Epic
Polynesian Mythology
Ko ngā mahinga a ngā tūpuna Māori
George Grey · 1854
Synopsis
Rangi, the sky, and Papa, the earth, are separated; Tāwhirimātea, god of the winds, then makes war on his brothers. Māui is born, slows the course of the sun, pulls the North Island from the sea on the end of his line and steals fire from Mahuika, before meeting his death at the hands of Hinenuitepō. Then come the canoes, Arawa, Tainui, Aotea, Tokomaru, their crossings from Hawaiki and the ancestors who settled on their arrival, with stories such as those of Hatupatu and Hinemoa.
Context
The collection appeared in London in 1854, in Māori, and in 1855 in English, under the title Polynesian Mythology, from John Murray; it expanded a first manuscript printed in New Zealand in 1853. Te Rangikāheke, who had taught Māori to the governor and lived in his household, supplied at least a quarter of it, including the whole story of Hatupatu; other chiefs contributed. Grey did not acknowledge his debt and retouched the manuscripts; those of Te Rangikāheke have been published under his name only since 1950.
Who it is for
Narratives in Maori, translated into English as early as 1855; no French translation, only an adaptation for young readers.
Prizes and reception
Well received by the European public, it remains a major source of Maori mythology; it has been compared to a great English medieval classic.