"On Michael Skellig" by Keith Taylor (1977)

Originally appeared in Swords Against Darkness II (1977).

Plot: Felimid mac Fel is washed ashore at a monastery on a rocky island. There he sees teh priests are strongly opposed to the old ways, including casting out the selchies who once lived there. Felimid uses his harp to sing to the selchies and soon learns of the war between the monks and the elder folk. The selchies give Felimid a boat and carry him off the island. Later when he passes by the island he sees no humans live there any longer but the seals once more bask on the rocks.

Monsters:

Selchies - the seal folk are portrayed as both magical and tragic. The priests deny the existnce of their souls and shun them. They show Felimid respect as a bard beasuse it is a lesser form of druid.

History: Keith Taylor wrote this story under the pseudonym 'Dennis More'. He wrote some of the early Felimid stories in first person but switched to third later and rewrote the early tales for book publication. The character Felimid mac Fel is the son of Fal who went viking with Cormac Mac Art (the Robert E. Howard character) that both Andrew J. Offutt and Keith Taylor would write about in When Death Birds Fly (1980) and The Tower of Death (1982).

1

1

1

1