The heavenly regions

The land and sea’s edges are bordered by an abyss, crossed only by a perilous path leading to the heavens. The sky, a dome with a passage for spirits, hosts only those who died voluntarily or violently, alongside the raven. These spirits, called selamiut or “sky-dwellers,” light the aurora, feast, and play. Their voices, heard as auroral sounds, invite whispered responses from earth.

Source:
The Labrador Eskimo
by E.W. Hawkes
[Canada, Department of Mines]
Geological Survey, Memoir 91
Anthropological Series no. 14
Ottawa, 1916

► Themes of the story

Journey to the Otherworld: The narrative describes a dangerous pathway over an abyss leading to the heavens, representing a voyage to a realm beyond human experience.

Supernatural Beings: The selamiut, or “sky-dwellers,” are spirits inhabiting the sky, interacting with the natural world by creating the aurora and producing sounds heard on earth.

Sacred Spaces: The heavens serve as a sacred realm where specific spirits dwell, and the aurora acts as a bridge between this celestial domain and the earthly realm.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Arctic Region
  - Inuit/Eskimo Lore

Learn more about Inuit peoples

The ends of the land and sea are bounded by an immense abyss, over which a narrow and dangerous pathway leads to the heavenly regions. The sky is a great dome of hard material arched over the earth. There is a hole in it through which the spirits pass to the true heavens. Only the spirits of those who have died a voluntary or violent death, and the raven, have been over this pathway. The spirits who live there light torches to guide the feet of new arrivals. This is the light of the aurora. They can be seen there feasting and playing football with a walrus skull. The whistling crackling noise which sometimes accompanies the aurora is the voices of these spirits trying to communicate with the people of the earth. They should always be answered in a whispering voice. Youths and small boys dance to the aurora. The heavenly spirits are called selamiut, “sky-dwellers,” those who live in the sky.

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Origin of the winds and rain

A giant spirit in the north breathes violent snowstorms, while spirits in the east and west bring soft winds and warm weather. Female spirits in the south send flowers and summer rain, storing water in sky bags. When they run, the water escapes as rain, and thunder echoes as the sound of their movements across the sky.

Source:
The Labrador Eskimo
by E.W. Hawkes
[Canada, Department of Mines]
Geological Survey, Memoir 91
Anthropological Series no. 14
Ottawa, 1916

► Themes of the story

Origin of Things: The story provides a rich explanation for natural phenomena like snow, wind, rain, and thunder, rooting them in a spiritual framework.

Supernatural Beings: It highlights the spirits as powerful entities controlling the weather, bridging the natural and spiritual worlds.

Harmony with Nature: The tale reflects an intrinsic understanding of and reverence for natural forces, showing humanity’s connection to and respect for the environment.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Arctic Region
  - Inuit/Eskimo Lore

Learn more about Inuit peoples

There is a giant spirit who lives in the north. When he blows his breath, violent snowstorms occur.

Other spirits live in the east and west. They breathe soft winds and summer weather. Female spirits dwell to the south. They send the flowers and summer rain.

They live up in the sky and keep the rain in big bags. When they run across the sky the water escapes.

The thunder is the noise of their running across the sky.

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Origin of man and the animals

Torngarsoak, a great Torngak, created the first man, who found a wife and fathered the Eskimo. In one tale, puppies set adrift became intermediaries bringing Indians and white people to the world. Another story recounts a woman who married a dog and was cast into the sea by her father, where her severed fingers transformed into sea creatures, and she became a spirit beneath the ocean.

Source:
The Labrador Eskimo
by E.W. Hawkes
[Canada, Department of Mines]
Geological Survey, Memoir 91
Anthropological Series no. 14
Ottawa, 1916

► Themes of the story

Creation: It narrates the origins of humans and animals, detailing how the first man was created by Torngarsoak and how various creatures came into existence.

Transformation: The tale describes metamorphoses, such as a woman’s severed fingers becoming sea creatures and a man turning back into a dog.

Supernatural Beings: The involvement of Torngarsoak, a great Torngak (spirit), highlights interactions between humans and divine entities.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Arctic Region
  - Inuit/Eskimo Lore

Learn more about Inuit peoples

In the north lives Torngarsoak, the great Torngak; he made man from nothing. The man travelled a long way, and found a woman. They married, and from them sprang all the Eskimo. One day Torngarsoak set some puppies adrift in a pair of old boots. The puppies drifted off in different directions. Finally one returned bringing with it the Indians; very much later the other puppy returned as a man, bringing people with white skins in a big umiak. They were the white people. The man then turned back into a dog.

There was a woman who married the dog. Her father was ashamed of her and took her in his umiak to a lonely island.

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When out to sea he threw her overboard. She seized hold of the side of the boat, but he cut off her fingers with his knife. The thumb became the walrus, the first finger the seal, and the middle finger the white bear.

The woman sank, and now lives at the bottom of the sea.

Another version:

One day an Eskimo was chopping down a tree. He noticed that the chips that fell into the water became water animals and the chips that fell on the land became land animals. That is how the animals were created.

Before this time the earth had been covered with water. Finally the water went away, and the dry land appeared. The seaweed and kelp became the grass and trees.

The girl who lived among the Adlit

An Eskimo woman, scolded by her husband, encounters two Adlit while crying along the shore. They take her to their home, and she marries one of them. Later, the Adlit husband encounters her former spouse but refuses to reunite them. When travelers meet the Adlit, she acts as their interpreter but chooses to remain with the Adlit until her death.

Source:
The Labrador Eskimo
by E.W. Hawkes
[Canada, Department of Mines]
Geological Survey, Memoir 91
Anthropological Series no. 14
Ottawa, 1916

► Themes of the story

Forbidden Love: The woman forms a romantic relationship with an Adlit, a being from a different realm or group, which can be seen as defying societal norms or expectations.

Community and Isolation: The woman’s departure from her human community to live with the Adlit highlights themes of belonging and estrangement.

Supernatural Beings: The Adlit are supernatural entities in Inuit folklore, and the woman’s interactions with them are central to the narrative.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Arctic Region
  - Inuit/Eskimo Lore

Learn more about Inuit peoples

Once an Eskimo scolded his wife for not taking proper care of his boot-soles. She went out along the shore and cried. While she was there, two Adlit came up and asked her what was the matter. She told them, and they offered to take her to their home. She went with them, and married one of the Adlit. Later this Adlit met her former husband when out hunting. He told him who he was but would not take him to his former wife. Once the people were travelling and came across a camp of Adlit. They could not understand each other, until someone cried, “Call the Eskimo woman.” Then a woman came out and acted as interpreter. It was the girl who had run away. She would not go back to her husband, so they left her. She lived with the Adlit until she died.

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An Adlit Tale

An Eskimo hunter adopted a starving Adlit girl named Ivaranax after finding her alone. One day, her request for reindeer fat angered him, leading her to seek it from the Adlit. She returned with reindeer fat, but the Adlit followed her and attacked the village, killing most inhabitants. Seeking revenge, the men hunted and killed the Adlit, sparing Ivaranax only to punish her before her eventual death.

Source:
The Labrador Eskimo
by E.W. Hawkes
[Canada, Department of Mines]
Geological Survey, Memoir 91
Anthropological Series no. 14
Ottawa, 1916

► Themes of the story

Trickster: Ivaranax deceives her foster father by seeking reindeer fat from the Adlit, leading to dire consequences.

Revenge and Justice: The men avenge the attack on their village by hunting down the Adlit and punishing Ivaranax.

Trials and Tribulations:– The villagers face significant challenges in dealing with the betrayal and the resulting attack.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Arctic Region
  - Inuit/Eskimo Lore

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Once an Eskimo found an Adlit girl by the side of a river when he was out hunting. She was starving. All her relatives were dead. So he took her home and adopted her as his daughter. Her name was Ivaranax.

One day she asked her foster-father for some reindeer fat. She said she was tired of seal meat, and wanted something nice to eat. That made her foster-father angry. So he told her to go to the Adlit and get some reindeer fat. She went out. He could not find her that evening. The next morning she returned, dressed in a reindeer-skin coat and eating reindeer fat.

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The same day all the men went hunting. Then the Adlit, who had followed her, attacked the village. They killed all the women and children but three, who hid under a pile of skins. When the men returned, they found their women and children kilted. So they made many arrows and followed the trail of the Adlit. When they came up to their tents, they looked in. The Adlit were eating and laughing. The girl was among them. Then they killed them all but the girl. Her they kept for punishment. They led her out and cut off both her arms. She ran off with the blood streaming from her arms. She had not gone far before she fell dead.

Alasuq and the giant

In Saglek Bay, a giant tyrant bullied villagers until they cunningly killed him. Meanwhile, Alasuq, a strong and well-loved dwarf, lived with his mother. When the giant challenged the hunters to a kayak race, only Alasuq dared to compete. Using an oversized paddle, he easily won, earning respect. A similar tale exists among the Baffin Island Eskimo, featuring a strong dwarf triumphing over taunts.

Source:
The Labrador Eskimo
by E.W. Hawkes
[Canada, Department of Mines]
Geological Survey, Memoir 91
Anthropological Series no. 14
Ottawa, 1916

► Themes of the story

Trickster: The villagers cunningly deceive the tyrannical giant into allowing himself to be bound, leading to his demise.

Cultural Heroes: Alasuq, despite his small stature, demonstrates remarkable strength and bravery by accepting the giant’s challenge, ultimately earning the respect and admiration of his community.

Good vs. Evil: The narrative portrays the struggle between the oppressive giant (evil) and the courageous villagers and Alasuq (good), culminating in the triumph of good over evil.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Arctic Region
  - Inuit/Eskimo Lore

Learn more about Inuit peoples

A long time ago there lived in Saglek bay a giant who played the tyrant over the people there. He would do no work, but stole seals from the hunters. They did not dare to show their resentment because he was so big and strong. Finally they killed him by getting him to allow himself to be bound.

In the same village there lived a dwarf named Alasuq. He lived alone with his mother. His father had died when he was young, and he had supported his mother ever since, like a man. Although he was so small, he was very strong. He was a jolly little fellow and well liked by all the people.

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One day the giant, who was always boasting what he could do and frightening the hunters, challenged them to a kayak race around an island in the bay. None of them dared to accept, but little Alasuq said he would try him. Everyone laughed at him, but it did not turn him from his purpose.

He laid aside his usual paddle, and made himself an enormously large one, larger even than the giant’s. It had holes in the middle for hand grips.

When he came out to race, all the people remarked about it, particularly the giant, who made fun of the little man and his big paddle.

But when they started, no one laughed any more. The little fellow handled his paddle so strongly that he would have broken an ordinary paddle. He quickly outdistanced the giant. When he was rounding the island, long before he came in sight, the people could hear his kayak, shish, cleaving the water. The giant was badly beaten, but took it goodnaturedly, as, of course, he had to, having challenged the hunters.

The little dwarf lived for a long time afterwards, and was always much respected by the people.

The Baffin Island Eskimo of Cumberland sound have a tale of a dwarf who was very strong and a great kayaker. He defeats two young men who had taunted him on account of his small size.

The last of the Tunnit

This tale recounts the demise of a giant, the last of the Tunnit, who terrorized hunters near Hebron on the Labrador coast. Exploiting their fear, he stole their food until a harsh winter left everyone starving. Joining a hunt, he fell for a ruse, agreeing to follow customs that led to his binding. The hunters attacked him in his sleep, ultimately killing him, though not without losses. His grave remains visible near Saglek Bay.

Source:
The Labrador Eskimo
by E.W. Hawkes
[Canada, Department of Mines]
Geological Survey, Memoir 91
Anthropological Series no. 14
Ottawa, 1916

► Themes of the story

Conflict with Nature: The giant, representing a formidable force of nature, poses a significant threat to the hunters, who must confront and overcome him to ensure their survival.

Cunning and Deception: The hunters employ cleverness and deceit, convincing the giant to adhere to fabricated customs, leading to his eventual capture and death.

Sacrifice: The hunters risk their lives to eliminate the giant, and during the struggle, some lose their lives, highlighting the theme of sacrifice for the greater good of the community.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Arctic Region
  - Inuit/Eskimo Lore

Learn more about Inuit peoples

A big, overgrown giant, the last of the Tunnit left on the Labrador coast, lived a long time ago near Hebron. He would not hunt nor do any work. Whenever he wanted food he took it away from the hunters. He would watch when they brought in their seals at the end of the day’s hunt, and go up to them and take his choice. They were all afraid of him on account of his size and strength and did not dare resist him.

Finally a hard winter came when the hunters could get no seal. Then he had to starve with the rest of them. When they were nearly dead with hunger, the people decided to send out six of their best hunters to see if they could not get some food.

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They were all surprised when the giant asked to go along too. Then they saw a chance to get rid of him. So they asked him to promise to obey all the customs of the hunters, which he did readily enough, suspecting nothing.

The first night out, after they had erected a snow-house, they told him that it was the custom for every young hunter to be bound the first evening on the hunt. So he allowed himself to be bound, having promised to obey all their customs. They tied his hands and feet with heavy lashing from their komatiks. They did not dare trust ordinary line. When he was sound asleep, in the middle of the night, they set on him and killed him with their lances; but bound as he was, he managed to break the heavy line, and kill one of them before he was finally killed.

When the hunters returned home without him, his wife asked where he was, but the hunters would not tell her. Finally she understood. She went out and got his body and buried it. The grave can still be seen on the north side of Saglek bay.

Another version, which gives the additional detail that the hunters cut through the side of the snow-house to get at the giant, is as follows:

Once on a time there lived a giant near Hebron, who was so heavy that he could not walk on new ice. He was the tyrant of the village. Whatever he wanted he took, and no one dared dispute him.

One year he expressed a wish that he would like to see how seals were killed and how the men went hunting. (He never hunted himself but stole from others). The hunters thought it a fine chance to get him in their power. They wanted to get rid of him because they were afraid of him and he was always bullying them. So they told him that if he wanted to go seal hunting with them, he would have to do exactly as they told him. He promised that he would, and they let him go with them.

So the first night they were out on the ice, they built a snowhouse, and told him that it was their custom to be lashed with skin line and left alone in the snow-house all night. So he let them tie him up, and lay down to sleep. Now the other Eskimo outside waited until they thought he was sound asleep. Then they cut a big hole in the side of the house and three men went in, while eight stood outside waiting. The three men inside jumped on the giant, and the eight men came in and joined in the fight. The giant broke the lines he was fastened with, and killed three men before the others overpowered him and killed him with their knives. So that was the last of the giant. His grave is to be seen to this day. It is a very large and long stone grave in Saglek bay.

The Tunnit

The Tunnit, a legendary giant race, once inhabited Labrador, Hudson Strait, and Baffin Island. Known for their strength but described as slow and unsophisticated by the Inuit, they lived in stone houses and used primitive tools. Tensions arose with the Inuit over resources, leading to violent conflicts. Gradually, the Tunnit were exterminated or assimilated, with archaeological evidence and Inuit traditions preserving their legacy.

Source:
The Labrador Eskimo
by E.W. Hawkes
[Canada, Department of Mines]
Geological Survey, Memoir 91
Anthropological Series no. 14
Ottawa, 1916

► Themes of the story

Mythical Creatures: The Tunnit are depicted as giants with extraordinary strength, representing beings beyond ordinary human experience.

Conflict with Authority: Tensions and violent conflicts arose between the Tunnit and the Inuit over resources, leading to the eventual extermination or assimilation of the Tunnit.

Echoes of the Past: The legacy of the Tunnit persists through archaeological evidence and Inuit traditions, highlighting the enduring influence of historical deeds on the present.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Arctic Region
  - Inuit/Eskimo Lore

Learn more about Inuit peoples

Tunnit (Tornit, Baffin island), according to tradition, were a gigantic race formerly inhabiting the northeastern coast of Labrador, Hudson strait, and southern Baffin island. Ruins of old stone houses and graves, which are ascribed to them by the present Eskimo, are found throughout this entire section, penetrating only slightly, however, into Ungava bay. Briefly we may say that there is evidence, archaeological as well as traditional, that the Tunnit formerly inhabited both sides of Hudson strait. The oldest Eskimo of northern Labrador still point out these ruins, and relate traditions of their having lived together until the Tunnit were finally exterminated or driven out by the present Eskimo.

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According to the account given by an old Nachvak Eskimo, the Tunnit in ancient times had two villages in Nachvak bay. Their houses were built on an exposed shore (the present Eskimo always seek a sheltered beach for their villages, where they can land in their kayaks), showing that they had little knowledge of the use of boats. When they wanted boats, they stole them from the Eskimo. From this thieving of kayaks the original quarrel is said to have begun.

For all their bigness and strength, the Tunnit were a stupid slow-going race (according to the Eskimo version), and fell an easy prey to the Eskimo, who used to stalk them and hunt them down like game. They did not dare to attack them openly, so cut them off, one by one, by following them, and attacking and killing them when asleep. Their favourite method was to bore holes in the foreheads of the Tunnit with an awl (a drill in the Greenland story in Rink). Two brothers especially distinguished themselves in this warfare, and did not desist until the last of the Tunnit was exterminated. The Tunnit built their houses of heavy rocks, which no Eskimo could lift. They used the rocks for walls, and whale ribs and shoulder blades for the roof. At the entrance of the house two whale jaw-bones were placed. Ruins of these houses can still be seen, overgrown with grass, with the roof fallen in. They may be distinguished from old Eskimo iglus by the small, square space they occupy.

The Tunnit did not use the bow and arrow, but flint-headed lances and harpoons with bone or ivory heads. They were so strong that one of them could hold a walrus as easily as an Eskimo a seal.

They did not understand the dressing of sealskins, but left them in the sea, where the little sea-worms (?) cleaned off the fat in a short time. The Tunnit dressed in winter in untanned deerskins. They were accustomed to carry pieces of meat around with them, between their clothing and body, until it was putrid, when they ate it.

The Tunnit were very skilful with the lance, which they threw, sitting down and aiming at the object by resting the shaft on the boot. For throwing at a distance they used the throw-stick.

They did not hunt deer like the Eskimo, but erected long lines of stone “men” in a valley through which the deer passed. The deer would pass between the lines of stones, and the hunters hidden behind them would lance them. Remains of these lines of rocks may still be seen.

Their weapons were much larger, but not so well made as those of the Eskimo, as can be seen from the remains on their graves. The men used flint for the harpoon heads, and crystal for their drills. The women used a rounded piece of slate without a handle for a knife. They used a very small lamp for heating purposes, which they carried about them. For cooking they had a much larger lamp than the Eskimo. Until trouble arose between them, the Tunnit and the Eskimo used to intermarry, but after it was found that an alien wife would betray her husband to her people, no more were taken. A Tuneq woman, who betrayed the Eskimo of the village she lived in to the Tunnit, had her arms cut off. After that no women were taken on either side. (The story of this incident is given following in “An Adlit Tale.”)

The Tunnit were gradually exterminated by the Eskimo, until only a scattered one remained here and there in their villages. How these were overcome by stratagems is handed down in the tales of the giant at Hebron, said to be the last of the Tunnit, and Adlasuq and the Giant. The giant allows himself to be bound in a snow-house, and is slain by the Eskimo hunters. This story has attained a mythological character in Baffin island, but is ascribed by the Labrador Eskimo directly to the Tunnit. A story about the Tunnit, giving considerable circumstantial detail, was obtained from a Nachvak woman:

“At Nachvak the Tunnit were chasing a big whale (this was before the time of the present Eskimo). They were in two skin boats, about twenty men and women in each boat. They had the whale harpooned, and were being towed round and round the bay by him. Somehow the line got tangled in one of the boats and capsized. The other boat with the line still made fast to the whale, went to pick up the people in the water, and was capsized too. Another boat came off from the shore, and picked up some of the people in the water. Most of them were drowned.

“They were buried under a hill on a big bank near Nachvak. There are some thirty graves on this bank, with pots, harpoons, and knives buried by the graves. Even the remains of the boats are there. The knives and pots are of stone. The harpoon blades are of flint. The umiaks were much larger than the present boats.” My informant added that there were also remains of bows and arrows. “The bows were of whalebone and the arrows of flint.”

Kanagssuaq

Kanagssuaq, a resilient hunter, faced dire hunger with his companions during an icy winter. Defying treacherous weather, he hunted tirelessly, sustaining his group with seals. He encountered Kiliteraq, another skilled hunter, aiding him during a perilous hunt. Later, Kiliteraq gifted Kanagssuaq a finely crafted tow-line and bearskin as gratitude. Their bond highlighted mutual respect and survival amid harsh Arctic conditions.

Source:
Eskimo Folk-Tales
collected by Knud Rasmussen
[Copenhagen, Christiania], 1921

► Themes of the story

Conflict with Nature: Kanagssuaq’s relentless battle against severe cold, treacherous ice, and dangerous seas highlights humanity’s struggle against natural forces.

Sacrifice: His willingness to risk his life by venturing into perilous weather to hunt seals demonstrates selflessness for the survival of his group.

Community and Isolation: The narrative underscores the importance of communal bonds and mutual support in overcoming adversity, as seen in Kanagssuaq’s interactions with his companions and fellow hunter Kiliteraq.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Arctic Region
  - Inuit/Eskimo Lore

Learn more about Inuit peoples

Kanagssuaq, men say, went out from his own place to live on a little island, and there took to wife the only sister of many brothers. And while he lived there with her, it happened once that the cold became so great that the sea between the islands was icebound, and they could no longer go out hunting.

At last they had used up their store of food, and when that store of food was used up, and none of them could go out hunting, they all remained lying down from hunger and weakness.

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Once, when there was open water to the south, where they often caught seal, Kanagssuaq took his kayak on his head and went out hunting. He rowed out in a northerly wind, with snow falling, and a heavy sea. And soon he came upon a number of black seal. He rowed towards them, to get within striking distance, but struck only a little fjord seal, which came up between him and the others. This one was easier to cut up, he said.

Now when he had got this seal, he took his kayak on his head again and went home across the ice. And his house-fellows shouted for joy when they saw the little creature he sent sliding in. Next day he went out again, and caught two black seal, and after that, he never went out without bringing home something.

The north wind continued, and the snow and the cold continued. When he lay out waiting for seal, as was now his custom, he often wished that he might meet with Kiliteraq, the great hunter from another place, who was the only one that would venture out in such weather. But this did not come about.

But now there was great dearth of food also in the place where Kiliteraq lived. And therefore Kiliteraq took his kayak on his head and went out across the ice to hunt seal. And coming some way, he sighted Kanagssuaq, who had already made his catch, and was just getting his tow-line out. As soon as he came up, Kanagssuaq cut away the whole of the belly skin and gave to him. And Kiliteraq felt now a great desire for blubber, and took some good big pieces to chew.

And while he lay there, some black seal came up, and Kanagssuaq said: “Row in to where they are.”

And he rowed in to them and harpooned one, and killed it on the spot with that one stroke. He took his bladder float, to make a tow-line fast, and wound up the harpoon line, but before he had come to the middle, a breaking wave came rolling down on him. And it broke over him, and it seemed indeed as if there were no kayak there at all, so utterly was it hidden by that breaking wave. Then at last the bladder showed up behind the kayak, and a little after, the kayak itself came up, with the paddles held in a balancing position. Now for the second time he took his bladder and line, and just as he came to the place where the tow-line is made fast, there came another wave and washed over him so that he disappeared. And then he came up a second time, and as he came up, he said: “I am now so far out that I cannot make my tow-line fast. Will you do this for me?”

And then Kanagssuaq made his tow-line fast, and as soon as he had taken the seal in tow, he rowed away in the thickly falling snow, and was soon lost to sight. When he came home, his many comrades in the village were filled with great thankfulness towards him. And thereafter it was as before; that he never came home without some catch.

A few days later, they awoke and saw that the snow was not falling near them now, but only far away on the horizon. And after that the weather became fine again. And when the spring came, they began hunting guillemots; driving them together in flocks and killing them so. This they did at that time.

And now one day they had sent their bird arrows showering down among the birds, and were busy placing the killed ones together in the kayaks. And then suddenly a kayak came in sight on the sunny side. And when that stranger came nearer, they looked eagerly to see who it might be. And when Kiliteraq came nearer — for it was Kiliteraq who came — he looked round among the kayaks, and when he saw that Kanagssuaq was among them, he thrust his way through and came close up to him, and stuck his paddle in between the thongs on Kanagssuaq’s kayak, and then loosened the skin over the opening of his own kayak, and put his hand in behind, and drew out a splendid tow-line made of walrus hide and beautifully worked with many beads of walrus tooth. And a second time he put in his hand, and took out now a piece of bearskin fashioned to the seat of a kayak. And these things he gave to Kanagssuaq, and said: “Once in the spring, when I could not make my tow-line fast to a seal, you helped me, and made it fast. Here is that which shall thank you for that service.”

And then he rowed away.

The guillemot that could talk

A southern man ventures north to find a legendary talking guillemot. Guided to a towering bird cliff, he encounters the guillemot, which speaks, startling him to death. His guide buries him below the cliff and stays through the winter. In spring, the guide leads the umiak crew south, earning their admiration. He marries one of the women and remains in the south, where his legacy endures.

Source:
Eskimo Folk-Tales
collected by Knud Rasmussen
[Copenhagen, Christiania], 1921

► Themes of the story

Forbidden Knowledge: The southern man’s quest to find the legendary talking guillemot represents the pursuit of hidden or restricted truths.

Supernatural Beings: The talking guillemot itself is a supernatural element, as animals speaking human language are beyond natural occurrences.

Tragic Flaw: The protagonist’s overwhelming curiosity and determination lead him to his demise, highlighting a personal weakness that results in tragedy.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Arctic Region
  - Inuit/Eskimo Lore

Learn more about Inuit peoples

A man from the south heard one day of a guillemot that could talk. It was said that this bird was to be found somewhere in the north, and therefore he set off to the northward. And toiled along north and north in an umiak.

He came to a village, and said to the people there: “I am looking for a guillemot that can talk.”

“Three days’ journey away you will find it.”

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Then he stayed there only that night, and went on again next morning. And when he came to a village, he had just asked his way, when one of the men there said: “Tomorrow I will go with you, and I will be a guide for you, because I know the way.”

Next morning when they awoke, those two men set off together. They rowed and rowed and came in sight of a bird cliff. They came to the foot of that bird cliff, and when they stood at the foot and looked up, it was a mightily big bird cliff.

“Now where is that guillemot, I wonder?” said the man from the south. He had hardly spoken, when the man who was his guide said: “Here, here is the nest of that guillemot bird.”

And the man was prepared to be very careful when the bird came out of its nest. And it came out, that bird, and went to the side of the cliff and stared down at the kayaks, stretching its body to make it very long. And sitting up there, it said quite clearly: “This, I think, must be that southern man, who has come far from a place in the south to hear a guillemot.”

And the bird had hardly spoken, when he who was guide saw that the man from the south had fallen forward on his face. And when he lifted him up, that man was dead, having died of fright at hearing the bird speak.

Then seeing there was no other thing to be done, he covered up the body at the foot of the cliff below the guillemot’s nest, and went home. And told the others of his place that he had covered him there below the guillemot’s nest because he was dead. And the umiak and its crew of women stayed there, and wintered in that place.

Next summer, when they were making ready to go southward again, they had no man to go with them. But on the way that wifeless man procured food for them by catching fish, and when he had caught enough to fill a pot, he rowed in with his catch.

And in this way he led them southward. When they came to their own country, they had grown so fond of him that they would not let him go northward again. And so that wifeless man took a wife from among those women, because they would not let him go away to the north.

It is said that the skeleton of that wifeless man lies there in the south to this day.