A renowned angakok performed a dramatic conjuration, twisting a seal-skin thong around himself and soaring through the house, lifting the roof to escape. In his journeys, he encountered magical women guarded by an enchanted pillar, was nearly killed by inlanders during a brutal game, and finally found his long-lost sister, who gave him a reindeer-skin token to prove his adventures.
Source:
Tales and Traditions of the Eskimo
by Henry Rink
[William Blackwood and Sons]
Edinburgh and London, 1875
► Themes of the story
Supernatural Beings: The angakok interacts with magical women guarded by an enchanted pillar and faces inlanders with extraordinary abilities, highlighting encounters with otherworldly entities.
Journey to the Otherworld: The angakok’s flights to mystical inland realms, including a house inhabited solely by women and a reunion with his sister in a distant land, exemplify travels beyond the ordinary human experience.
Sacred Objects: The reindeer-skin token given by his sister serves as a powerful artifact, symbolizing the authenticity of his supernatural adventures and his connection to her.
► From the same Region or People
Learn more about the Inuit peoples
A great angakok, being once called upon to perform a conjuration, took a thong of seal-skin, and having in one end cut a hole for his toe, he twisted it round his body, and made fast the other end to his head. When the lamps had been all extinguished, he was lifted up, and soaring about the house he made the roof lift and give way to him. Having escaped through the opening he flew to the inland, and came to a house inhabited only by women, but as soon as he tried to approach any of them the house-pillar (their enchanted husband) began to emit sparks of fire and lean towards him.
► Continue reading…
The next time he flew to the inland he was seized hold of by the inlanders, who essayed to play at ball with him, hurling him backwards and forwards between them till he was nearly dead, when he called his tornak, who quickly rescued him. The third time he came to his sister, who had disappeared many years before, but whom he now found married to an inlander; she gave him a piece of reindeer-skin as a token to take home with him in order to convince people of his really having been with her.
Running and expanding this site requires resources: from maintaining our digital platform to sourcing and curating new content. With your help, we can grow our collection, improve accessibility, and bring these incredible narratives to an even wider audience. Your sponsorship enables us to keep the world’s stories alive and thriving. ♦ Visit our Support page
Dreamtime Whispers 