Imarasugssuaq, who ate his wives

Misana, married to the cannibalistic Imarasugssuaq, cleverly escapes his deadly tradition of fattening wives for consumption. Feigning immobility, she constructs a dummy, allowing her to flee. When pursued, she invokes her amulet’s power, transforming into wood to evade capture. Seeking refuge with her brothers, she exposes Imarasugssuaq, who is mocked and ultimately killed after Misana’s failed attempts. The story concludes with her triumph and survival.

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

► Themes of the story

Cunning and Deception: Misana’s clever use of a dummy and her transformation into wood highlight the use of wit to outsmart her husband.

Transformation: Misana’s physical change into wood, facilitated by her amulet, underscores themes of metamorphosis and adaptation.

Conflict with Authority: Misana’s rebellion against her oppressive and murderous husband reflects a challenge to tyrannical power.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Arctic Region
  - Inuit/Eskimo Lore

Learn more about Inuit peoples

It is said that the great Imarasugssuaq was wont to eat his wives. He fattened them up, giving them nothing but salmon to eat, and nothing at all to drink. Once when he had just lost his wife in the usual way, he took to wife the sister of many brothers, and her name was Misana. And after having taken her to wife, he began fattening her up as usual. One day her husband was out in his kayak. And she had grown so fat that she could hardly move, but now she managed with difficulty to tumble down from the bench to the floor, crawled to the entrance, dropped down into the passage way, and began licking the snow which had drifted in.

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She licked and licked at it, and at last she began to feel herself lighter, and better able to move. And in this way she afterwards went out and licked up snow whenever her husband was out in his kayak, and at last she was once more quite able to move about.

One day when her husband was out in his kayak as usual, she took her breeches and tunic, and stuffed them out until the thing looked like a real human being, and then she said to them: “When my husband comes and tells you to come out, answer him with these words: I cannot move because I am grown so fat. And when he then comes in and harpoons you, remember then to shriek as if in pain.”

And after she had said these words, she began digging a hole at the back of the house, and when it was big enough, she crept in.

“Bring up the birds I have caught!”

But the dummy answered: “I can no longer move, for I am grown so fat.”

Now the dummy was sitting behind the lamp. And the husband coming in, harpooned that dummy wife with his great bird-spear. And the thing shrieked as if with pain and fell down. But when he looked closer, there was no blood to be seen, nothing but some stuffed-out clothes. And where was his wife?

And now he began to search for her, and as soon as he had gone out, she crept forth from her hiding-place, and took to flight. And while she was thus making her escape, her husband came after her, and seeing that he came nearer and nearer, at last she said: “Now I remember, my amulet is a piece of wood.”

And hardly had she said these words, when she was changed into a piece of wood, and her husband could not find her. He looked about as hard as ever he could, but could see nothing beyond a piece of wood anywhere. And he stabbed at that once or twice with his knife, but she felt no more than a little stinging pain. Then he went back home to fetch his axe, and then, as soon as he was out of sight, she changed back into a woman again and fled away to her brothers.

When she came to their house, she hid herself behind the skin hangings, and after she had placed herself there, her husband was heard approaching, weeping because he had lost his wife. He stayed there with them, and in the evening, the brothers began singing songs in mockery of him, and turning towards him also, they said: “Men say that Imarasugssuaq eats his wives.”

“Who has said that?”

“Misana has said that.”

“I said it, and I ran away because you tried to kill me,” said she from behind the hangings.

And then the many brothers fell upon Imarasugssuaq and held him fast that his wife might kill him; she took her knife, but each time she tried to strike, the knife only grazed his skin, for her fingers lost their power.

And she was still standing there trying in vain to stab him, when they saw that he was already dead.

Here ends this story.

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The woman who had a bear as a foster-son

An old woman adopts a bear cub gifted by a hunter’s wife. Raising it with care, she teaches it human ways, earning its loyalty. The bear grows strong, aiding hunters and becoming renowned for its unique sinew collar. After a deadly encounter with a man, the foster-mother urges the bear to leave for safety. Legend says it roams the north, marked by a black spot on its side.

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

► Themes of the story

Transformation: The bear undergoes a significant change, adopting human behaviors and understanding through the nurturing care of its foster mother.

Supernatural Beings: The bear, though an animal, exhibits human-like intelligence and emotions, blurring the line between the natural and supernatural realms.

Family Dynamics: The relationship between the old woman and the bear highlights themes of adoption, caregiving, and the bonds that form between individuals, regardless of species.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Arctic Region
  - Inuit/Eskimo Lore

Learn more about Inuit peoples

There was once an old woman living in a place where others lived. She lived nearest the shore, and when those who lived in houses up above had been out hunting, they gave her both meat and blubber. And once they were out hunting as usual, and now and again they got a bear, so that they frequently ate bear’s meat. And they came home with a whole bear. The old woman received a piece from the ribs as her share, and took it home to her house. After she had come home to her house, the wife of the man who had killed the bear came to the window and said: “Dear little old woman in there, would you like to have a bear’s cub?”

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And the old woman went and fetched it, and brought it into her house, shifted her lamp, and placed the cub, because it was frozen, up on to the drying frame to thaw. Suddenly she noticed that it moved a little, and took it down to warm it. Then she roasted some blubber, for she had heard that bears lived on blubber, and in this way she fed it from that time onwards, giving it greaves to eat and melted blubber to drink, and it lay beside her at night.

And after it had begun to lie beside her at night it grew very fast, and she began to talk to it in human speech, and thus it gained the mind of a human being, and when it wished to ask its foster-mother for food, it would sniff.

The old woman now no longer suffered want, and those living near brought her food for the cub. The children came sometimes to play with it, but then the old woman would say: “Little bear, remember to sheathe your claws when you play with them.”

In the morning, the children would come to the window and call in: “Little bear, come out and play with us, for now we are going to play.”

And when they went out to play together, it would break the children’s toy harpoons to pieces, but whenever it wanted to give any one of the children a push, it would always sheathe its claws. But at last it grew so strong, that it nearly always made the children cry. And when it had grown so strong the grown-up people began to play with it, and they helped the old woman in this way, in making the bear grow stronger. But after a time not even grown men dared play with it, so great was its strength, and then they said to one another: “Let us take it with us when we go out hunting. It may help us to find seal.”

And so one day in the dawn, they came to the old woman’s window and cried: “Little bear, come and earn a share of our catch; come out hunting with us, bear.”

But before the bear went out, it sniffed at the old woman. And then it went out with the men.

On the way, one of the men said: “Little bear, you must keep down wind, for if you do not so, the game will scent you, and take fright.”

One day when they had been out hunting and were returning home, they called in to the old woman: “It was very nearly killed by the hunters from the northward; we hardly managed to save it alive. Give therefore some mark by which it may be known; a broad collar of plaited sinews about its neck.”

And so the old foster-mother made a mark for it to wear; a collar of plaited sinews, as broad as a harpoon line.

And after that it never failed to catch seal, and was stronger even than the strongest of hunters, and never stayed at home even in the worst of all weather. Also it was not bigger than an ordinary bear. All the people in the other villages knew it now, and although they sometimes came near to catching it, they would always let it go as soon as they saw its collar.

But now the people from beyond Angmagssalik heard that there was a bear which could not be caught, and then one of them said: “If ever I see it, I will kill it.”

But the others said: “You must not do that; the bear’s foster-mother could ill manage without its help. If you see it, do not harm it, but leave it alone, as soon as you see its mark.”

One day when the bear came home as usual from hunting, the old foster-mother said: “Whenever you meet with men, treat them as if you were of one kin with them; never seek to harm them unless they first attack.”

And it heard the foster-mother’s words and did as she had said.

And thus the old foster-mother kept the bear with her. In the summer it went out hunting in the sea, and in winter on the ice, and the other hunters now learned to know its ways, and received shares of its catch.

Once during a storm the bear was away hunting as usual, and did not come home until evening. Then it sniffed at its foster-mother and sprang up on to the bench, where its place was on the southern side. Then the old foster-mother went out of the house, and found outside the body of a dead man, which the bear had hauled home. Then without going in again, the old woman went hurrying to the nearest house, and cried at the window: “Are you all at home?” — “Why?” — “The little bear has come home with a dead man, one whom I do not know.”

When it grew light, they went out and saw that it was the man from the north, and they could see he had been running fast, for he had drawn off his furs, and was in his underbreeches. Afterwards they heard that it was his comrades who had urged the bear to resistance, because he would not leave it alone.

A long time after this had happened, the old foster-mother said to the bear: “You had better not stay with me here always; you will be killed if you do, and that would be a pity. You had better leave me.”

And she wept as she said this. But the bear thrust its muzzle right down to the floor and wept, so greatly did it grieve to go away from her.

After this, the foster-mother went out every morning as soon as dawn appeared, to look at the weather, and if there were but a cloud as big as one’s hand in the sky, she said nothing.

But one morning when she went out, there was not even a cloud as big as a hand, and so she came in and said: “Little bear, now you had better go; you have your own kin far away out there.”

But when the bear was ready to set out, the old foster-mother, weeping very much, dipped her hands in oil and smeared them with soot, and stroked the bear’s side as it took leave of her, but in such manner that it could not see what she was doing. The bear sniffed at her and went away. But the old foster-mother wept all through that day, and her fellows in the place mourned also for the loss of their bear.

But men say that far to the north, when many bears are abroad, there will sometimes come a bear as big as an iceberg, with a black spot on its side.

Here ends this story.

The coming of men, a long, long while ago

This tale recounts the origins of Earth and humanity through oral tradition. The Earth fell from the sky, followed by the emergence of humans from the land. Early humans lived in darkness, feeding from the Earth and lacking knowledge of death. Overpopulation led to a great flood, after which light and death arrived, bringing the sun, moon, and stars. The dead transformed into celestial bodies, illuminating the world.

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

► Themes of the story

Creation: The story describes the Earth’s formation, detailing how it fell from the sky, followed by the emergence of humans from the land.

Transformation: It illustrates significant changes, such as the transition from darkness to light and the introduction of death, which brought the sun, moon, and stars into existence.

Loss and Renewal: The narrative addresses overpopulation leading to a great flood, resulting in the loss of many lives, followed by the renewal of the human population under new conditions of light and mortality.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Arctic Region
  - Inuit/Eskimo Lore

Learn more about Inuit peoples

Our forefathers have told us much of the coming of earth, and of men, and it was a long, long while ago.

Those who lived long before our day, they did not know how to store their words in little black marks, as you do; they could only tell stories. And they told of many things, and therefore we are not without knowledge of these things, which we have heard told many and many a time, since we were little children. Old women do not waste their words idly, and we believe what they say. Old age does not lie.

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A long, long time ago, when the earth was to be made, it fell down from the sky. Earth, hills and stones, all fell down from the sky, and thus the earth was made.

And then, when the earth was made, came men.

It is said that they came forth out of the earth. Little children came out of the earth. They came forth from among the willow bushes, all covered with willow leaves. And there they lay among the little bushes: lay and kicked, for they could not even crawl. And they got their food from the earth.

Then there is something about a man and a woman, but what of them? It is not clearly known. When did they find each other, and when had they grown up? I do not know. But the woman sewed, and made children’s clothes, and wandered forth. And she found little children, and dressed them in the clothes, and brought them home.

And in this way men grew to be many.

And being now so many, they desired to have dogs. So a man went out with a dog leash in his hand, and began to stamp on the ground, crying “Hok — hok — hok!” Then the dogs came hurrying out from the hummocks, and shook themselves violently, for their coats were full of sand. Thus men found dogs.

But then children began to be born, and men grew to be very many on the earth. They knew nothing of death in those days, a long, long time ago, and grew to be very old. At last they could not walk, but went blind, and could not lie down.

Neither did they know the sun, but lived in the dark. No day ever dawned. Only inside their houses was there ever light, and they burned water in their lamps, for in those days water would burn.

But these men who did not know how to die, they grew to be too many, and crowded the earth. And then there came a mighty flood from the sea. Many were drowned, and men grew fewer. We can still see marks of that great flood, on the high hill-tops, where mussel shells may often be found.

And now that men had begun to be fewer, two old women began to speak thus: “Better to be without day, if thus we may be without death,” said the one.

“No; let us have both light and death,” said the other.

And when the old woman had spoken these words, it was as she had wished. Light came, and death.

It is said, that when the first man died, others covered up the body with stones. But the body came back again, not knowing rightly how to die. It stuck out its head from the bench, and tried to get up. But an old woman thrust it back, and said: “We have much to carry, and our sledges are small.”

For they were about to set out on a hunting journey. And so the dead one was forced to go back to the mound of stones.

And now, after men had got light on their earth, they were able to go on journeys, and to hunt, and no longer needed to eat of the earth. And with death came also the sun, moon and stars.

For when men die, they go up into the sky and become brightly shining things there.

Ordlavarsuk

Ordlavarsuk, who initially despised the angakut, was captivated by a women’s song during a shamanic ritual and decided to become an angakok himself. Venturing into solitude to summon a tornak, he encountered a giant demon but fled in terror. After rejecting the tornak’s offer, he regretted his decision and tried to recall it, but it never returned, marking the end of his shamanic aspirations.

Source:
Tales and Traditions of the Eskimo
by Henry Rink
[William Blackwood and Sons]
Edinburgh and London, 1875

► Themes of the story

Forbidden Knowledge: Ordlavarsuk’s desire to become an angakok leads him to seek out a tornak (spirit), a pursuit that involves hidden or restricted truths within shamanic practices.

Supernatural Beings: His encounter with the giant-like tornak highlights interactions with spirits, central to the narrative.

Transformation: The tale reflects Ordlavarsuk’s emotional and spiritual journey from skepticism to a desire for deeper understanding, though ultimately unfulfilled.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Arctic Region
  - Inuit/Eskimo Lore

Learn more about the Inuit peoples

Abridged version of the story.

Ordlavarsuk despised the angakut, and never used to attend their conjurations. But once spending an evening at another place, in a house where an angakok went on performing his art, he became so fond of the women’s song, that suddenly he took a fancy to become an angakok himself. Imitating the angakut’s fashion, he betook himself to lonely places, and called for a tornak. At length a giant-like man appeared, armed with a long staff, with which he would touch him. But Ordlavarsuk got terrified, and turning round to the beach walked through some shallow water to an island, whither the demon was unable to follow him. The tornak having in vain offered himself to his disposal, turned back and disappeared. Ordlavarsuk then repenting his foolishness, called out for him again, but received no answer, and never more succeeded in calling forth a tornak.

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A woman who was mated with a dog

A woman mated with a dog and bore ten children. As they grew, she commanded them to devour her father. Dividing them into two groups, she sent five inland, where they became erkileks, while the other five received an old boot. Placed in the sea, it transformed into a ship, leading them away, where they became kavdlunaks (Europeans).

Source:
Tales and Traditions of the Eskimo
by Henry Rink
[William Blackwood and Sons]
Edinburgh and London, 1875

► Themes of the story

Transformation: The woman’s offspring undergo significant changes, with some becoming erkileks and others transforming into Europeans (kavdlunaks).

Origin of Things: This narrative offers an explanation for the emergence of different groups, such as Europeans, within Inuit mythology.

Supernatural Beings: The story features elements beyond the natural world, including the woman’s union with a dog and the subsequent birth of extraordinary children.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Arctic Region
  - Inuit/Eskimo Lore

Learn more about the Inuit peoples

Abridged version of the story.

A woman who was mated with a dog got ten children.

When they had grown larger, she ordered them to devour her father, whereupon she divided them into two parties and sent them off from home to seek their subsistence henceforth by themselves.

Five of them, who were sent up the country, grew erkileks; and to the other five she gave the sole of an old boot, and put it in the sea, where it rapidly expanded and grew a ship, in which they went off, turning into kavdlunaks (Europeans).

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The swimmer, a tale from Labrador

A grieving mother, having lost all her children to enemies, raises her last son to live like a seal in the water. When the enemies return to kill him, she sends him into the sea. The son lures them far out, and the mother summons a storm by whipping the water’s surface, drowning the attackers while her son survives.

Source:
Tales and Traditions of the Eskimo
by Henry Rink
[William Blackwood and Sons]
Edinburgh and London, 1875

► Themes of the story

Transformation: The son is raised to adapt to life in the water, embodying a seal’s abilities, which is a significant physical transformation.

Revenge and Justice: The mother’s actions lead to the demise of her enemies, serving as retribution for the loss of her other children.

Supernatural Beings: The mother’s ability to summon a storm by whipping the water’s surface suggests a connection to supernatural powers.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Arctic Region
  - Inuit/Eskimo Lore

Learn more about the Inuit peoples

Abridged version of the story.

A mother, who lived at a solitary place, successively lost all her children, who were killed by enemies. Finally, she got a son, whom from his babyhood she brought up with the aim of making him fit for dwelling in the water like a seal. The enemies once went to the place with the intention of killing him also. But the mother, seeing the kayakers approach, told him to make his escape through the water. The enemies, who observed him jumping into the water, had no doubt they would get hold of him; but, swimming like a seal, he seduced them far out to sea, when the mother whipped the surface of the water with a string, causing a storm, by which they all perished, her son being the only one saved.

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A woman named Arnasugaussak

Arnasugaussak, after breaking her mother’s precious needle, fled inland with her daughter. They lived among groups of people who transformed into partridges and reindeer. Eventually, they returned to the coast, where they encountered men flensing a whale. As they called out to them, both were mysteriously turned into stones, leaving a lasting mark of their tale.

Source:
Tales and Traditions of the Eskimo
by Henry Rink
[William Blackwood and Sons]
Edinburgh and London, 1875

► Themes of the story

Transformation: The narrative features people transforming into partridges and reindeer, highlighting themes of physical change.

Supernatural Beings: The story includes elements of the supernatural, such as the mysterious transformation of individuals into animals and ultimately into stones.

Conflict with Authority: Arnasugaussak’s flight after breaking her mother’s needle suggests a challenge to familial authority, leading to her subsequent adventures.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Arctic Region
  - Inuit/Eskimo Lore

Learn more about the Inuit peoples

Abridged version of the story.

A woman named Arnasugaussak, on being scolded by her parents for having broken her mother’s precious needle, fled with her daughter to the inland, where they lived with people, who after a while were transformed into partridges, and afterwards with others who changed into reindeers.

Finally, they returned to the sea-coast, and saw some men flensing a whale. While standing calling out to them they were converted into stones.

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A girl named Isserfik

Isserfik, a girl who favored animals over men, fell in love with an eagle, which carried her inland. A man pursued them, but Isserfik incited the eagle against him. Using an amulet, the man killed the eagle and brought Isserfik home. She bore a half-man, half-eagle child, but eventually lost her sanity and died.

Source:
Tales and Traditions of the Eskimo
by Henry Rink
[William Blackwood and Sons]
Edinburgh and London, 1875

► Themes of the story

Forbidden Love: Isserfik’s romantic involvement with an eagle signifies a union that defies societal norms, highlighting the complexities and consequences of such relationships.

Transformation: The birth of Isserfik’s child, who is half-human and half-eagle, embodies the theme of transformation, merging human and animal characteristics.

Supernatural Beings: The eagle in the story is not merely a bird but a supernatural entity capable of interacting intimately with humans, reflecting the theme of supernatural beings influencing mortal lives.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Arctic Region
  - Inuit/Eskimo Lore

Learn more about the Inuit peoples

Abridged version of the story.

A girl named Isserfik preferred animals to men. Lastly, she fell in love with an eagle, that carried her off further inland.

A man went after them to fetch her back; but she excited the eagle against him. The man sought refuge beneath a stone. The eagle began to peck at it with its beak to make a hole in it; but the man sent out his amulet, killed the eagle, and carried Isserfik back to her home, where she gave birth to a child, half man, half eagle.

Finally, she lost her mind and died.

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The grateful bear

A hunter staying in a snow-hut saw what appeared to be his wife running naked outside, only to find her calmly at home upon his return. Driven mad by the vision, he terrified his wife, who fled with their baby. Near starvation, she offered a partridge to a bald-headed bear, who later rewarded her kindness with a steady supply of seals for her survival.

Source:
Tales and Traditions of the Eskimo
by Henry Rink
[William Blackwood and Sons]
Edinburgh and London, 1875

► Themes of the story

Transformation: The hunter’s sudden descent into madness represents a profound psychological change, impacting his family’s fate.

Conflict with Nature: The wife’s encounter with the bald-headed bear highlights the tension between humans and the natural world, especially in survival situations.

Sacred Objects: The partridge offered to the bear serves as a pivotal token, symbolizing the exchange that leads to the wife’s subsequent survival.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Arctic Region
  - Inuit/Eskimo Lore

Learn more about the Inuit peoples

Abridged version of the story.

A married couple lived on a lonely spot far from other people. When the man was out on his hunting-ground his place of refuge used to be a snow-hut. Once, when he was stopping in it, he saw his wife running about quite naked. Greatly excited, he hastened home, but found his wife inside the house, sitting quietly with her baby, without having stirred. The man now went raving mad; and the wife, frightened at seeing him in such a state, fled from the house with her child. When at the very point of starvation she chanced to catch a partridge, but seeing a terrible bald-headed bear approaching, she threw the bird to him and made her escape. Afterwards, when she had built herself a hut on the shore, she always got an ample supply of newly-killed seals, which used to come drifting in, being gifts from the grateful bear.

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A girl named Tuagtuanguak

Tuagtuanguak fled from her persecuting brother-in-law, enduring a perilous journey across ice and desolate landscapes. Over five days, she repeatedly swooned, awakening each time with visions of a distant black spot, gaining angakok power along the way. After numerous trials, including supernatural leaps, she reached a northern settlement, married, and received gifts from spirits, only for them to mysteriously return to their owners.

Source:
Tales and Traditions of the Eskimo
by Henry Rink
[William Blackwood and Sons]
Edinburgh and London, 1875

► Themes of the story

Quest: Tuagtuanguak’s journey across treacherous ice and desolate landscapes in search of safety exemplifies a classic quest narrative, where the protagonist undertakes a challenging journey to achieve a significant goal.

Transformation: Throughout her ordeal, Tuagtuanguak acquires angakok (shamanic) powers, indicating a profound personal transformation as she gains spiritual strength and resilience.

Supernatural Beings: Her interactions with the ingnersuit (spirits) who bestow gifts upon her highlight the involvement of supernatural entities, a common element in mythological tales that underscores the connection between the human and spirit worlds.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Arctic Region
  - Inuit/Eskimo Lore

Learn more about the Inuit peoples

Abridged version of the story.

A girl named Tuagtuanguak fled from her brother-in-law, who persecuted her. Running across the ice, she fell through; but having again got up, she ran on and on to the north constantly, viewing a black spot before her. Swooning several times, and again seeing the black spot on awaking, she meanwhile acquired angakok power. Going on in this way for five successive days, she came to a precipice, and setting out from its edge, she leaped across, but was somehow wafted back through the air to the same spot. This process she continued for five days. She then pursued her journey north, and came to an inhabited place, where she took up her abode, and afterwards got married. She visited the ingnersuit, and received presents from them; but while carrying them homewards the gifts were wafted out of her hands, and flew back to their first owners.

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