A mourner seeking excitement after a relative’s death encounters the legendary amarok. Accompanied by another relative, he kills the beast’s young but hides when the furious amarok returns. The creature, holding a reindeer, searches for its offspring and pulls a human-like form from the lake. The mourner collapses lifeless, his soul stolen by the supernatural amarok, which sees all.
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 amarok is a mythical creature from Inuit folklore, representing the mysterious and often dangerous forces beyond human understanding.
Divine Punishment: The mourner’s actions—killing the amarok’s offspring—lead to his demise, suggesting a moral lesson about the consequences of disturbing the natural or supernatural order.
Forbidden Knowledge: The mourner’s pursuit of the amarok, despite warnings, exposes him to hidden dangers, highlighting the peril of seeking out forbidden or unknown realms.
► From the same Region or People
Learn more about the Inuit peoples
Abridged version of the story.
A man who mourned the death of a relative went out in hopes of finding some means of excitement; and being told that an amarok had been heard roaring in the firth of Nook (Godthaab), he could not be kept from going off to encounter the beast. Accompanied by a relative, he went up the country, and finding the young ones of the amarok, the mourner instantly killed the whole. But his companion, getting terribly frightened, betook himself to a cave for refuge, accompanied by the mourner. From their retreat the relative soon saw how the old amarok came running, holding a whole reindeer between its jaws; and having looked in vain for its young ones, it rushed down to the lake, where it appeared to be hauling out something of a human shape.
► Continue reading…
At the same moment, turning round to his companion, he saw him falling helpless to the ground. The amarok, from which nothing remains concealed, had discovered him and taken the soul out of his body.
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Dreamtime Whispers 