Eskimo Folk-Tales (Illustrated)

by Knud Rasmussen

Overview

THESE stories were collected in various parts of Greenland, taken down from the lips of the Eskimo story tellers themselves, by Knud Rasmussen, the Danish explorer. No man is better qualified to tell the story of Greenland, or the stories of its people. Knud Rasmussen is himself partly of Eskimo origin; his childhood was spent in Greenland, and to Greenland he returned again and again, studying, exploring, crossing the desert of the inland ice, making unique collections of material, tangible and otherwise, from all parts of that vast and little-known land, and his achievements on these various expeditions have gained for him much honor and the appreciation of many learned societies. But it is as an interpreter of native life, of the ways and customs of the Eskimos, that he has done his greatest work. " Kuminguaq "—that is his native name—is known throughout the country and possesses the confidence of the natives to a superlative degree, forming himself, as it were, a link between them and the rest of the world.

Such work, as regards its hither side, must naturally consist to a great extent of scientific treatises, collections of facts and specimens, all requiring previous knowledge of the subject, for their proper comprehension. These have their great value as additions to the sum of human knowledge, but they remain unknown to the majority of men. The present volume is designed to be essentially a popular, as distinct from a scientific work.

The illustrations are by native Eskimo artists. They are not drawn to illustrate the particular stories, but represent typical scenes and incidents such as are there described. In the selection of these, preference has been given to those of unusual character, as for instance those dealing with the " tupilak " theme, and matters of wizardry or superstition generally, which the reader would find more difficult to visualize for themselves than ordinary scenes of daily life.

Readers will find the following stories:

THE TWO FRIENDS WHO SET OFF TO TRAVEL ROUND THE WORLD
THE COMING OF MEN, A LONG, LONG WHILE AGO
NUKÚNGUASIK, WHO ESCAPED FROM THE TUPILAK
QUJÂVÂRSSUK
KÚNIGSEQ
THE WOMAN WHO HAD A BEAR AS A FOSTER-SON
ÍMARASUGSSUAQ, WHO ATE HIS WIVES
QALAGÁNGUASÊ, WHO PASSED TO THE LAND OF GHOSTS
ISIGÂLIGÂRSSIK
THE INSECTS THAT WOOED A WIFELESS MAN
THE VERY OBSTINATE MAN
THE DWARFS
THE BOY FROM THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA, WHO FRIGHTENED THE PEOPLE OF THE HOUSE TO DEATH
THE RAVEN AND THE GOOSE
WHEN THE RAVENS COULD SPEAK
MAKÍTE
ASALÔQ
UKALEQ
ÍKARDLÍTUARSSUK
THE RAVEN WHO WANTED A WIFE
THE MAN WHO TOOK A VIXEN TO WIFE
THE GREAT BEAR
THE MAN WHO BECAME A STAR
THE WOMAN WITH THE IRON TAIL
HOW THE FOG CAME
THE MAN WHO AVENGED THE WIDOWS
THE MAN WHO WENT OUT TO SEARCH FOR HIS SON
ATUNGAIT, WHO WENT A-WANDERING
KUMAGDLAK AND THE LIVING ARROWS
THE GIANT DOG
THE INLAND-DWELLERS OF ETAH
THE MAN WHO STABBED HIS WIFE IN THE LEG
THE SOUL THAT LIVED IN THE BODIES OF ALL BEASTS
PAPIK, WHO KILLED HIS WIFE'S BROTHER
PÂTUSSORSSUAQ, WHO KILLED HIS UNCLE
THE MEN WHO CHANGED WIVES
ARTUK, WHO DID ALL FORBIDDEN THINGS
THE THUNDER SPIRITS
NERRIVIK
THE WIFE WHO LIED
KÂGSSAGSSUK, THE HOMELESS BOY WHO BECAME A STRONG MAN
QASIAGSSAQ, THE GREAT LIAR
THE EAGLE AND THE WHALE
THE TWO LITTLE OUTCASTS
ATDLARNEQ, THE GREAT GLUTTON
ÁNGÁNGŬJUK
ÂTÂRSSUAQ
PUAGSSUAQ
TUNGUJULUK AND SAUNIKOQ
ANARTEQ
THE GUILLEMOT THAT COULD TALK
KÁNAGSSUAQ

Product Details

BN ID:	2940015526639
Publisher:	Balefire Publishing
Publication date:	10/01/2012
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	185
File size:	8 MB

About the Author

Knud Johan Victor Rasmussen (June 7, 1879 – December 21, 1933) was a Danish polar explorer and anthropologist. He has been called the "father of Eskimology" and was the first European to cross the Northwest Passage via dog sled. He remains well known in Greenland, Denmark and among Canadian Inuit.

Rasmussen was born in Ilulissat, Greenland, the son of a Danish missionary, the vicar Christian Rasmussen, and an Inuit Danish mother, Lovise Rasmussen (née Fleischer). He had two siblings, including a brother, Peter Lim. Rasmussen spent his early years in Greenland among the Kalaallit (Inuit) where he learned from an early age to speak the language (Kalaallisut), hunt, drive dog sleds and live in harsh Arctic conditions. "My playmates were native Greenlanders; from the earliest boyhood I played and worked with the hunters, so even the hardships of the most strenuous sledge-trips became pleasant routine for me." He was later educated in Lynge, North Zealand, Denmark. Between 1898 and 1900 he pursued an unsuccessful career as an actor and opera singer.

He went on his first expedition in 1902–1904, known as The Danish Literary Expedition, with Jørgen Brønlund, Harald Moltke and Ludvig Mylius-Erichsen, to examine Inuit culture. After returning home he went on a lecture circuit and wrote The People of the Polar North (1908), a combination travel journal and scholarly account of Inuit folklore. In 1908, he married Dagmar Andersen.

In 1910, Rasmussen and friend Peter Freuchen established the Thule Trading Station at Cape York (Uummannaq), Greenland, as a trading base. The name Thule was chosen because it was the most northerly trading post in the world, literally the "Ultima Thule". Thule Trading Station became the home base for a series of seven expeditions, known as the Thule Expeditions, between 1912 and 1933.

The First Thule Expedition (1912, Rasmussen and Freuchen) aimed to test Robert Peary's claim that a channel divided Peary Land from Greenland. They proved this was not the case in a remarkable 1,000-km journey across the inland ice that almost killed them. Clements Markham, president of the Royal Geographic Society, called the journey the "finest ever performed by dogs.