Tama-nui-te-rā
Encyclopedia : T : TA : TAM : Tama-nui-te-rā
In Māori mythology, Tama-nui-te-rā is the personification of the sun. Māui decided that the days were too short and caught the sun with in a snare, then beat him to make him travel more slowly across the sky. In some legends Tama-nui-te-rā is the husband of Ārohirohi, goddess of mirages. In other legends, Tama-nui-te-rā had two wives, the Summer maid, Hine-raumati, and the Winter maid, Hine-takurua. The child of Tama-nui-te-ra and Hine-raumati, Tane-rore is credited with the origin of dance.
References
- J. White, The Ancient History of the Maori. Volume II. Government Printer: Wellington, 1887, 136-137, 151-152.
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.