The story of the fox-wife

A widower living alone notices his home is mysteriously maintained during his hunting trips. Curious, he discovers a fox entering his house, only to find it transform into a beautiful woman. They marry and live happily until a dispute over the lingering smell of fox causes her to don her fox skin and vanish, leaving him alone once more.

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

► Themes of the story

Supernatural Beings: The tale features a fox that transforms into a human woman, highlighting interactions with supernatural entities.

Transformation: Central to the narrative is the fox’s ability to change form, symbolizing themes of physical transformation and the fluidity between animal and human realms.

Love and Betrayal: The relationship between the man and the fox-woman evolves into marriage, but ultimately ends in separation due to a misunderstanding, underscoring themes of love and the fragility of trust.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Arctic Region
  - Inuit/Eskimo Lore

Learn more about Inuit peoples

Once there was a man who had lost his wife and who lived all alone. But every day, when he returned from hunting, he found that everything was in order as his wife would have done. There were no signs of anyone in the house, nor tracks outside. He could not understand it, and decided to find out who was taking care of the house. So, one day, instead of going to hunt, he hid himself a little way from the entrance, where he could observe if anyone went in. Finally he saw a fox enter. He thought that the fox was after his meat, so followed it into the house. What was his surprise to find, on entering, a beautiful woman dressed in skins. On the rack above the lamp hung the skin of a fox. He asked her to marry him, and she became his wife.

► Continue reading…

They lived together for a long time happily, until one day the husband detected a strong odour in the house. He asked her where the smell came from. She replied that it was the odour of the fox, and if he was going to scold her, she would run away. She slipped on the fox-skin and was gone in a moment. The man never saw her again.

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 girl who married a whale

A girl walking along the shore wished for a husband and chose a whale’s skull, which came to life. She married the whale but was kept tied due to his jealousy. Escaping with her family, she distracted the pursuing whale by throwing her clothes into the sea. The whale, enraged, stranded himself and was killed, reverting to a bone.

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

► Themes of the story

Supernatural Beings: The story features a whale’s skull that transforms into a living being, highlighting interactions with supernatural entities.

Forbidden Love: The girl’s union with a whale represents a romantic connection that defies natural and societal norms.

Cunning and Deception: The girl employs clever tactics to escape her jealous whale husband, demonstrating the use of wit to achieve freedom.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Arctic Region
  - Inuit/Eskimo Lore

Learn more about Inuit peoples

Once a girl was walking along the shore. She wished she had a husband. She saw a whale’s skull lying on the sand. So she said, “I will take the whale bone for a husband.” It came to life and married her. She went to live with the whale in the sea. The whale was very jealous of her, and tied a line to her for fear she would escape.

One day the girl saw her father and brothers going by in an umiak. She called to them to take her aboard. Soon the whale discovered her escape. He came swimming furiously after the boat. When he was quite near, the girl took off her mittens and threw them into the water.

► Continue reading…

While he was tearing them up, they gained a little. Then he came on again, making the water foam in his anger. Then she took off her boots and threw them into the water. While he was thrashing them with his tail, they made for the shore. But he caught them again, when they were close to the shore. Then the girl took off her qo’lituk [this is the term used in northern Labrador for the deerskin frock] and threw it into the water. While he was tearing this up, they landed. But he was so angry that he did not notice the land, and came on again. He stranded in the shallow water, and was easily killed by her father and brothers. Then he changed back into a bone.

The place where the caribou live

A powerful angekok sought to uncover the secret resting place of the caribou. Guided by his torngak, he traveled for two moons, finally reaching a massive turf-and-rock house guarded by a giant caribou king. The caribou entered the house in bands, protected by their leader. Though the angekok shared his vision, he withheld the location, fearing transformation into a mouse. The secret remains a hopeful mystery for the people.

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

► Themes of the story

Forbidden Knowledge: The angekok seeks the hidden resting place of the caribou, a secret location that remains elusive to others.

Supernatural Beings: The story features the angekok (a shaman) and his torngak (spirit helper), highlighting interactions with spiritual entities.

Transformation: The angekok is warned that desiring to harm the caribou could result in his transformation into a mouse, emphasizing the consequences of certain actions.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Arctic Region
  - Inuit/Eskimo Lore

Learn more about Inuit peoples

There was once a great angekok who felt it his duty to find out for the people the place where the caribou went to when they passed in great numbers into the interior. So he asked his torngak to show him where they went. His torngak told him the way to go. He told him to walk on and on, and not to stop until he told him. So the angekok started off. He walked day after day. For two moons he walked. His boots did not wear out because his torngak was with him.

At last, one day, his torngak said, “Stop! Make no noise, and wait till sunset. Then you will see the resting place of the caribou. You must not wish to kill what you see, or I’ll turn you into a mouse.”

► Continue reading…

So the angekok did as he had been told. When the sun went down, he saw a very large house made of turf and rock. Standing across the door was a very big deer. It was the king of the caribou. He was so big that the other caribou could walk in under him without touching him.

The caribou came up in big bands, and all passed under the king into the house. When the last one had passed in, he lay down and kept guard over the others.

The angekok went home and told the people what he had seen. But he did not dare tell them where to find the wonderful place, for fear that they might desire to kill so many caribou and his torngak would turn him into a mouse. So the Eskimo know that there is a place where the reindeer live and stay with their king, but although they are always looking for it, they can never find it. But they hope to do so some time.

The heavenly regions

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

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

► Themes of the story

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

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

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

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Arctic Region
  - Inuit/Eskimo Lore

Learn more about Inuit peoples

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

► Continue reading…

Origin of the winds and rain

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

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

► Themes of the story

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

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

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

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Arctic Region
  - Inuit/Eskimo Lore

Learn more about Inuit peoples

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

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

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

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

► Continue reading…

Origin of man and the animals

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

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

► Themes of the story

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

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

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

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Arctic Region
  - Inuit/Eskimo Lore

Learn more about Inuit peoples

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

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

► Continue reading…

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

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

Another version:

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

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

The girl who lived among the Adlit

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

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

► Themes of the story

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

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

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

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Arctic Region
  - Inuit/Eskimo Lore

Learn more about Inuit peoples

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

► Continue reading…

The guillemot that could talk

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

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

► Themes of the story

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

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

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

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Arctic Region
  - Inuit/Eskimo Lore

Learn more about Inuit peoples

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

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

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

► Continue reading…

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Puagssuaq

A wifeless man spent his days hunting ptarmigan until he discovered an old couple in a hidden valley. Intrigued, he entered their dwelling unnoticed and observed the wife preparing to consult spirits. As the passage began to close, he narrowly escaped and ran home, fearing pursuit. Reaching safety, he recounted his eerie experience. The tale concludes without further incident.

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

► Themes of the story

Supernatural Beings: The protagonist encounters an old couple with mystical abilities, including the wife’s preparation to consult spirits, indicating interactions with supernatural elements.

Forbidden Knowledge: The man’s curiosity leads him to secretly observe the couple’s ritual, exposing him to hidden or restricted practices that he was not meant to witness.

Illusion vs. Reality: The protagonist initially mistakes the couple’s dwelling for a stone, and the closing passageway adds to the uncertainty, blurring the line between what is real and what is perceived.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Arctic Region
  - Inuit/Eskimo Lore

Learn more about Inuit peoples

There was once a wifeless man who always went out hunting ptarmigan. It became his custom always to go out hunting ptarmigan every day. And when he was out one day, hunting ptarmigan as was his custom, he came to a place whence he could see out over a rocky valley. And it looked a good place to go. And he went there. But before he had come to the bottom of the valley, he caught sight of something that looked like a stone. And when he could see quite clearly that it was not a stone at all, he went up to it. He walked and walked, and came to it at last.

► Continue reading…

Then he looked in, and saw an old couple sitting alone in there. And when he had seen this, he crawled very silently in through the passage way. And having come inside, he looked first a long time at them, and then he gave a little whistle. But nothing happened when he did so, and therefore he whistled a second time. And this time they heard the whistle, and the man nudged his wife and said: “You, Puagssuaq, you can talk with the spirits. Take counsel with them now.”

When he had said this, the wifeless man whistled again. And at this whistling, the man looked at his wife again and said earnestly: “Listen! It sounds as if that might be the voice of a shore-dweller; one who catches miserable fish.”

And now the wifeless man saw that the old one’s wife was letting down her hair. And this was because she was now about to ask counsel of the spirits.

And he was now about to look at them again, when he saw that the passage way about him was beginning to close up. And it was already nearly closed up. But then it opened again of itself. Then the wifeless man thought only of coming out again from that place, and when the passage way again opened, he slipped out. And then he began running as fast as he could.

For a long time he ran on, with the thought that some one would surely come after him. But at last he came up the hillside, without having been pursued at all.

And when he came home, he told what had happened.

Here ends this story.

Angangujuk

This tale recounts the story of Angangujuk, a child who mysteriously vanishes while playing outside. His mother, fearing her husband’s wrath, admits her loss, prompting him to summon spirit finders. The child’s location is revealed as being held by inland folk, leading the father to rescue him after using magic to lull his captors to sleep. The family flees to safety, abandoning the mainland forever.

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

► Themes of the story

Supernatural Beings: The tale involves the father using magic and encountering inland folk, indicating interactions with supernatural elements.

Family Dynamics: The narrative centers on the parents’ desperate efforts to find and rescue their missing child, highlighting familial bonds and responsibilities.

Conflict with Authority: The father’s confrontation with the inland folk who took his child reflects a challenge against those who have wrongfully asserted control over his family.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Arctic Region
  - Inuit/Eskimo Lore

Learn more about Inuit peoples

It is said that Angangujuk’s father was very strong. They had no other neighbours, but lived there three of them all alone. One day when the mother was going to scrape meat from a skin, she let the child play at kayak outside in the passage, near the entrance. And now and again she called to him: “Angangujuk!” And the child would answer from outside.

And once she called in this way, and called again, for there came no answer. And when no answer came again, she left the skin she was scraping, and began to search about.

► Continue reading…

But she could not find the child. And now she began to feel greatly afraid, dreading her husband’s return. And while she stood there feeling great fear of her husband, he came out from behind a rock, dragging a seal behind him.

Then he came forward and said: “Where is our little son?”

“He vanished away from me this morning, after you had gone, when he was playing kayak-man out in the passage.”

And when she had said this, her husband answered: “It is you, wicked old hag, who have killed him. And now I will kill you.”

To this his wife answered: “Do not kill me yet, but wait a little, and first seek out one who can ask counsel of the spirits.”

And now the husband began eagerly to search for such a one. He came home bringing wizards with him, and bade them try what they could do, and when they could not find the child, he let them go without giving them so much as a bite of meat.

And seeing that none of them could help him, he now sought for a very clever finder of hidden things, and meeting such a one at last, he took him home. Then he fastened a stick to his face, and made him lie down on the bedplace on his back.

And now he worked away with him until the spirit came. And when this had happened, the spirit finder declared: “It would seem that spirits have here found a difficult task. He is up in a place between two great cliffs, and two old inland folk are looking after him.”

Then they stopped calling spirits, and wandered away towards the east. They walked and walked, and at last they sighted a lot of houses. And when they came nearer, they saw the smoke coming out from all the smoke holes. It was the heat from inside coming out so. And the father looked in through a window, and saw that they were quarrelling about his child, and the child was crying.

“Who is to look after him?”

So he heard them saying inside the house; each one was eager to have the child. When the father saw this, he was very angry.

And the people inside asked the child: “What would you like to eat?”

“No,” said the child.

“Will you have seal meat?”

“No,” said the child.

And there was nothing he cared to have. Therefore they asked him at last: “Do you want to go home very much?”

Angangujuk answered quickly: “Yes.” And his father was very greatly angered by now. And said to those with him: “Try now to magic them to sleep.”

And now the wizard began calling down a magic sleep upon those in the hut, and one by one they sank to sleep and began to snore. And fewer and fewer remained awake; at last there were only two. But then one of those two began to yawn, and at last rolled over and snored.

And now the great finder of hidden things began calling down sleep with all his might over that one remaining. And at last he too began to move towards the sleeping place. Then he began to yawn a little, and at last he also rolled over.

Now Angangujuk’s father went in quickly, and now he caught up his son. But now the child had no clothes on. And looking for them, he saw them hung up on the drying frame. But the house was so high that they had to poke down the clothes with poles.

At last they came out, and walked and walked and came farther on. And it was now beginning to be light. As soon as they came to the place, they cut the moorings of the umiak, and hastily made all ready, and rowed out to the farthest islands. They had just moved away from land when they saw a number of people opposite the house.

But when the inland folk saw they had already moved out from the land, they went up to the house and beat it down, beating down roof and walls and all that there was of it.

After that time, Angangujuk’s parents never again took up their dwelling on the mainland.

Here ends this story.