Talilarssuaq and Navssarssuaq, two men who exchanged wives, faced a dark fate when Talilarssuaq’s reckless pranks led to his murder by Navssarssuaq. Haunted by Talilarssuaq’s avenging spirit, Navssarssuaq struggled with guilt and illness. Though many in their community fell ill, Navssarssuaq succumbed to sickness, evading the spirit’s vengeance but sealing his grim fate, leaving behind a somber tale of mischief, retribution, and mortality.
Source:
Eskimo Folk-Tales
collected by Knud Rasmussen
[Copenhagen, Christiania], 1921
► Themes of the story
Love and Betrayal: The story centers on two men, Talilarssuaq and Navssarssuaq, who exchange wives. Talilarssuaq’s reckless behavior leads to betrayal and ultimately his death.
Revenge and Justice: After Talilarssuaq’s murder, his avenging spirit haunts Navssarssuaq, symbolizing the pursuit of retribution and the consequences of one’s actions.
Supernatural Beings: The presence of Talilarssuaq’s spirit haunting Navssarssuaq introduces a supernatural element, highlighting the belief in spirits influencing the mortal realm.
► From the same Region or People
Learn more about Inuit peoples
There were once two men, Talilarssuaq and Navssarssuaq, and they changed wives. Talilarssuaq was a mischievous fellow, who was given to frightening people.
One evening, sitting in the house with the other’s wife, whom he had borrowed, he thrust his knife suddenly through the skins of the bench.
Then the woman ran away to her husband and said: “Go in and kill Talilarssuaq; he is playing very dangerous tricks.”
► Continue reading…
Then Navssarssuaq rose up without a word, and put on his best clothes, and took his knife, and went out. He went straight up to Talilarssuaq, who was now lying on the bench talking to himself, and pulled him out on the floor and stabbed him.
“You might at least have waited till I had dressed,” said Talilarssuaq. But Navssarssuaq hauled him out through the passage way, cast him on the rubbish heap and went his way, saying nothing.
On the way he met his wife.
“Are you not going to murder me, too?” she asked.
“No,” he answered in a deep voice. “For Pualuna is not yet grown big enough to be without you.” Pualuna was their youngest son.
But some time after that deed he began to perceive that he was haunted by a spirit.
“There is some invisible thing which now and again catches hold of me,” he said to his comrades. And that was the avenging spirit, watching him.
But about this time, many in the place fell sick. And among them was Navssarssuaq. The sickness killed him, and thus the avenging spirit was not able to tear him in pieces.
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