Résumé de Légendes de Maui, demi-dieu de Polynésie

À qui s’adresse-t-il ?

You will enjoy this if you love tales of tricksters and heroes, the islands and seas of the Pacific, or comparing how one story is told in many places.

De quoi parle ce livre ?

What if the sun races across the sky so fast that a mother cannot dry her cloth before dark? In the legends of Maui, the answer is a youngest son with a rope, a stone axe and a grudge against the sun. He is a demigod, but he lives in a leaky grass house.

W. D. Westervelt first printed these stories as magazine articles in Honolulu. He sets the Hawaiian versions beside tellings from New Zealand, Tahiti, Samoa and Tonga. You get tales from Maui's strange birth to his quest for immortality, with chants among the legends.

Questions about Légendes de Maui, demi-dieu de Polynésie

What is Legends of Maui about?

It collects the stories of the Polynesian demigod Maui. He fishes up islands, lifts the sky, snares the sun, finds fire and seeks immortality, with versions from Hawaii, New Zealand, Tahiti, Samoa and other islands.

Who is Hina in the Maui legends?

Hina is Maui's mother in Hawaii and sometimes his wife or ancestress elsewhere. She is a tapa maker, lives in a cave beneath Rainbow Falls near Hilo, and in many islands is the woman in the moon.

Why does Maui snare the sun?

The sun races across the sky so fast that Hina cannot dry her tapa cloth, cook food or finish prayers. Maui ropes it on Haleakala and forces it to agree to a slower course.

Is Legends of Maui a true story, and how old is it?

It is mythology, not history. The author says the tales come from prehistoric Polynesia and are told across the Pacific. He collected and printed them as magazine articles in Honolulu in the early twentieth century.

Is Legends of Maui easy to read?

Yes, in the sense that it is made of short, self-contained stories with clear heroes and plain language. Each legend stands alone, so you can read in order or open any chapter, such as Maui and fire.