3 h 42 minAudiobook11 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What good is extraordinary strength when hunger, conflict, and grief threaten the people you long to protect?
Beside Lake Superior, Nokomis raises Hiawatha among forests, waters, birds, and animals. In Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s narrative poem, the legendary hero seeks wisdom as well as power. His search takes him toward his father, Mudjekeewis, the West Wind, and into contests where judgment matters as much as strength. Helping his people demands more than extraordinary gifts.
Love draws Hiawatha to the home of a Dakota arrow-maker, where he courts Minnehaha. Around their story, adventures unfold through woodland life and encounters with dangerous forces. The poem’s strong, repeating rhythm carries both grandeur and tenderness. Its portrayal of Indigenous life also calls for thoughtful reading: it reflects an outsider’s nineteenth-century view.
What you’ll discover
- A hero seeking wisdom Follow Hiawatha as he tests his powers against the harder demands of helping others.
- Forests alive with presence Enter a world of lakes, birds, and animals through Nokomis’s teachings and Hiawatha’s journeys.
- The tenderness of courtship Discover how Minnehaha brings love and domestic hopes into a poem of legendary adventures.
- A memorable wrestling encounter Meet Mondamin in a contest that connects fasting and effort with the origin of corn.
- Rhythm that carries feeling Feel the strong, repeating movement hold scenes of woodland beauty, courtship, and loss together.
Who will love it
Readers who love legends and tales of the forest and lake, anyone who enjoys the sound of poetry read aloud, and those curious about heroes who bring gifts to their people.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- The Master of Life calls the nations
- A child of the West Wind
- Hard work brings corn and a canoe
- Two great fights with water and wealth
- A bride, a wedding and tales told
- What the poem is about and how it sings
Who’s who
- HiawathaHalf divine child of the West Wind who grows up to teach his people, wanting their good above his own glory.
- NokomisHiawatha's grandmother, daughter of the Moon, who raises him and teaches him the stars while fearing for his safety.
- MinnehahaLaughing Water, the Dacotah Arrow-maker's daughter, whom Hiawatha woos in order to join two tribes.
- MudjekeewisThe West Wind, Hiawatha's boastful father, who tests his son's courage in a mountain battle.
- ChibiabosHiawatha's dearest friend, a gentle musician whose songs and flute make all nature listen.
- KwasindThe strong man, called lazy in youth, whose great strength is joined with goodness.
- IagooThe great boaster and storyteller, friend of Nokomis, whose tall tales entertain the whole village.
- Pau-Puk-KeewisA handsome idler, dancer and gambler known as the Storm-Fool, who loves mischief and tricks.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
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- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 3 h 42 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 11 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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Das Lied von Hiawatha
by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow · 1855
Raised by Nokomis beside the Big-Sea-Water, Hiawatha learns the speech of birds and sets out to unite his people.
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In short
The Song of Hiawatha is a long narrative poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, published in the 1850s. It follows a young hero of the Ojibway people who grows up beside Lake Superior and learns to serve his nation.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
The Master of Life calls the nations
The poem opens with an introduction in which Longfellow asks where such stories come from. His answer is the forests, the prairies and the great lakes, and the voice of Nawadaha, a singer who learned his songs from the birds. Then the story proper begins at the Red Pipe-stone Quarry.
Gitche Manito, the Master of Life, stands on the red cliffs and calls the tribes together. He breaks a piece of the red stone, shapes a pipe bowl, adds a reed for a stem and lights it with fire from the forest. The smoke rises in a great cloud that every nation can see, a signal known as the Pukwana.
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What is The Song of Hiawatha about?
It tells the life of Hiawatha, an Ojibway hero who learns the speech of animals, brings corn and picture writing to his people, marries Minnehaha and works to end quarrels between the nations.
Who is Hiawatha in the poem?
Hiawatha is the son of Mudjekeewis, the West Wind, and Wenonah, a mortal daughter of Nokomis. He is raised by his grandmother and grows into a teacher and helper of his people.
Is The Song of Hiawatha a true story?
No, it is a poem that Longfellow built from Native American legends and published in the 1850s. The hero shares a name with a historical figure, but the tales are poetic retellings of old stories.
The author
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
1807–1882 · American poet
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was one of America's most celebrated nineteenth-century poets, a Harvard professor whose works — Evangeline, Paul Revere's Ride, and The Song of Hiawatha — made him a household name on both sides of the Atlantic.
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