Polynesian narrative
Polynesian mythology encompasses the oral traditions of the people of Polynesia (a grouping of Central and South Pacific Ocean island archipelagos in the Polynesian Triangle) together with those of the scattered cultures known as the Polyne ...
of the
Tuamotus
The Tuamotu Archipelago or the Tuamotu Islands (, officially ) are a French Polynesian chain of just under 80 islands and atolls in the southern Pacific Ocean. They constitute the largest chain of atolls in the world, extending (from northwest to ...
archipelago in the South Pacific, Puna is the king of '' Hiti-marama'' or of ''
Vavaʻu
Vavau is an island group, consisting of one large island (ʻUtu Vavaʻu) and 40 smaller ones, in Tonga. It is part of Administrative divisions of Tonga, Vavaʻu District, which includes several other individual islands. According to tradition, ...
fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment (Freshwater ecosystem, freshwater or Marine ecosystem, marine), but may also be caught from Fish stocking, stocked Body of water, ...
. They are snatched away by the demon
bird
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...
belonging to the Puna, king of Hiti-marama, "an island north of resent-day
Pitcairn
The Pitcairn Islands ( ; Pitkern: '), officially Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie and Oeno Islands, are a group of four volcanic islands in the southern Pacific Ocean that form the sole British Overseas Territory in the Pacific Ocean. The four islan ...
and
Elizabeth
Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to:
People
* Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name)
* Empress Elisabeth (disambiguation), lists various empresses named ''Elisabeth'' or ''Elizabeth''
* Princess Elizabeth ...
but long since swallowed in the sea." The bird Matatata‘ota‘o bites off the chief's head and swallows it whole. The wife is placed head downward as a food holder in the house of Puna's wife Te-vahine-hua-rei (Beckwith 1970:261).
In a second version, Vahi-vero is the son of Kui, a
demigod
A demigod is a part-human and part-divine offspring of a deity and a human, or a human or non-human creature that is accorded divine status after death, or someone who has attained the "divine spark" (divine illumination). An immortality, immor ...
of
Hawaiki
(also rendered as in the Cook Islands, Hawaiki in Māori, in Samoan, in Tahitian, in Hawaiian) is, in Polynesian folklore, the original home of the Polynesians, before dispersal across Polynesia. It also features as the underworld in man ...
, and a
goblin
A goblin is a small, grotesque, monster, monstrous humanoid creature that appears in the folklore of multiple European cultures. First attested in stories from the Middle Ages, they are ascribed conflicting abilities, temperaments, and appearan ...
woman named Rima-roa. Kui plants food trees and vegetables and is also a great fisher. The goblin woman Rima-roa robs his
garden
A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate bot ...
; he lies in wait and seizes her, and she bears him the son Vahi-vero. Vahi-vero visits a
pool
Pool may refer to:
Bodies of water
* Swimming pool, usually an artificial structure containing a large body of water intended for swimming
* Reflecting pool, a shallow pool designed to reflect a structure and its surroundings
* Tide pool, a roc ...
from which the beautiful
Tahiti-tokerau {{short description, Water-nymph in the mythology of the Tuamotu Islands, French Polynesia
In the Tuamotus, Tuamotu Rata (Tuamotu mythology), Rata cycle, Tahiti-tokerau was a water-nymph whom Vahi-vero marries. She was abducted by Puna (mythology), ...
daily emerges. Kui teaches him how to lie in wait and seize her, and never let her go until she says his name. Having mastered her, he finds that Puna, king of Vavau, is his rival.
Vahi-vero goes by way of the pool to the place where Puna guards the girl in a house with round ends, and leaves her sister Huarehu in her place, taking Tahiti-tokerau away with him. Tahiti-tokerau bears him the boy Rata. Puna comes in
shark
Sharks are a group of elasmobranch cartilaginous fish characterized by a ribless endoskeleton, dermal denticles, five to seven gill slits on each side, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the ...
form for vengeance and kills Vahi-vero before taking his wife back. He turns her eyes into lights for her sister to make
sennit
Sennit is a type of cordage made by plaiting rope fibres or strands of dried fibre or grass. In western European nautical traditions, it was used to make flat plaited straps for use aboard ship. It can be used ornamentally in crafts, like a kin ...
(''magi-magi'') and her feet into supports for the sister's work basket.Beckwith 1970:261
Defense of the Ancients
''Defense of the Ancients'' (''DotA'') is a multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) mod (video gaming), mod for the video game ''Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos'' (2002) and its expansion, ''The Frozen Throne'' (2003). The objective of the game is ...
, features Pugna, a hero inspired by Puna.
Puna is the boss for the South Pacific section of
Tomb Raider III
''Tomb Raider III'' (also known as ''Tomb Raider III: Adventures of Lara Croft'') is an action-adventure video game developed by Core Design and published by Eidos Interactive. It was released for the PlayStation and Microsoft Windows platform ...
.
Notes
References
*M. Beckwith, ''Hawaiian Mythology'', Honolulu, HI: University of Hawaii Press, 1970.
Tuamotu mythology