my skin and my breath away
Did away with all my tomorrows

He asks me every other day
Do you miss the sea?
Do you, do you miss the sea?
And oh, what can I say
My heart is here, but there I'm free

It hurts well, but oh so much
Away from my home
Or away from his touch?

Where have I to flee?
I've seven on land and
Seven in the sea,
You'll be lucky, oh my love
Your nets will be full
Your way will be clear
I'll watch my children from the waves
But I would never return

I stir my tears into spicy soup
And give it to my children to drink
They too shall miss the sea, the sea