3 h 42 minAudiobook13 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 3 h 42 minPaperback · 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
You will love this if you enjoy legends and myths, rhythmic verse that sounds good aloud, and warm tales of heroes, forests and lakes.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A spirit calls the nations to peace
- The four winds shape the world's moods
- Nokomis raises a boy who hears nature
- A young man tests his father in the West
- Hiawatha fasts and wrestles with Mondamin
- Friends, a canoe and a giant fish
- Love, feasting and tales told at a wedding
- Peace, memory and the work of a teacher
- A drumbeat verse that listens to nature
Who’s who
- HiawathaThe hero, son of the West Wind and Wenonah, who prays and works so his people may have food, peace and knowledge.
- NokomisHiawatha's grandmother, who fell from the moon, raises him by the lake, and teaches him the names of stars and creatures.
- MudjekeewisThe West Wind and father of the winds, who boasts of his strength and tests the courage of his son.
- MinnehahaLaughing Water, the Arrow-maker's daughter from the land of the Dacotahs, who becomes Hiawatha's wife and a guardian of the cornfields.
- ChibiabosHiawatha's gentle friend, the best of singers and flute-makers, whose songs soften every heart that hears them.
- KwasindHiawatha's friend the strong man, thought idle as a boy, who clears rivers and lifts boulders with ease.
- IagooThe old boaster and storyteller who makes Hiawatha's first bow and tells marvelous tales that the village laughs at.
- Pau-Puk-KeewisA handsome gambler and dancer called the Storm-Fool, who loves mischief and games and cannot resist stirring up trouble.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet or computer, once the book texts are online.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, once the book texts are online.
- Audiobook
- Read by Lucas Linden, complete. It opens once the recording is online.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 13 minutes, to read today.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
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The Song of Hiawatha
by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow · 1855
A young man fasts in the forest and wrestles a spirit of corn, seeking a new source of food for his people.
Medium level2–5 hours to readEnglish
Excellent
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In short
Why would a great spirit stand on red cliffs and light a pipe so that every nation can see the smoke? Because he is tired of watching his children fight.
The Song of Hiawatha at a glance
- Reading time
- About 2 h 10 min1 h 45 min fast, 2 h 35 min slow
- Length
- 31,200 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1855by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A spirit calls the nations to peace
The poem begins before Hiawatha is born. Gitche Manito, the ruler of all life, comes down to the red pipestone quarry. He shapes a pipe bowl from the stone and lights it, and the smoke climbs until it touches the sky.
Every tribe sees it and walks in from every side. They arrive in war paint, glaring at one another, carrying hatred handed down through the ages. Gitche Manito looks at them with pity. To him their feuds are only the quarrels of children.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 13 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1855
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 2 h 20 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth. The Song of Hiawatha. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-song-of-hiawatha.
Longfellow, H. W. (2026). The song of Hiawatha. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-song-of-hiawatha (Original work published 1855)
Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth. The Song of Hiawatha. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-song-of-hiawatha.
@book{longfellow2026song,
author = {Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth},
title = {The Song of Hiawatha},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-song-of-hiawatha},
note = {First published 1855}
}
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What is The Song of Hiawatha about?
It tells the life of Hiawatha, a legendary hero who brings his people corn, canoes, medicine and picture writing. It follows his upbringing, his deeds, his friendships and his marriage, in twenty-two short poems of nature and legend.
Who is Nokomis in Hiawatha?
Nokomis is Hiawatha's grandmother. She fell from the moon to the earth, raises him beside Lake Superior after his mother dies, and teaches him about the stars, the animals and the old stories.
Who is Minnehaha and what does her name mean?
Minnehaha is the Arrow-maker's daughter from the land of the Dacotahs, and her name means Laughing Water. It also names a waterfall, and the poem compares her quick feet and musical laughter to the falls.
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.
More by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
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