Tag: 05. Transformation

Physical, emotional, or spiritual changes

Tungujuluk and Saunikoq

Tungujuluk and Saunikoq, rival wizards from the same village, could transform into a walrus and a bear, respectively. Saunikoq’s jealousy over Tungujuluk teaching his son kayaking led to a failed attempt to harm the boy in bear form. Tungujuluk later outwitted Saunikoq by turning into a walrus, tricking him during a hunt, and exposing his deeds at a feast. Humiliated, Saunikoq fled and was never seen again.

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

► Themes of the story

Transformation: Both protagonists possess the ability to metamorphose into animals—Tungujuluk into a walrus and Saunikoq into a bear—highlighting themes of physical change and the fluidity between human and animal forms.

Cunning and Deception: The narrative showcases acts of trickery, particularly when Tungujuluk, disguised as a walrus, deceives Saunikoq during a hunt, turning the latter’s schemes against him.

Revenge and Justice: Saunikoq’s jealousy leads him to attempt harm against Tungujuluk’s son, but ultimately, Tungujuluk’s clever retaliation exposes Saunikoq’s malicious intent, resulting in Saunikoq’s humiliation and exile, serving as a form of poetic justice.

► From the same Region or People

Learn more about Inuit peoples

Tungujuluk and Saunikoq were men from one village. And both were wizards. When they heard a spirit calling, one would change into a bear, and the other into a walrus.

Tungujuluk had a son, but Saunikoq had no children.

As soon as his son was old enough, Tungujuluk taught him to paddle a kayak. At this the other, Saunikoq, grew jealous, and began planning evil.

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One morning when he awoke, he went out hunting seal as usual. He had been out some time, when he went up to an island, and called for his bearskin. When it came, he got into it, and moved off towards Tungujuluk’s house. He landed a little way off, and then stole up to kill Tungujuluk’s son. And when he came near, he saw him playing with the other children. But he did not know that his father had already come home, and was sitting busily at work on the kayak he was making for his son. He was just about to go up to them, when the boy went weeping home to his father, and when his father looked round, there was a big bear already close to them. He took a knife and ran towards it, and was just about to stab that bear, when it began to laugh. And then suddenly Tungujuluk remembered that his neighbour Saunikoq was able to take the shape of a bear. And he was now so angry that he had nearly stabbed him in spite of all, and it was a hard matter for him to hold back his knife.

But he did not forget that happening. He waited until a long time had passed, and at last, many days later, when he awoke in the morning, he went out in his kayak. On the way he came to an island. And going up on to that island, he called his other shape to him. When it came, he crawled into it, and became a walrus. And when he had thus become a walrus, he went to that place where it was the custom for kayaks to hunt seal. And when he came near, he looked round, and sighted Saunikoq, who lay there waiting for seal.

Now he rose to the surface quite near him, and when Saunikoq saw him, he came over that way. And Saunikoq lifted his harpoon to throw it, and the stroke could not fail. Therefore he made himself small, and crept over to one side of the skin. And when he was struck, he floundered about a little, but not too violently, lest he should break the line. Then he swam away under water with the bladder float, and folded it up under his arm, and took out the air from it, and swam in towards land, and swam and swam until he came to the land near by where his kayak was lying. Then he went to it, and having taken out the point of the harpoon, he went out hunting.

He struck a black seal, and rowed home at once. And when he had come home, he said to his wife: “Make haste and cook the breast piece.”

And when that breast piece was cooked, and the other kayaks had come home, he made a meat feast, and Saunikoq, thinking nothing of any matter, came in with the others. When he came in, Tungujuluk made no sign of knowing anything, but went and took out the bladder and line from his kayak. And then all sat down to eat together. And they ate and were satisfied. And then each man began telling of his day’s hunting.

At last Saunikoq said: “Today, when I struck a walrus, I did not think at all that it should cause me to lose my bladder float. Where that came up again is a thing we do not know. That bladder float of mine was lost.”

And when Saunikoq had said this, Tungujuluk took that bladder and line and laid them beside the meat dish, and said: “Whose can this bladder be, now, I wonder? Aha, at last I have paid you for the time when you came in the shape of a bear, and mocked us.”

And when these words were said, the many who sat there laughed greatly. But Saunikoq got up and went away. And then next morning very early, he set out and rowed northward in his umiak. And since then he has not been seen. So great a shame did he feel.

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Atarssuaq

Atarssuaq’s son, trained as a skilled swimmer by his father, outwits and defeats his father’s killers. Wearing a seal-skin suit, he lures enemies from the north into open waters, then onto an iceberg, where he uses its ice to eliminate many. Pursuing survivors, he overturns their kayaks and drowns them, sparing only one man to deliver a warning. From then on, his enemies never return.

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

► Themes of the story

Transformation: The son undergoes a significant transformation from a child into a skilled swimmer and strategist, capable of avenging his father’s death.

Revenge and Justice: The narrative focuses on the son’s quest to avenge his father’s murder, delivering justice to those responsible.

Guardian Figures: Atarssuaq serves as a mentor and protector, imparting essential skills to his son that prepare him for future challenges.

► From the same Region or People

Learn more about Inuit peoples

Atarssuaq had many enemies. But his many enemies tried in vain to hurt him, and they could not kill him. Then it happened that his wife bore him a son. Atarssuaq came back from his hunting one day, and found that he had a son.

Then he took that son of his and bore him down to the water and threw him in. And waited until he began to kick out violently, and then took him up again. And so he did with him every day for long after, while the child was growing. And thus the boy became a very clever swimmer.

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And one day Atarssuaq caught a fjord seal, and took off the skin all in one piece, and dried it like a bladder, and made his son put it on when he went swimming.

One day he felt a wish to see how clever the boy had become. And said to him therefore: “Go out now and swim, and I will follow after you.”

And the father brought down his kayak and set it in the water, and his son watched him. And then he said: “Now you swim out.” And he made his father follow him out to sea, while he swam more and more under water. As soon as he came to the surface, his father rowed to where he was, but every time he took his throwing stick to cast a small harpoon, he disappeared.

And when his father thought they had done this long enough, he said: “Now swim back to land, but keep under water as much as you can.”

The son dived down, but it was a long time before he came up again. And now his father was greatly afraid. But at last the boy came up, a long way off. And then he rowed up to where he was, and laid one hand on his head, and said: “Clever diver, clever diver, dear little clever one.” And then he sniffed.

And a second time he said to him: “Now swim under water a very long way this time.”

So he dived down, and his father rowed forward all the time, to come to the place where he should rise, and feeling already afraid. His face moved as if he were beginning to cry, and he said: “If only the sharks have not found him!” And he had just begun to cry when his son came up again. And then they went in to land, and the boy did not dive any more that day. So clever had he now become.

And one day his father did not come back from his hunting. This was because of his enemies, who had killed him. Evening came, and next morning there was a kayak from the north. When it came in to the shore, the boy went down and said: “Tomorrow the many brothers will come to kill you all.”

And the kayak turned at once and went back without coming on shore. Night passed and morning came. And in the morning when the boy awoke, he went to look out, and again, and many times. Once when he came out he saw many kayaks appearing from the northward. Then he went in and said to his mother: “Now many kayaks are coming, to kill us all.”

“Then put on your swimming dress,” said his mother.

And he did so, and went down to the shore, and did not stop until he was quite close to the water. When the kayaks then saw him, they all rowed towards him, and said: “He has fallen into the water.”

When they came to the place where he had fallen in, they all began looking about for him, and while they were doing this, he came up just in front of the bone shoeing on the nose of one of the kayaks which lay quite away from the rest. When they spied him, each tried to outdo the others, and cried: “Here he is!”

But then he dived down again. And this he continued to do. And in this manner he led all those kayaks out to the open sea, and when they had come a great way out, they sighted an iceberg which had run aground. When Atarssuaq’s son came to this, he climbed up, by sticking his hands into the ice. And up above were two large pieces. And when he came close to the iceberg, he heard those in the kayaks saying among themselves: “We can cut steps in the ice, and climb up to him.”

And they began cutting steps in the iceberg, and at last the ice pick of the foremost came up over the edge. But now the boy took one of the great pieces of ice and threw it down upon them as they crawled up, so that it sent them all down again as it fell. And again he heard them say: “It would be very foolish not to kill him. Let us climb up, and try to reach him this time.”

And then they began crawling up one after another. But now the boy began as before, shifting the great piece of ice. And he waited until the head of the foremost one came up, and then he let it fall. And this time he also killed all those who had climbed on to the iceberg, after he had so lured them on to follow him.

But the others now turned back, and said: “He will kill us all if we do not go.”

And now the boy jumped down from the iceberg and swam to the kayaks and began tugging at their paddles, so that they turned over. But the men righted themselves again with their throwing sticks. And at last he was forced to hold them down himself under water till they drowned. And soon there were left no more of all those many kayaks, save only one. And when he looked closer, he saw that the man had no weapon but a stick for killing fish. And he rowed weeping in towards land, that man with no weapon but a stick. Then the boy pulled the paddle away from him, and he cried very much at that. Then he began paddling with his hands. But the boy gripped his hands from below, and then the man began crying furiously, and dared no longer put his hands in the water at all. And weeping very greatly he said: “It is ill for me that ever I came out on this errand, for it is plain that I am to be killed.”

The boy looked at him a little. And then said: “You I will not kill. You may go home again.” And he gave him back his paddle, and said to him as he was rowing away: “Tell those of your place never to come out again thinking to kill us. For if they do not one of them will return alive.”

Then Atarssuaq’s son went home. And for some time he waited, thinking that more enemies might come. But none ever came against them after that time.

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Kagssagssuk, the homeless boy who became a strong man

Kagssagssuk, a mistreated orphan, warns children of a “Great Fire,” which consumes them when they ignore him. Though shunned, Kagssagssuk gains supernatural strength through encounters with a giant. He later triumphs over bears, avenges his suffering by punishing tormentors, and spares those kind to him. Despite his rise to power, his growing cruelty leads to his downfall, as villagers ultimately kill him to end his tyranny.

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

► Themes of the story

Transformation: Kagssagssuk evolves from a mistreated orphan into a figure of immense strength, highlighting a profound physical and social metamorphosis.

Revenge and Justice: After enduring cruelty, Kagssagssuk seeks retribution against his tormentors, reflecting the pursuit of justice and the consequences of vengeance.

Supernatural Beings: His encounters with a giant, which grant him extraordinary strength, introduce elements of the supernatural influencing human affairs.

► From the same Region or People

Learn more about Inuit peoples

One day, it is said, when the men and women in the place had gone to a spirit calling, the children were left behind, all in one big house, where they played, making a great noise. A homeless boy named Kagssagssuk was walking about alone outside, and he called to those who were playing inside the house, and said: “You must not make so much noise, or the Great Fire will come.”

The children, who would not believe him, went on with their noisy play, and at last the Great Fire appeared.

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Little Kagssagssuk fled into the house, and cried: “Lift me up. I must have my gloves, and they are up there!”

So they lifted him up to the drying frame under the roof.

And then they heard the Great Fire come hurrying into the house from without. He had a great live ribbon seal for a whip, and that whip had long claws. And then he began dragging the children out through the passage with his great whip, and each time he drew one out, that one was frizzled up. And at last there were no more. But before going away, the Great Fire reached up and touched with his finger a skin which was hanging on the drying frame.

As soon as the Great Fire had gone away, little Kagssagssuk crawled down from the drying frame and went over to the people who were gathered in the wizard’s house, and told them what had happened. But none believed what he said.

“You have killed them yourself,” they declared.

“Very well, then,” he said, “if you think so, try to make a noise yourselves, like the children did.”

And now they began cooking blubber above the entrance to the house, and when the oil was boiling and bubbling as hard as it could, they began making a mighty noise. And true enough, up came the Great Fire outside.

But little Kagssagssuk was not allowed to come into the house, and therefore he hid himself in the store shed. The Great Fire came into the house, and brought with it the live ribbon seal for a whip. They heard it coming in through the passage, and then they poured boiling oil over it, and his whip being thus destroyed, the Great Fire went away.

But from that time onward, all the people of the village were unkind to little Kagssagssuk, and that although he had told the truth. Up to that time he had lived in the house of Umerdlugtoq, who was a great man, but now he was forced to stay outside always, and they would not let him come in. If he ventured to step in, though it were for no more than to dry his boots, Umerdlugtoq, that great man, would lift him up by the nostrils, and cast him over the high threshold again.

And little Kagssagssuk had two grandmothers; the one of these beat him as often as she could, even if he only lay out in the passage. But his other grandmother took pity on him, because he was the son of her daughter, who had been a woman like herself, and therefore she dried his clothes for him.

When, once in a while, that unfortunate boy did come in, Umerdlugtoq’s folk would give him some tough walrus hide to eat, wishing only to give him something which they knew was too tough for him. And when they did so, he would take a little piece of stone and put it between his teeth, to help him, and when he had finished, put it back in his breeches, where he always kept it. When he was hungry, he would sometimes eat of the dogs’ leavings on the ground outside, finding there walrus hide which even the dogs refused to eat.

He slept among the dogs, and warmed himself up on the roof, in the warm air from the smoke hole. But whenever Umerdlugtoq saw him warming himself there, he would haul him down by the nostrils.

Thus a long time passed, and it had been dark in the winter, and was beginning to grow light near the coming of spring. And now little Kagssagssuk began to go wandering about the country. Once when he was out, he met a big man, a giant, who was cutting up his catch, and on seeing him, Kagssagssuk cried out in a loud voice: “Ho, you man there, give me a piece of that meat!”

But although he shouted as loudly as he could, that giant could not hear him. At last a little sound reached the big man’s ears, and then he said: “Bring me luck, bring me luck!”

And he threw down a little piece of meat on the ground, believing it was one of the dead who thus asked.

But little Kagssagssuk, who, young as he was, had already some helping spirits, made that little piece of meat to be a big piece, just as the dead can do, and ate as much as he could, and when he could eat no more, there was still so much left that he could hardly drag it away to hide it.

Some time after this, little Kagssagssuk said to his mother’s mother: “I have by chance become possessed of much meat, and my thoughts will not leave it. I will therefore go out and look to it.”

So he went off to the place where he had hidden it, and lo! it was not there. And he fell to weeping, and while he stood there weeping, the giant came up.

“What are you weeping for?”

“I cannot find the meat which I had hidden in a store-place here.”

“Ho,” said the giant, “I took that meat. I thought it had belonged to another one.”

And then he said again: “Now let us play together.” For he felt kindly towards that boy, and had pity on him.

And they two went off together. When they came to a big stone, the giant said: “Now let us push this stone.” And they began pushing at the big stone until they twirled it round. At first, when little Kagssagssuk tried, he simply fell backwards.

“Now once more. Make haste, make haste, once more. And there again, there is a bigger one.”

And at last little Kagssagssuk ceased to fall over backwards, and was able instead to move the stones and twirl them round. And each time he tried with a larger stone than before, and when he had succeeded with that, a larger one still. And so he kept on. And at last he could make even the biggest stones twirl round in the air, and the stone said “leu-leu-leu-leu” in the air.

Then said the giant at last, seeing that they were equal in strength: “Now you have become a strong man. But since it was by my fault that you lost that piece of meat, I will by magic means cause bears to come down to your village. Three bears there will be, and they will come right down to the village.”

Then little Kagssagssuk went home, and having returned home, went up to warm himself as usual at the smoke hole. Then came the master of that house, as usual, and hauled him down by the nostrils. And afterwards, when he went to lie down among the dogs, his wicked grandmother beat him and them together, as was her custom. Altogether as if there were no strong man in the village at all.

But in the night, when all were asleep, he went down to one of the umiaks, which was frozen fast, and hauled it free.

Next morning when the men awoke, there was a great to-do.

“Hau! That umiak has been hauled out of the ice!”

“Hau! There must be a strong man among us!”

“Who can it be that is so strong?”

“Here is the mighty one, without a doubt,” said Umerdlugtoq, pointing to little Kagssagssuk. But this he said only in mockery.

And a little time after this, the people about the village began to call out that three bears were in sight — exactly as the giant had said. Kagssagssuk was inside, drying his boots. And while all the others were shouting eagerly about the place, he said humbly: “If only I could borrow a pair of indoor boots from some one.”

And at last, as he could get no others, he was obliged to take his grandmother’s boots and put them on.

Then he went out, and ran off over the hard-trodden snow outside the houses, treading with such force that it seemed as if the footmarks were made in soft snow. And thus he went off to meet the bears.

“Hau! Look at Kagssagssuk. Did you ever see….”

“What is come to Kagssagssuk; what can it be?”

Umerdlugtoq was greatly excited, and so astonished that his eyes would not leave the boy. But little Kagssagssuk grasped the biggest of the bears — a mother with two half-grown cubs — grasped that bear with his naked fists, and wrung its neck, so that it fell down dead. Then he took those cubs by the back of the neck and hammered their skulls together until they too were dead.

Then little Kagssagssuk went back homeward with the biggest bear over his shoulders, and one cub under each arm, as if they had been no more than hares. Thus he brought them up to the house, and skinned them; then he set about building a fireplace large enough to put a man in. For he was now going to cook bears’ meat for his grandmother, on a big flat stone.

Umerdlugtoq, that great man, now made haste to get away, taking his wives with him.

And Kagssagssuk took that old grandmother who was wont to beat him, and cast her on the fire, and she burned all up till only her stomach was left. His other grandmother was about to run away, but he held her back, and said: “I shall now be kind to you, for you always used to dry my boots.”

Now when Kagssagssuk had made a meal of the bears’ meat, he set off in chase of those who had fled away. Umerdlugtoq had halted upon the top of a high hill, just on the edge of a precipice, and had pitched their tent close to the edge.

Up came Kagssagssuk behind him, caught him by the nostrils and held him out over the edge, and shook him so violently that his nostrils burst. And there stood Umerdlugtoq holding his nose. But Kagssagssuk said to him: “Do not fear; I am not going to kill you. For you never used to kill me.”

And then little Kagssagssuk went into the tent, and called out to him: “Hi, come and look! I am in here with your wives!” For in the old days, Umerdlugtoq had dared him even to look at them.

And having thus taken due vengeance, Kagssagssuk went back to his village, and took vengeance there on all those who had ever ill-treated him. And some time after, he went away to the southward, and lived with the people there.

It is also told that he got himself a kayak there, and went out hunting with the other men. But being so strong, he soon became filled with the desire to be feared, and began catching hold of children and crushing them. And therefore his fellow-villagers harpooned him one day when he was out in his kayak.

All this we have heard tell of Kagssagssuk.

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Nerrivik

A bird, eager to marry a woman, disguised himself as a man with a sealskin coat and walrus-tusk spectacles. After marrying, his wife discovered his true form and fled with her brothers. The bird, a powerful wizard, created a deadly storm in pursuit. Cast into the sea, the woman drowned and became Nerrivik, ruler of marine life, who provides food to humans in exchange for respect.

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

► Themes of the story

Transformation: Nerrivik’s metamorphosis from a human woman into the ruler of marine life illustrates a profound physical and spiritual change, a common motif in mythological narratives.

Divine Intervention: The bird husband’s ability to conjure a storm through his supernatural powers highlights the influence of otherworldly forces in human affairs, a testament to the belief in divine or magical beings affecting mortal lives.

Sacrifice: The woman’s tragic fate—being cast into the sea and losing her hand—underscores the theme of sacrifice. Her transformation into Nerrivik, who provides sustenance to humanity, suggests that her personal loss leads to a greater good for her community.

► From the same Region or People

Learn more about Inuit peoples

A bird once wished to marry a woman. He got himself a fine sealskin coat, and having weak eyes, made spectacles out of a walrus tusk, for he was greatly set upon looking as nice as possible. Then he set off, in the shape of a man, and coming to a village, took a wife, and brought her home.

Now he began to go out catching fish, which he called seal, and brought home to his wife. Once it happened that he lost his spectacles, and his wife, seeing his bad eyes, burst out weeping, because he was so ugly.

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But her husband only laughed. “Oho, so you saw my eyes? Hahaha!” And he put on his spectacles again.

Then her brothers, who longed for their sister, came out one day to visit her. And her husband being out hunting, they took her away with them. The husband was greatly distressed when he came home and found her gone, and thinking someone must have carried her off, he set out in pursuit. He swung his wings with mighty force, and raised a violent storm, for he was a great wizard.

When the storm came up, the boat began to take in water, and the wind grew fiercer, as he doubled the beating of his wings. The waves rose white with foam, and the boat was near turning over. And when those in the boat began to suspect that the woman was the cause of the storm, they took her up and cast her into the sea. She tried to grasp the side of the boat, but then her grandfather sprang up and cut off her hand.

And so she was drowned. But at the bottom of the sea, she became Nerrivik, the ruler over all the creatures in the sea. And when men catch no seal, then the wizards go down to Nerrivik. Having but one hand, she cannot comb her hair, and this they do for her, and she, by way of thanks, sends seal and other creatures forth to men.

That is the story of the ruler of the sea. And men call her Nerrivik [“Meat Dish”] because she gives them food.

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The thunder spirits

Two sisters, scolded by their father for playing noisily, fled to the mountains with minimal belongings. Over time, they became reclusive and ultimately died of hunger, transforming into thunder spirits. Their powers bring gales, fire, and rain, terrorizing the earth and humans. Known for sparing only a mother and child, they are feared by all, except when confronted by a red dog’s blood, their sole weakness.

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

► Themes of the story

Transformation: The sisters undergo a metamorphosis from humans into thunder spirits, embodying the theme of physical and spiritual change.

Supernatural Beings: Post-transformation, the sisters exist as formidable entities wielding control over natural elements, aligning with the theme of interactions with spirits or gods.

Conflict with Nature: As thunder spirits, the sisters unleash natural forces that terrorize humanity, highlighting the struggle between humans and the formidable powers of nature.

► From the same Region or People

Learn more about Inuit peoples

Two sisters, men say, were playing together, and their father could not bear to hear the noise they made, for he had but few children, and was thus not wont to hear any kind of noise. At last he began to scold them, and told them to go farther away with their playing. When the girls grew up, and began to understand things, they desired to run away on account of their father’s scolding. And at last they set out, taking with them only a little dogskin, and a piece of boot skin, and a fire stone. They went up into a high mountain to build themselves a house there.

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Their father and mother made search for them in vain, for the girls kept hiding themselves; they had grown to be true mountain dwellers, keeping far from the places of men. Only the reindeer hunters saw them now and again, but the girls always refused to go back to their kin.

And when at last the time came when they must die of hunger, they turned into evil spirits, and became thunder.

When they shake their dried boot skin, then the gales come up, the south-westerly gales. And great fire is seen in the heavens whenever they strike their fire stone, and the rain pours down whenever they shed tears.

Their father held many spirit callings, hoping to make them return. But this he ceased to do when he found that they were dead.

But men say that after those girls had become spirits, they returned to the places of men, frightening many to death. They came first of all to their father and mother, because of the trouble they had made. The only one they did not kill was a woman bearing a child on her back. And they let her live, that she might tell how terrible they were. And tales are now told of how terrible they were.

When the thunder spirits come, even the earth itself is stricken with terror. And stones, even those which lie on level ground, and not on any slope at all, roll in fear towards men.

Thus the thunder comes with the south-westerly gales; there is a noise and crackling in the air, as of dry skins shaken, and the sky glows from time to time with the fire from their firestone. Great rocks, and everything which stands up high in the air, begin to glow.

When this happens, men use to take out a red dog, and cut its ear until the blood comes, and then lead the beast round about the house, letting the blood drip everywhere, for then the house will not take fire.

A red dog was the only thing they feared, those girls who were turned to thunder.

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 soul that lived in the bodies of all beasts

Avovang, a mythical figure immune to harm, defied enemies through cunning and supernatural transformations. Despite betrayal during a southern journey, his spirit exacted revenge as a seal and fox, decimating his foes. Embracing lives as various animals, he learned their ways, eventually returning as a man through reincarnation. His tale illustrates resilience, adaptation, and the profound connection between humans and nature in folklore.

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

► Themes of the story

Transformation: Avovang’s ability to change into different animals highlights themes of physical and spiritual metamorphosis.

Revenge and Justice: After being betrayed and left for dead, Avovang’s spirit seeks retribution against his enemies, emphasizing the pursuit of justice.

Supernatural Beings: Avovang’s transformations and his invulnerability to harm underscore interactions with supernatural elements within the narrative.

► From the same Region or People

Learn more about Inuit peoples

There was a man whose name was Avovang. And of him it is said that nothing could wound him. And he lived at Kangerdlugssuaq. At that time of the year when it is good to be out, and the days do not close with dark night, and all is nearing the great summer, Avovang’s brother stood one day on the ice near the breathing hole of a seal.

And as he stood there, a sledge came dashing up, and as it reached him, the man who was in it said: “There will come many sledges to kill your brother.”

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The brother now ran into the house to tell what he had heard. And then he ran up a steep rocky slope and hid away.

The sledges drove up before the house, and Avovang went out to meet them, but he took with him the skin of a dog’s neck, which had been used to wrap him in when he was a child. And when then the men fell upon him, he simply placed that piece of skin on the ground and stood on it, and all his enemies could not wound him with their weapons, though they stabbed again and again.

At last he spoke, and said mockingly: “All my body is now like a piece of knotty wood, with the scars of the wounds you gave me, and yet you could not bring about my death.”

And as they could not wound him with their stabbing, they dragged him up to the top of a high cliff, thinking to cast him down. But each time they caught hold of him to cast him down, he changed himself into another man who was not their enemy. And at last they were forced to drive away, without having done what they wished.

It is also told of Avovang, that he once desired to travel to the south, and to the people who lived in the south, to buy wood. This men were wont to do in the old days, but now it is no longer so.

And so they set off, many sledges together, going southward to buy wood. And having done what they wished, they set out for home. On the way, they had made a halt to look for the breathing holes of seal, and while the men had been thus employed, the women had gone on. Avovang had taken a wife on that journey, from among the people of the south.

And while the men stood there looking for seal holes, all of them felt a great desire to possess Avovang’s wife, and therefore they tried to kill him. Qautaq stabbed him in the eyes, and the others caught hold of him and sent him sliding down through a breathing hole into the sea.

When his wife saw this, she was angry, and taking the wood which they had brought from the south, she broke it all into small pieces. So angry was she at thus being made a widow.

Then she went home, after having spoiled the men’s wood. But the sledges drove on.

Suddenly a great seal came up ahead of them, right in their way, where the ice was thin and slippery. And the sledges drove straight at it, but many fell through and were drowned at that hunting. And a little after, they again saw something in their way. It was a fox, and they set off in chase, but driving at furious speed up a mountain of screw-ice, they were dashed down and killed. Only two men escaped, and they made their way onward and told what had come to the rest.

And it was the soul of Avovang, whom nothing could wound, that had changed, first into a seal and then into a fox, and thus brought about the death of his enemies. And afterwards he made up his mind to let himself be born in the shape of every beast on earth, that he might one day tell his fellow-men the manner of their life.

At one time he was a dog, and lived on meat which he stole from the houses. When he was pressed for food, he would carefully watch the men about the houses, and eat anything they threw away.

But Avovang soon tired of being a dog, on account of the many beatings which fell to his lot in that life. And so he made up his mind to become a reindeer.

At first he found it far from easy, for he could not keep pace with the other reindeer when they ran.

“How do you stretch your hind legs at a gallop?” he asked one day.

“Kick out towards the farthest edge of the sky,” they answered. And he did so, and then he was able to keep pace with them.

But at first he did not know what he should eat, and therefore he asked the others.

“Eat moss and lichen,” they said.

And he soon grew fat, with thick suet on his back.

But one day the herd was attacked by a wolf, and all the reindeer dashed out into the sea, and there they met some kayaks in their flight, and one of the men killed Avovang.

He cut him up, and laid the meat in a cairn of stones. And there he lay, and when the winter came, he longed for the men to come and bring him home. And glad was he one day to hear the stones rattling down, and when they commenced to eat him, and cracked the bones with pieces of rock to get at the marrow, Avovang escaped and changed himself into a wolf.

And now he lived as a wolf, but here as before he found that he could not keep up with his comrades at a run. And they ate all the food, so that he got none.

“Kick up towards the sky,” they told him. And then at once he was able to overtake all the reindeer, and thus get food.

And later he became a walrus, but found himself unable to dive down to the bottom; all he could do was to swim straight ahead through the water.

“Take off as if from the middle of the sky; that is what we do when we dive to the bottom,” said the others. And so he swung his hindquarters up to the sky, and down he went to the bottom. And his comrades taught him what to eat; mussels and little white stones.

Once also he was a raven. “The ravens never lack food,” he said, “but they often feel cold about the feet.”

Thus he lived the life of every beast on earth. And at last he became a seal again. And there he would lie under the ice, watching the men who came to catch him. And being a great wizard, he was able to hide himself away under the nail of a man’s big toe.

But one day there came a man out hunting who had cut off the nail of his big toe. And that man harpooned him. Then they hauled him up on the ice and took him home.

Inside the house, they began cutting him up, and when the man cast the mittens to his wife, Avovang went with them, and crept into the body of the woman. And after a time he was born again, and became once more a man.

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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

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.

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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.

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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

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.

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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.

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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

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.”

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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.]

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 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

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.

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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.

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