The Man of the Moon: and Other Stories from Greenland

by Gunvor Bjerre, Miki Jacobsen (Illustrator)

Overview

Based primarily on explorer and anthropologist Knud Rasmussen’s transcriptions of oral tales, the stories in this anthology of old Greenlandic myths and legends have been passed down through generations. This collection features stories about children and young people—stories that were told in the depths of winter, that the youngest listeners would one day tell to their own children. Talking animals, flying shamans, orphans so poor they have to walk barefoot through the snow, and men so strong they can carry a whale all on their own: you’ll meet all of them and more in this collection.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781772273861
Publisher:	Inhabit Media
Publication date:	08/12/2021
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	202
File size:	51 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Gunvor Bjerre is a journalist and librarian. She has travelled much of the world, but Greenland holds a special place in her heart. Gunvor has worked with children her whole life, primarily with Danmarks Radio’s children’s programming, but she has also written books and songs for children. She is passionate about sharing old Greenlandic Inuit myths and legends, which are a part of the country’s cultural heritage.

Miki Jacobsen is one of Greenland’s best-known and most highly regarded artists. In his career, he has worked with many different artistic media, and the close relationship between Greenlandic culture and nature is a recurrent theme in his work. There is strength and vigour in his watercolours that add an extra dimension to these old tales.

Read an Excerpt

From: Kamikinnaq and the Giants

 

As time went by, Kamikinnaq realised that he had started to grow. He grew and he grew, and he was soon as big as his foster father.

One day his foster father asked him whether he had family elsewhere.

Then Kamikinnaq told him that his parents lived at Noorsiit.

“Don’t you want to visit them?” his foster father asked him.

Kamikinnaq realised that his anger towards his parents had disappeared because he had grown and found a new place to live, so he decided to visit them again.

He got into the big kayak he now had and paddled and paddled. When he reached his old settlement, he was so big that he could effortlessly put his hand on top of the big headland.

The people got very scared when they saw the giant in the big kayak. They didn’t recognise Kamikinnaq and asked who he was.

“I’m Kamikinnaq, the boy you used to call a little wimp.”

Then he went ashore and up to his parents’ tent. He had grown so tall that he didn’t fit inside the tent, and in order to talk to his parents, he had to scoop them up in the palm of his hand.

Afterwards, he went hunting to get plenty of food for his parents, who had grown very old while he had been away.

He paddled far out into the open sea and caught a lot of harp seals, which he put in his kayak. If they wiggled too much, he would grab them by the back flippers and bash their heads against each other, killing them.

It wasn’t until he had caught enough seals so that his parents would have food for many, many years that he got ready to travel back to Akilineq.

Table of Contents

Preface vi

The Whale and the Eagle That Married Two Little Girls 3

The Girl Who Got Lost and Met a Fox in Human Form 9

The Old Man Who Trapped Children Inside a Rock 13

The Bears That Caught Belugas 15

Kaassassuk the Orphan 21

Anarteq, Who Turned into a Salmon 35

The Witch Who Abducted Children in Her Amauti 37

The Great Swimmer 45

The Child Snatcher 51

The Wild Geese That Made the Blind Boy See 52

Qillarsuaq and the Orphan Boy 59

The Dog with the Top Knot 61

Kamikinnaq and the Giants 65

Aqissiaq, Who Could Run as Fast as a Ptarmigan 73

The Girl Who Wouldn't Sleep 79

The Mother of the Sea or The Two Little Orphans Who Saved Their Settlement 82

The Raven That Married a Wild Goose 89

Anngannguujuk, the Boy Who Was Abducted 93

Tunutoorajik and the One-Legged Giant 97

Aloruttaq the Orphan 105

The Woman Who Married a Dog 117

The Great Fire or How the Mussel Came to Be 119

The White Boy 123

The Little Orphans 125

The One-Eyed Inland Dweller on Mount Kingittoq 129

How the Fog Came to Be 134

Manutooq, Whose Daughters Drifted to Akilineq on an ice Floe 138

The Man of the Moon 147

The Woman Who Married a Prawn 155

Allunnguaq, Who Was Teased by the People from His Settlement 159

Tusilartoq, Who Was Born Too Soon 163

The Thunder Spirits 171

The Twins Who Learned to Dive 173

The Woman Who Taught Herself to Hunt 179

The Raven and the Loon 183

Glossary 184

Editorial Reviews

"A compendium of Greenland’s Inuit culture places readers in a realm of icy waters and shape-shifting animals."—Wall Street Journal

"Hunting, killing, and skinning animals is a prominent feature (with moments such as harp seals having their heads smashed together), but the brutality is balanced by humor (if earthy; lots of pee and poo) and compelling action...Copious watercolor illustrations by Greenlandic artist Jacobsen are often comical, always loose and lively, in warm blues and browns, with a full-page illustration for each story and occasional small, labeled pictures of animals and objects."—The Horn Book Magazine

"The Man of the Moon delighted our reviewers with its mix of darkness and humor, necessary surely for the cultures that have thrived in such inhospitable landscapes. The watercolor illustrations with a color palette to match the icy blues, grays, and browns of Greenland drew us further into the world of the stories."—American Folklore Society

From the Publisher