All about history book of myths and legends. ( PDFDrive )

around and saw that nothing

else but his body was left to be

used for the task of creation. So

Tangaroa took his own flesh and

made the soil on the ground. The god made use of his

backbone to create a mountain range and from his inner

organs he made the clouds in the sky. Tangaroa even used

the nails of his fingers and toes to give shells and scales to

the creatures in the sea.

POPULATING THE EARTH

Then Tangaroa called forth the other gods from within

him. They began to emerge, and one in particular – the

craftsman god Tu – helped Tangaroa continue the process of

creation. The pair worked together to make the trees and

animals that populated the Earth. Then they made the

first humans, who were called Til and Hina, and

persuaded them to approach one another to procreate.

Tangaroa saw that everything he had created had a

shell, just as he had had one in the beginning. The sky

was the shell that contained the sun, the moon, and

the stars. The Earth too was a shell; it was an enormous

container for all the rocks, rivers and lakes, and for the

plants that grew on its surface and the animals that walked

on it. Even human beings had their shells; the wombs

of women were the shells from which new life was born.

THE MYTH

Long before the world was made, and before even the gods

came to control the universe, nothing existed except an

endless void, floating within which was a great shell. This

was called Rumia, and was shaped like an egg. There was

darkness everywhere and nothing could be seen, not even

the solitary floating shell. But inside the shell, something

was stirring. It was Tangaroa, the creator. He had no father

or mother, and no other gods lived with him in the shell.

He had brought himself to life and was biding his time

before bringing the world into being.

THE SKY AND THE EARTH

At last, Tangaroa began to move. Pushing against the

inside of the shell, he heaved until the walls of the shell

broke in two. Upon emerging, Tangaroa shouted, “Is there

anyone there?” But there was no reply – all around him

was only darkness and silence. Subsequently, Tangaroa set

about the task of creation. First he took one half of the

broken shell and lifted it up to make the great arch of the

sky. Next he took the other

half and laid it below,

to make the ground.

Then he looked

The seal deity

An Easter Island

myth relates how

the god Tangaroa

landed on the island

in the form of a seal

with a human face

and voice.

The sea god

Since Tangaroa created the other gods

from his own body, he is frequently

depicted giving birth to the gods who

crawl over his body.

POLYNESIA

One of the most prominent deities of the Pacific islands is Tangaroa

(also known as Ta’aroa or Tagaroa). He is considered to be a sea god

in some places, but in Tahiti and among the other island communities,

including Samoa, Tonga, and Tuvalu, Tangaroa is known as the

creator of the cosmos and all its inhabitants. Some people believe

that he was the son of the primal deities Rangi and Papa, but another

version of the myth says that he created the universe after tearing

apart the two halves of a great shell when emerging from it.

Tangaroa

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