Atungait, who went a-wandering

Atungait, a powerful man, embarks on a journey with a strong woman he chooses after observing her skills. Together, they face unique tribes, man-eaters, and magical dangers while traveling. Returning home, Atungait discovers his wife’s infidelity, kills her for lying, but spares the truthful lover. He then marries the strong woman. This tale highlights Atungait’s strength, cunning, and uncompromising sense of justice.

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

► Themes of the story

Quest: Atungait embarks on a journey with a strong woman, encountering various tribes and challenges, reflecting the classic quest motif.

Transformation: Through his travels and experiences, Atungait’s understanding of loyalty and justice evolves, leading to significant changes in his personal relationships.

Conflict with Authority: Atungait confronts societal norms and personal betrayal, challenging the actions of his unfaithful wife and asserting his own sense of justice.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Arctic Region
  - Inuit/Eskimo Lore

Learn more about Inuit peoples

Atungait, that great man, had once, it is said, a fancy to go out on a sledge trip with a strong woman. He took a ribbon seal and had it flayed, and forbade his wife to scrape the meat side clean, so that the skin might be as thick as possible. And so he had it dried.

When the winter had come, he went out to visit a tribe well known for their eagerness in playing football. He stayed among them for some time, and watched the games, carefully marking who was strongest among the players.

► Continue reading…

And he saw that there was one among them a woman small of stature, who yet always contrived to snatch the ball from the others. Therefore he gave her the great thick skin he had brought with him, and told her to knead it soft. And this she did, though no other woman could have done it. Then he took her on his sledge and drove off on a wandering through the lands around.

On their way they came to a high and steep rock, rising up from the open water. Atungait sprang up on to that rock, and began running up it. So strong was he that at every step he bored his feet far down into the rock.

When he reached the top, he called to his dogs, and one by one they followed by the way of his footsteps, and reached the top, all of them save one, and that one died. And after that he hoisted up his sledge first, and then his wife after, and so they drove on their way.

After they had driven for some time, they came to a place of people. And the strange thing about these people was that they were all left-handed. And then they drove on again and came to some man-eaters; these ate one another, having no other food. But they did not succeed in doing him any harm.

And they drove on again and came to other people; these had all one leg shorter than the other, and had been so from birth. They lay on the ground all day playing ajangat [a game played with rings and a stick; the “ring and pin game.”]. And they had a fine ajangat made of copper.

Atungait stayed there some time, and when the time came for him to set out once more, he stole their plaything and took it away with him, having first destroyed all their sledges.

But the lame ones, being unable to pursue, dealt magically with some rocky ridges, which then rushed over the ice towards the travellers.

Atungait heard something like the rushing of a river, and turning round, perceived those rocks rolling towards him.

“Have you a piece of sole-leather?” he asked his wife. And she had such a piece.

She tied it to a string and let it drag behind the sledge. When the stones reached it, they stopped suddenly, and sank down through the ice. And the two drove on, hearing the cries of the lame ones behind them: “Bring back our plaything, and give us our copper thing again.”

But now Atungait began to long for his home, and not knowing in what part of the land they were, he told the woman with him to wait, while he himself flew off through the air. For he was a great wizard.

He soon found his house, and looked in through the window. And there sat his wife, rubbing noses with a strange man.

“Huh! You are not afraid of wearing away your nose, it seems.” So he cried.

On hearing this, the wife rushed out of the house, and there she met her husband.

“You have grown clever at kissing,” he said.

“No, I have not kissed any one,” she cried.

Then Atungait grasped her roughly and killed her, because she had lied. The strange man also came out now, and Atungait went towards him at once.

“You were kissing inside there, I see,” he said.

“Yes,” said the stranger.

And Atungait let him live, because he spoke the truth. And after that he flew back to the strong woman and made her his wife.

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

The man who went out to search for his son

A father sets out to find his missing son, encountering dangerous giants, man-eaters, and deceptive creatures. Using his wizardry and calling on killer whale spirits, he overcomes each peril. He discovers his son was killed by a stranger, who had stretched out his son’s kayak skin. Enraged, the father crushes the man-eater to death and returns home, completing his grim quest.

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

► Themes of the story

Quest: The father’s journey to find his missing son embodies a classic quest, filled with challenges and driven by a personal mission.

Supernatural Beings: Throughout his journey, the father encounters giants, man-eaters, and deceptive creatures, highlighting interactions with supernatural entities.

Revenge and Justice: Upon discovering his son’s fate, the father exacts justice by killing the man-eater responsible, underscoring themes of retribution and the restoration of order.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Arctic Region
  - Inuit/Eskimo Lore

Learn more about Inuit peoples

Once in the days of our forefathers, a man went out along the coasts, making search for his son. For that son had gone out in his kayak and had not returned.

One day he saw a giant beside a great glacier, and rowed up to him then. When he had entered the house, the giant drew forth a drum, a beautiful drum with a skin that had been taken from the belly of a man. Now the giant was about to give him this drum, but at the same time he felt such a violent desire to eat him up, that he trembled all over.

► Continue reading…

Just then some great salmon began dropping down through a hole in the roof, and the man was so frightened at this that he could scarcely eat. And he could not get out of the place.

But he was himself a great wizard, and now he began calling upon his helping spirits. And they were great.

“Killer whales, killer whales — come forth, my helping spirits and show yourselves, for here is one who desires to eat me up.”

And they came forth, and the house was crushed and the giant was killed, and the man set out again in search of his own.

Then he met another big man, and this man did nothing but eat men, and their kayaks he threw down into a great ravine. The man rowed up to this giant. And when he reached him, the man-eater said: “Come here and look,” and led him to the deep ravine. And when the man looked down, the giant tried to thrust him backwards down into the depth.

But the man caught hold of the giant’s legs and cast him down instead. And then he went on again.

And as he was rowing on, he heard the bone of a seal calling to him: “Take away the moss which has stopped up the hole that goes through me.” And he did so, and went on again.

Another time he heard a mussel at the bottom of the sea crying: “Here is a mussel that wishes to see you; come down to the bottom; row your kayak straight down through the water — this way!”

That mussel wanted to eat him. But he did not heed it.

Then at last one day he saw an old woman, and rowed towards her, and came up to her. And she said: “Let me dry your boots.” And she took them and hung them up so high that he could not reach them. The man would have slept, but he could not sleep for fear.

“Give me my boots,” he said. For it was now revealed that she was a man-eater. And so he got hold of his boots and fled down to his kayak, and the woman ran after him.

“If only I could catch him, and cut him up,” she said. And as she spoke, the kayak nearly upset.

“If only I could send a bird dart through her,” said the man. And as he spoke, the woman fell down on her back and broke her knife.

And then he rowed on his way. And on his way he met a man, and rowed up to him.

“See what a skin I have stretched out here,” said the stranger. And he knew at once it was his son’s kayak. The stranger had eaten his son, and there was his skin stretched out. The man therefore went up on land and trampled that man-eater to death, so that all his bones were crushed.

And then he went home again.

The man who avenged the widows

In ancient times, skilled kayakers braved calmer seas. A great sickness wiped out elders, leading to the loss of kayak-building knowledge. Angusinanguaq, a man envied for his beautiful wife, was abandoned on an island by jealous hunters. As a powerful wizard, he magically returned, ensuring his safety. Later, he avenged his village by defeating fierce islanders, earning gratitude from the widows of slain hunters.

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

► Themes of the story

Trickster: Angusinanguaq, a powerful wizard, uses his cunning and magical abilities to outsmart those who abandoned him, showcasing the classic trickster archetype.

Revenge and Justice: The narrative centers on Angusinanguaq’s quest to avenge the wrongs done to him and his fellow villagers, highlighting themes of retribution and the restoration of order.

Supernatural Beings: Angusinanguaq’s wizardry and his ability to perform magical feats play a significant role in the story, emphasizing interactions with supernatural elements.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Arctic Region
  - Inuit/Eskimo Lore

Learn more about Inuit peoples

This was in the old days, in those times when men were yet skilful rowers in kayaks. You know that there once came a great sickness which carried off all the older men, and the young men who were left alive did not know how to build kayaks, and thus it came about that the manner of hunting in kayaks was long forgotten. But our forefathers were so skilful, that they would cross seas which we no longer dare to venture over. The weather also was in those times less violent than now; the winds came less suddenly, and it is said that the sea was never so rough.

► Continue reading…

In those times, there lived a man at Kangarssuk whose name was Angusinanguaq, and he had a very beautiful wife, wherefore all men envied him. And one day, when they were setting out to hunt eider duck on the islands, the other men took counsel, and agreed to leave Angusinanguaq behind on a little lonely island there.

And so they sailed out to those islands, which lie far out at sea, and there they caught eider duck in snares, and gathered eggs, and were soon ready to turn homeward again.

Then they pushed out from the land, without waiting for Angusinanguaq, who was up looking to his snares, and they took his kayak in tow, that he might never more be able to leave that island.

And now they hastened over towards the mainland. And the way was long. But when they came in sight of the tents, they saw a man going from one tent to another, visiting the women whom they left behind at that place. They rowed faster, and came nearer. All the men of that place had gone out together for that hunting, and they could not guess who it might be that was now visiting among the tents.

Then an old man who was steering the boat shaded his eyes with his hand and looked over towards land.

“The man is Angusinanguaq,” he said.

And now it was revealed that Angusinanguaq was a great wizard. When the umiaks had left, and he could not find his kayak, he had wound his body about with strips of hide, bending it into a curve, and then, as is the way of wizards, gathered magic power wherewith to move through the air.

And thus he had come back to that place, long before those who had sought his death.

And from that day onwards, none ever planned again to take his wife. And it was well for them that they left him in peace.

For at that time, people were many, and there were people in all the lands round about. Out on the islands also there were people, and these were a fierce folk whom none might come near. Moreover when a kayak from the mainland came near their village, they would call down a fog upon him, so that he could not see, and in this manner cause him to perish.

But now one day Angusinanguaq planned to avenge his fellow-villagers. He rowed out to those unapproachable ones, and took them by surprise, being a great wizard, and killed many of the men, and cut off their heads and piled them up on the side bench. And having completed his revenge, he rowed away.

There was great joy among the widows of all those dead hunters when they learned that Angusinanguaq had avenged their husbands. And they went into his hut one by one and thanked him.

How the fog came

A cunning man feigned death to expose a Mountain Spirit that stole corpses. Using a hidden stone for protection, he endured a treacherous journey to the Spirit’s lair. After killing the Spirit and its children, he fled, raising hills and flooding a stream to escape the pursuing wife. Tricked into bursting her belly, she transformed into the mist that lingers in the hills today.

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

► Themes of the story

Trickster: The protagonist employs cunning and deception to outsmart the Mountain Spirit, feigning death and using clever tactics to survive and ultimately defeat the Spirit.

Transformation: The narrative culminates in the transformation of the Mountain Spirit’s wife into fog, explaining the natural phenomenon of mist in the hills.

Origin of Things: This tale provides an explanation for the presence of fog in the hills, attributing it to the events involving the Mountain Spirit and his wife.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Arctic Region
  - Inuit/Eskimo Lore

Learn more about Inuit peoples

There was a Mountain Spirit, which stole corpses from their graves and ate them when it came home. And a man, wishing to see who did this thing, let himself be buried alive. The Spirit came, and saw the new grave, and dug up the body, and carried it off. The man had stuck a flat stone in under his coat, in case the Spirit should try to stab him.

On the way, he caught hold of all the willow twigs whenever they passed any bushes, and made himself as heavy as he could, so that the Spirit was forced to put forth all its strength.

► Continue reading…

At last the Spirit reached its house, and flung down the body on the floor. And then, being weary, it lay down to sleep, while its wife went out to gather wood for the cooking.

“Father, father, he is opening his eyes,” cried the children, when the dead man suddenly looked up.

“Nonsense, children, it is a dead body, which I have dropped many times among the twigs on the way,” said the father.

But the man rose up, and killed the Mountain Spirit and its children, and fled away as fast as he could. The Mountain Spirit’s wife saw him, and mistook him for her husband.

“Where are you going?” she cried.

The man did not answer, but fled on. And the woman, thinking something must be wrong, ran after him.

And as he was running over level ground, he cried: “Rise up, hills!”

And at once many hills rose up.

Then the Mountain Spirit’s wife lagged behind, having to climb up so many hills.

The man saw a little stream, and sprang across.

“Flow over your banks!” he cried to the stream. And now it was impossible for her to get across.

“How did you get across?” cried the woman.

“I drank up the water. Do you likewise.”

And the woman began gulping it down.

Then the man turned round towards her, and said: “Look at the tail of your tunic; it is hanging down between your legs.”

And when she bent down to look, her belly burst.

And as she burst, a steam rose up out of her, and turned to fog, which still floats about to this day among the hills.

The woman with the iron tail

A woman with an iron tail killed sleeping guests by piercing them, but one man outsmarted her. Feigning sleep, he dodged her attack, breaking her tail on a stone. Fleeing to his kayak, their exchange of words revealed magical power. His words caused her to fall, ending her menace. With her tail destroyed, she could no longer harm anyone.

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

► Themes of the story

Supernatural Beings: The story features a woman with an iron tail who possesses magical abilities, such as killing guests by piercing them and influencing reality with her words.

Cunning and Deception: The protagonist outsmarts the woman by feigning sleep and dodging her attack, leading to the breaking of her iron tail and ultimately her defeat.

Divine Punishment: The woman’s malevolent actions are thwarted, and she is rendered powerless after her tail is broken, suggesting a form of retribution for her evil deeds.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Arctic Region
  - Inuit/Eskimo Lore

Learn more about Inuit peoples

There was once a woman who had an iron tail. And more than this, she was also an eater of men. When a stranger came to visit her, she would wait until her guest had fallen asleep, and then she would jump up in the air, and fall down upon the sleeping one, who was thus pierced through by her tail. Once there came a man to her house. And he lay down to sleep. And when she thought he had fallen asleep, she jumped up, and coming over the place where he lay, dropped down upon him. But the man was not asleep at all, and he moved aside so that she fell down on a stone and broke her tail.

► Continue reading…

The man fled out to his kayak. And she ran after.

When she reached him, she cried: “Oh, if I could only thrust my knife into him.” And as she cried, the man nearly upset — for even her words had power.

“Oh, if only I could send my harpoon through her,” cried the man in return. And so great was the power of his words that she fell down on the spot.

And then the man rowed away, and the woman never killed anyone after that, for her tail was broken.

The man who became a star

An old man, angered by children disrupting his seal hunting, used magic to close a hillside over them, trapping them inside. The children eventually perished from hunger, and the villagers, outraged, chased the old man. As he fled, he transformed into a bright star, Venus, low on the western horizon, symbolizing “Nalaussartoq,” or “He who stands and listens,” reflecting his watchful hunting days.

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

► Themes of the story

Divine Punishment: The old man’s misuse of magic to harm the children leads to his transformation into a star, symbolizing retribution for his actions.

Transformation: The narrative centers on the old man’s metamorphosis into the star Venus, marking a significant change in his existence.

Supernatural Beings: The story involves magical elements, such as the old man’s ability to command the hillside to entrap the children and his eventual transformation into a celestial body.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Arctic Region
  - Inuit/Eskimo Lore

Learn more about Inuit peoples

There was once an old man who stood out on the ice waiting for the seal to come up to their breathing holes to breathe. But on the shore, just opposite where he was, a crowd of children were playing in a ravine, and time after time they frightened away a seal just as he was about to harpoon it.

At last the old man grew angry with them for thus spoiling his catch, and cried out: “Close up, Ravine, over those who are spoiling my hunting.”

► Continue reading…

And at once the hillside closed over those children at play. One of them, who was carrying a little brother, had her fur coat torn.

Then they all fell to screaming inside the hill, for they could not come out. And none could bring them food, only water that they were able to pour down a crack, and this they licked up from the sides.

At last they all died of hunger.

And now the neighbours fell upon that old man who had shut up the children by magic in the hill. He took to flight, and the others ran after him.

But all at once he became bright, and rose up to heaven as a great star. We can see it now, in the west, when the lights begin to return after the great darkness. But it is low down, and never climbs high in the sky. And we call it Nalaussartoq: he who stands and listens. [The star is that which we know as Venus. “Listening”: perhaps as the old man had stood listening for the breathing of the seal.]

The great bear

A grieving woman sought refuge with bears disguised as humans. One bear warned her not to reveal their secret to protect its cubs. Returning home, she betrayed them, prompting men to attack. To spare its cubs from capture, the bear killed them, then sought revenge, killing the woman. The bear and attacking dogs ascended to the sky, forming the constellation Qilugtussat, symbolizing caution towards bears.

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

► Themes of the story

Transformation: The bears in the story possess the ability to take on human form, highlighting themes of physical transformation and the fluidity between human and animal identities.

Prophecy and Fate: The woman’s betrayal and the subsequent celestial transformation suggest an inevitable sequence of events shaped by destiny.

Supernatural Beings: The narrative features bears with human characteristics and the celestial transformation into the constellation Qilugtussat, emphasizing the presence of supernatural elements and the connection between earthly events and the cosmos.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Arctic Region
  - Inuit/Eskimo Lore

Learn more about Inuit peoples

A woman ran away from her home because her child had died. On her way she came to a house. In the passage way there lay skins of bears. And she went in. And now it was revealed that the people who lived in there were bears in human form.

Yet for all that she stayed with them. One big bear used to go out hunting to find food for them. It would put on its skin, and go out, and stay away for a long time, and always return with some catch or other. But one day the woman who had run away began to feel homesick, and greatly desired to see her kin.

► Continue reading…

And then the bear spoke to her thus: “Do not speak of us when you return to men,” it said. For it was afraid lest its two cubs should be killed by the men.

Then the woman went home, and there she felt a great desire to tell what she had seen. And one day, as she sat with her husband in the house, she said to him: “I have seen bears.”

And now many sledges drove out, and when the bear saw them coming towards its house, it felt so sorry for its cubs that it bit them to death, that they might not fall into the hands of men.

But then it dashed out to find the woman who had betrayed it, and broke into her house and bit her to death. But when it came out, the dogs closed round it and fell upon it. The bear struck out at them, but suddenly all of them became wonderfully bright, and rose up to the sky in the form of stars.

And it is these which we call Qilugtussat, the stars which look like barking dogs about a bear.

Since then, men have learned to beware of bears, for they hear what men say.

The man who took a vixen to wife

A man marries a vixen who transforms into a woman. Desiring novelty, he exchanges her with another man, but she flees after being mistreated. She finds a worm who turns out to be her husband’s old enemy. After defeating the worm, the man loses interest in her and journeys to dwarf-like shore-dwellers. Living briefly among them, he returns home, and his story concludes.

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

► Themes of the story

Transformation: The vixen’s change into a woman highlights themes of physical and perhaps spiritual metamorphosis.

Trickster: The narrative involves cunning and deception, particularly in the interactions between the man, the vixen, and the worm.

Supernatural Beings: The presence of the vixen and the worm, both possessing human traits, underscores encounters with otherworldly entities.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Arctic Region
  - Inuit/Eskimo Lore

Learn more about Inuit peoples

There was once a man who wished to have a wife unlike all other wives, and so he caught a little fox, a vixen, and took it home to his tent.

One day when he had been out hunting, he was surprised to find on his return that his little fox-wife had become a real woman. She had a lovely top-knot, made of that which had been her tail. And she had taken off the furry skin. And when he saw her thus, he thought her very beautiful indeed.

► Continue reading…

Now she began to talk about journeyings, and how greatly she desired to see other people. And so they went off, and came to a place and settled down there.

One of the men there had taken a little hare to wife. And now these two men thought it would be a pleasant thing to change wives. And so they did.

But the man who had borrowed the little vixen wife began to feel scorn of her after he had lived with her a little while. She had a foxy smell, and did not taste nice.

But when the little vixen noticed this she was very angry, for it was her great desire to be well thought of by the men. So she knocked out the lamp with her tail, dashed out of the house, and fled away far up into the hills.

Up in the hills she met a worm, and stayed with him.

But her husband, who was very fond of her, went out in search of her. And at last, after a long time, he found her living with the worm, who had taken human form.

But now it was revealed that this worm was the man’s old enemy. For he had once, long before, burned a worm, and it was the soul of that worm which had now taken human form. He could even see the marks of burning in its face.

Now the worm challenged the man to pull arms, and they wrestled. But the man found the worm very easy to master, and soon he won. After that he went out, no longer caring for his wife at all. And he wandered far, and came to the shore-dwellers. They had their houses on the shore, just by high-water mark.

Their houses were quite small, and the people themselves were dwarfs, who called the eider duck walrus. But they looked just like men, and were not in the least dangerous. We never see such folk nowadays, but our forefathers have told us about them, for they knew them.

And now when the man saw their house, which was roofed with stones, he went inside. But first he had to make himself quite small, though this of course was an easy matter for him, great wizard as he was.

As soon as he came in, they brought out meat to set before him. There was the whole fore-flipper of a mighty walrus. That is to say, it was really nothing more than the wing of an eider duck. And they fell to upon this and ate. But they did not eat it all up.

After he had stayed with these people some time he went back to his house. And I have no more to tell of him.

The raven who wanted a wife

A mourning sparrow rejects a raven’s proposal, disdaining his offer of offal. The raven, spurned, turns to wild geese and insists on joining their migration. Unable to keep up due to exhaustion, he rests on two geese, who abandon him in the sea. The raven drowns, his soul transforming into small sea mollusks, symbolizing hubris and the consequences of rejection.

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

► Themes of the story

Transformation: The raven’s soul undergoes a metamorphosis into small sea mollusks after his death, highlighting themes of change and consequence.

Trickster: The raven embodies the trickster archetype, using cunning and persuasion in his attempts to secure a wife and join the geese, ultimately leading to his downfall.

Conflict with Nature: The raven’s struggle to keep up with the migrating geese and his inability to survive in the sea underscore the challenges and perils of opposing natural limitations.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Arctic Region
  - Inuit/Eskimo Lore

Learn more about Inuit peoples

A little sparrow was mourning for her husband who was lost. She was very fond of him, for he caught worms for her. As she sat there weeping, a raven came and asked: “Why are you weeping?”

“I am weeping for my husband, who is lost; I was fond of him, because he caught worms for me,” said the sparrow. “It is not fitting for one to weep who can hop over high blades of grass,” said the raven. “Take me for a husband; I have a fine high forehead, broad temples, a long beard and a big beak; you shall sleep under my wings, and I will give you lovely offal to eat.”

► Continue reading…

“I will not take you for a husband, for you have a high forehead, broad temples, a long beard and a big beak, and will give me offal to eat.”

So the raven flew away — flew off to seek a wife among the wild geese. And he was so lovesick that he could not sleep.

When he came to the wild geese, they were about to fly away to other lands.

Said the raven to two of the geese: “Seeing that a miserable sparrow has refused me, I will have you.”

“We are just getting ready to fly away,” said the geese.

“I will go too,” said the raven.

“But consider this: that none can go with us who cannot swim or rest upon the surface of the water. For there are no icebergs along the way we go.”

“It is nothing; I will sail through the air,” said the raven.

And the wild geese flew away, and the raven with them. But very soon he felt himself sinking from weariness and lack of sleep.

“Something to rest on!” cried the raven, gasping. “Sit you down side by side.” And his two wives sat down together on the water, while their comrades flew on.

The raven sat down on them and fell asleep. But when his wives saw the other geese flying farther and farther away, they dropped that raven into the sea and flew off after them.

“Something to rest on!” gasped the raven, as it fell into the water. And at last it went to the bottom and was drowned.

And after a while, it broke up into little pieces, and its soul was turned into little “sea ravens.” [a small black mollusc]

Ikardlituarssuk

Ikardlituarssuk and his brother lived in a famine-stricken village. Seeking a reward, Ikardlituarssuk called upon his helping spirits and journeyed beneath the sea, where he met Tornarssuk’s mother. By encouraging her, she released birds and seals, ending the famine. The ice vanished, and hunters prospered, except one who defied her warning. Ikardlituarssuk earned the coveted paddle for his actions.

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

► Themes of the story

Underworld Journey: Ikardlituarssuk’s descent beneath the sea to meet Tornarssuk’s mother represents a venture into a supernatural realm, a common motif where protagonists seek solutions or knowledge beyond the mortal world.

Divine Intervention: By encouraging Tornarssuk’s mother to release birds and seals, Ikardlituarssuk facilitates the end of the famine, showcasing how interactions with divine or supernatural beings can alter human circumstances.

Sacrifice: The tale highlights the importance of selflessness and adherence to given instructions. The villagers are warned not to overhunt, emphasizing the value of restraint for the greater good. The hunter who defies this warning faces consequences, underscoring the theme of sacrifice and obedience.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Arctic Region
  - Inuit/Eskimo Lore

Learn more about Inuit peoples

Ikardlituarssuk, men say, had a little brother; they lived at a place where there were many other houses. One autumn the sea was frozen right out from the coast, without a speck of open water for a long way out. After this, there was great dearth and famine; at last their fellow-villagers began to offer a new kayak paddle as a reward for the one who should magic it away, but there was no wizard among the people of that village.

Then it came about that Ikardlituarssuk’s little brother began to speak to him thus: “Ikardlituarssuk, how very nice it would be to win that new paddle!”

► Continue reading…

And then it was revealed that Ikardlituarssuk had formerly sat on the knee of one of those present when the wizards called up their helping spirits.

Then it came about that Ikardlituarssuk one evening began to call upon his helping spirits. He called them up, and having called them up, went out, and having gone out, went down to the water’s edge, crept in through a crack between the land and the ice, and started off, walking along the bottom of the sea.

He walked along, and when he came to seaweed, it seemed as if there lay dogs in among the weed. But these were sharks. Then on his way he saw a little house, and went towards it. When he came up to the entrance, it was narrow as the edge of a woman’s knife. But he got in all the same, following that way which was narrow as the edge of a woman’s knife. And when he came in, there sat the mother of Tornarssuk, the spirit who lived down there; she was sitting by her lamp and weeping. And picking behind her ears, she threw down many strange things. Inside her lamp were many birds that dived down, and inside the house were many seals that bobbed up.

And now he began tickling the weeping woman as hard as he could, to encourage her; and at last she was encouraged, and after this, she freed a number of the birds, and then made a sign to many of the seals to swim out of the house. And when they swam out, there was one of the fjord seals which she liked so much that she plucked a few of the hairs from its back, that she might have it to make breeches of when it was caught.

And when all this had been done, she went home, and went to rest without saying a word.

When they awoke next morning, the sea was quite dark ahead, and all the ice had gone. But when the villagers came out, she said to them: “Do not kill more than one; if any of you should kill two, he will never kill again.”

And furthermore she said: “If any of you should catch a young fjord seal with a bare patch on its back, you must give it to me to make breeches.”

When they came back, each of the hunters had made a catch; only one of them had caught two. And the man who had caught two seals that day never after caught any seal at all when he rowed out, but all the others always made a catch when they rowed out, and some of them even caught several at a time.

Thus it came about that Ikardlituarssuk with the little brother won the new paddle as a reward.