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A Kayak Full of Ghosts: Eskimo Tales
The first comprehensive collection of Eskimo folktales in over sixty years, these stories reveal a tradition close in spirit to modern fiction. Not for queasy readers, A Kayak Full of Ghosts deals with strange and even gruesome events in the barren Arctic where, in the minds of the storytellers, all manner of behavior is imaginable. Mythic and beautiful, violent and scatological, these tales come from an oral tradition that bars few holds. Here you will meet a memorable gallery of characters: children who eat their parents; hunters who kill their prey by breaking wind; men who marry rocks; women who marry their sons’ wives; old people who wed insects; women with iron tails; children who grow antlers; a shaman who turns himself into any animal he wants; and animals who obtain their body parts by stealing from the human dead. Taken together, these stories portray a rich culture in a remote land, where eerie flowers bloom in the floes of the human mind. (Note: This book contains material and themes that are not appropriate for children).
208 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1987
7 people are currently reading
286 people want to read
About the author
Lawrence Millman
60 books60 followersI've written 16 books, including such titles as Last Places, Our Like Will Not Be There Again, A Kayak Full of Ghosts, Hero Jesse, and Fascinating Fungi of New England. I've also explored remote areas in East Greenland and the Canadian Arctic. I'm a Fellow of the prestigious Explorers Club and, in my mycological capacity, past president of the A.S.S. (American Stinkhorn Society).
And here's the most recent news: In January 2017, St. Martin's will be publishing my latest book, At the End of the World: A True Story of Murder in the Arctic. Not only does the book detail a series of murders in the name of religion in 1941 among the (surprise!) Inuit, but also it discusses how digital technology is turning our species into robots.
And here's the most recent news: In January 2017, St. Martin's will be publishing my latest book, At the End of the World: A True Story of Murder in the Arctic. Not only does the book detail a series of murders in the name of religion in 1941 among the (surprise!) Inuit, but also it discusses how digital technology is turning our species into robots.
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
January 5, 2018
This collection of stories is one of the oddest I have ever encountered. Ever.
Lawrence Millman uses the mythology of Eskimos and the frozen arctic atmosphere to probe human taboos and make a parody of human fears--but he does it with such a skillful syntax and understanding of the human imagination that it is impossible to turn away.
These are basically horror stories without the conventional trappings. One man slowly turns into an octopus like creature and strangles his progeny just to add to his own inner strength. A mother who is a mythological monster drowns herself. The average reader will find these offensive and they are offensive in a deep, unremitting way. But they are also art, or anti art. Recommended.
Lawrence Millman uses the mythology of Eskimos and the frozen arctic atmosphere to probe human taboos and make a parody of human fears--but he does it with such a skillful syntax and understanding of the human imagination that it is impossible to turn away.
These are basically horror stories without the conventional trappings. One man slowly turns into an octopus like creature and strangles his progeny just to add to his own inner strength. A mother who is a mythological monster drowns herself. The average reader will find these offensive and they are offensive in a deep, unremitting way. But they are also art, or anti art. Recommended.
December 22, 2007
The back material was not kidding: “Not for queasy readers.” It’s a monument to my iron stomach that I perused it on several lunch breaks.
This collection of Inuit legends is intriguing as well as disturbing. The stories show a landscape alive with terror and hunger, people who must philosophically accept the necessity of strangling their own children, or of fleeing a spouse who has decided to eat them. On top of the horror of cannibalism, gruesome transformations, coprophagy, disemboweling, and so forth, there is a certain queasiness for the modern reader just in realizing the gender assumptions of the traditional Inuit world, where women provided none of the food and therefore had little power at all.
There is a rich irony in some of these stories, and a chilling grace in others, like the tiny story “The Earth Will Know,” about a deformed baby.
This collection of Inuit legends is intriguing as well as disturbing. The stories show a landscape alive with terror and hunger, people who must philosophically accept the necessity of strangling their own children, or of fleeing a spouse who has decided to eat them. On top of the horror of cannibalism, gruesome transformations, coprophagy, disemboweling, and so forth, there is a certain queasiness for the modern reader just in realizing the gender assumptions of the traditional Inuit world, where women provided none of the food and therefore had little power at all.
There is a rich irony in some of these stories, and a chilling grace in others, like the tiny story “The Earth Will Know,” about a deformed baby.
July 31, 2018
I actually did not like this book, but because it is NOT THE AUTHOR'S FAULT, I rounded up to the 3-star "it's just okay" rating. Lawrence Millman is a wonderful author, and he did a great job compiling classic tales of the Inuit (or Eskimo) of Greenland. And the intention of this book is an honorable one - to preserve a culture that has nearly been lost. I bought this book, because I wanted to learn about this culture. Mission accomplished. I just didn't enjoy the tales themselves. If I had to describe these with only one word, it would be "trippy." Idk what these folks were smoking, but they have the weirdest reasons for how things came to be and why things are the way they are.
Now, I know most ancient folktales border on the absurd, but these are in a class of their own. These make even traditional Native American stories (which until now I thought were the weirdest) sound like normal, everyday events. Even the misogynistic Pashtun Tales of Afghanistan and Pakistan were better stories than these, because they at least made sense.
Each story would start out going from point A to point, say, G, and it would include all the missing letters in between so that the reader could logically follow along. Then it would go from that point G immediately to point Z, skipping everything necessary in between. If I had to make up a story similar to these tales it would sound something like this:
A woman went outside and saw a dog swimming in the lake. She walked to the shore and called the dog to her. The dog came to her, and she pet it. It immediately turned into a man, flew to the moon, and died. That's why dogs howl at the moon to this day.
Anyone sitting near me while I was reading this book could tell whenever I was done with each tale as I would consistently roll my eyes and exhale with an audible "oy vey" after each one. Well, maybe not after all 118 of them. Some I actually face-palmed, but towards the end I gave up trying to understand and would just nod and say stuff like: "of course," "naturally," or "sure, why not."
Again, it's not Millman's fault; he's relating the tales that were told to him as he traveled throughout Greenland. This was how they told their stories.
Some reviewers called this book "scary" and "disturbing." In my opinion, a story has to be at least somewhat realistic in order to meet those qualifications. However, those reviewers that called it "gross" were on the money as bodily fluids are mentioned in many of them. Genitals are a topic in nearly all of them (some more graphic than others), so in my opinion this book is Rated R - not suitable for children.
I recommend this book ONLY if you're trying to learn about Inuit/Eskimo culture or if you like to read gross and trippy stuff.
The best, most normal and informative, part of the book was the Introduction, so if you do choose to read it, don't skip that.
Now, I know most ancient folktales border on the absurd, but these are in a class of their own. These make even traditional Native American stories (which until now I thought were the weirdest) sound like normal, everyday events. Even the misogynistic Pashtun Tales of Afghanistan and Pakistan were better stories than these, because they at least made sense.
Each story would start out going from point A to point, say, G, and it would include all the missing letters in between so that the reader could logically follow along. Then it would go from that point G immediately to point Z, skipping everything necessary in between. If I had to make up a story similar to these tales it would sound something like this:
A woman went outside and saw a dog swimming in the lake. She walked to the shore and called the dog to her. The dog came to her, and she pet it. It immediately turned into a man, flew to the moon, and died. That's why dogs howl at the moon to this day.
Anyone sitting near me while I was reading this book could tell whenever I was done with each tale as I would consistently roll my eyes and exhale with an audible "oy vey" after each one. Well, maybe not after all 118 of them. Some I actually face-palmed, but towards the end I gave up trying to understand and would just nod and say stuff like: "of course," "naturally," or "sure, why not."
Again, it's not Millman's fault; he's relating the tales that were told to him as he traveled throughout Greenland. This was how they told their stories.
Some reviewers called this book "scary" and "disturbing." In my opinion, a story has to be at least somewhat realistic in order to meet those qualifications. However, those reviewers that called it "gross" were on the money as bodily fluids are mentioned in many of them. Genitals are a topic in nearly all of them (some more graphic than others), so in my opinion this book is Rated R - not suitable for children.
I recommend this book ONLY if you're trying to learn about Inuit/Eskimo culture or if you like to read gross and trippy stuff.
The best, most normal and informative, part of the book was the Introduction, so if you do choose to read it, don't skip that.
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January 14, 2024Vá. Súrrealískar hrollvekjur og hryllilegar þjóðsögur. Ekki fyrir viðkvæma.
February 7, 2017
Folktales from different regions of the world have different flavors to them. Japanese folktales tend to have a lot of humor. African folktales tend to be animal-centric. French folktales are full of wit.
"Russian Fairy Tales" by Aleksandr Afanas'ev has some pretty disturbing stories in it. They diverge sharply from the typical folktales we hear as children. When they have a moral, often it's a rather dark one that reflects on the brutality of life: Screw the other guy so you can survive.
But this book has by far the craziest, most brutish folktales I've ever read.
I first heard about this book in a Thomas Ligotti interview. In some ways this book does read like a collection of weird fiction. A lot of them are gruesome. Many are hilarious. And some of them are just downright strange, weird or nonsensical.
I loved how I thought I knew where something is going, perhaps to make a moral point, but instead it's like, "...and he died, the villagers ate his corpse. The end."
At times I felt like the author was picking the strangest stories he could find, or making them even stranger than they originally were. This is probably best taken in small doses, otherwise they can tend to run together.
"Russian Fairy Tales" by Aleksandr Afanas'ev has some pretty disturbing stories in it. They diverge sharply from the typical folktales we hear as children. When they have a moral, often it's a rather dark one that reflects on the brutality of life: Screw the other guy so you can survive.
But this book has by far the craziest, most brutish folktales I've ever read.
I first heard about this book in a Thomas Ligotti interview. In some ways this book does read like a collection of weird fiction. A lot of them are gruesome. Many are hilarious. And some of them are just downright strange, weird or nonsensical.
I loved how I thought I knew where something is going, perhaps to make a moral point, but instead it's like, "...and he died, the villagers ate his corpse. The end."
At times I felt like the author was picking the strangest stories he could find, or making them even stranger than they originally were. This is probably best taken in small doses, otherwise they can tend to run together.
January 18, 2026
I love Inuit myths for their lack of morality and smooth transitions from sweet to putrid to perverse to nonsense to wisdom. The author rightly compares them with contemporary fiction in the introduction (they art as sweet). Millman's tone in translation is in places informal and strange (a qivigtoq is defined as "in folklore, a sort of holy hermit; in reality, an insane person who has been banished to the mountains"). There is appreciation here, but little scholarship - happily, this also means things have not been neatened or cleaned up, the edges not filed down for Southern audiences, the absurdities not isolated and highlighted and analyzed. The stories exist as they are, for you to experience.
And what an experience! It's a glance into a whole other world, not just in climate but in values. A pre-Christian world, one of the most isolated in history, sustained only on blood and story and the always cold and the always hunger. There are repeating figures, but no character is cast as evil or good in the ways we expect. Killing is a neutral act, as it must be, in a land where 90% of the diet is based on animals, and always too few. Cannibalism, theft, rape, familial betrayal - there are consequences for all actions, but few moral absolutes. The stories exist to entertain and to try and explain: this is the way the world is. This is a world that eats its people and people who eat everything in the world or they will die. And so they eat and still they die - from bad luck or good luck or poor timing or for a punchline. The world is hard here, but isn't it everywhere? Three friends go in search of the world, to discover what it is, and find an enormous ice-house. They wander for decades inside it, eventually dying of old age, finally having learned the truth: the world is just a very large ice-house. Here as everywhere. This is the world. This is the way it is.
And what an experience! It's a glance into a whole other world, not just in climate but in values. A pre-Christian world, one of the most isolated in history, sustained only on blood and story and the always cold and the always hunger. There are repeating figures, but no character is cast as evil or good in the ways we expect. Killing is a neutral act, as it must be, in a land where 90% of the diet is based on animals, and always too few. Cannibalism, theft, rape, familial betrayal - there are consequences for all actions, but few moral absolutes. The stories exist to entertain and to try and explain: this is the way the world is. This is a world that eats its people and people who eat everything in the world or they will die. And so they eat and still they die - from bad luck or good luck or poor timing or for a punchline. The world is hard here, but isn't it everywhere? Three friends go in search of the world, to discover what it is, and find an enormous ice-house. They wander for decades inside it, eventually dying of old age, finally having learned the truth: the world is just a very large ice-house. Here as everywhere. This is the world. This is the way it is.
June 24, 2017
I went looking for books on Inuit folklore and boy did I find a great one. Fair warning. This one won't be for everyone. It contains stories about sentient shit piles, women who copulate with dogs, and (my personal favorite) the story of how putting a stick up a bear's ass gave it magical properties.
If you've made it this far in my review and you're still interested, go grab a copy. Seriously. There's a good bit of humor and Millman pulls no punches when he lays all these stories out in detail, which is what I love about folklore. Too often, it's cleaned up and made "presentable". That's not how we tell stories to each other today. Half the stories to my friends begin with "no shit, there I was..." Why should we assume stories were told cleanly in other times and places?
Inuit culture is rich and poorly understood by most of us. I didn't know I was interested in it at all until I stumbled across a story in another book, and now I'm devouring all the info I can. These stories are indeed as the book's description describes: ranging from the beautiful to the scatological. But anyone who reads any sort of Native American folklore shouldn't be surprised by the content. You'll laugh out loud. Your inner 12 year old will snicker at the copious dick jokes and you'll learn about cultural taboos while being entertained. That's the purpose of folklore. Entertainment.
If you're looking for a dry exploration of myth and legend, or clean/child appropriate stories, you can skip this one. It won't be for you.
If you've made it this far in my review and you're still interested, go grab a copy. Seriously. There's a good bit of humor and Millman pulls no punches when he lays all these stories out in detail, which is what I love about folklore. Too often, it's cleaned up and made "presentable". That's not how we tell stories to each other today. Half the stories to my friends begin with "no shit, there I was..." Why should we assume stories were told cleanly in other times and places?
Inuit culture is rich and poorly understood by most of us. I didn't know I was interested in it at all until I stumbled across a story in another book, and now I'm devouring all the info I can. These stories are indeed as the book's description describes: ranging from the beautiful to the scatological. But anyone who reads any sort of Native American folklore shouldn't be surprised by the content. You'll laugh out loud. Your inner 12 year old will snicker at the copious dick jokes and you'll learn about cultural taboos while being entertained. That's the purpose of folklore. Entertainment.
If you're looking for a dry exploration of myth and legend, or clean/child appropriate stories, you can skip this one. It won't be for you.
January 20, 2022
A collection of folk tales passed down the generations of Eskimo culture in Greenland. I was at first surprised by the crude and vulgar nature of many of the tales. But I realised that these feelings I have merely illustrate how different my own life is compared with that of the Eskimo. Most of us who read this book will be sitting comfortably, well fed, in our centrally heated houses, with a constant supply of food. This cannot be said for the Eskimo. Although it should be said that their culture is changing quite rapidly now as they adopt many of our ways.
These tales reminded me a bit of The Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales as they share the same severity and brutality although more gross, (according to my western influenced sensibilities), they are probably a result of a harshness of lifestyle and the constant fight for survival. These stories would be retold in various forms throughout the communities in Greenland and be part of a storytelling culture.
Reading these tales has helped me to understand the resilience and adaptability of our species. The ‘indomitable human spirit’ as Jane Goodall calls it comes to mind. These people, living in the harshest of environments, have succeeded in creating their own unique, specialised culture and they show great determination but also great spirit and a sense of humour. But it is also thought provoking to see how attractive they find our Western comforts and are easily persuaded to leave their own ancient culture behind.
These tales reminded me a bit of The Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales as they share the same severity and brutality although more gross, (according to my western influenced sensibilities), they are probably a result of a harshness of lifestyle and the constant fight for survival. These stories would be retold in various forms throughout the communities in Greenland and be part of a storytelling culture.
Reading these tales has helped me to understand the resilience and adaptability of our species. The ‘indomitable human spirit’ as Jane Goodall calls it comes to mind. These people, living in the harshest of environments, have succeeded in creating their own unique, specialised culture and they show great determination but also great spirit and a sense of humour. But it is also thought provoking to see how attractive they find our Western comforts and are easily persuaded to leave their own ancient culture behind.
August 2, 2017
How to write a review for a book which represents a marvelous achievement in folklore, yet whose content is so disturbing that I could only read a few pages at a time? Millman has done a great service in collecting and assembling and publishing these tales from Inuit tradition (he uses the term "Eskimo"). He even provides provenance for each and every tale, most of which he collected personally from their tellers, in itself a tremendous achievement.
However, these are not stories you'll want to read before bedtime. Recurrent motifs of murder, dismemberment, cannibalism, sexual taboos violated stalk the stories, which are retold very simply, without any form of flowery language. The descriptions are as stark as the arctic setting, and the style is unsentimental, to say the least. Happy endings are rare; lessons invariably learned the hard way. If you are looking for "scary stories" to tell at a haunted house, you've struck gold. But make sure that you and your audience have strong stomachs and are not easily rattled by disturbing material.
However, these are not stories you'll want to read before bedtime. Recurrent motifs of murder, dismemberment, cannibalism, sexual taboos violated stalk the stories, which are retold very simply, without any form of flowery language. The descriptions are as stark as the arctic setting, and the style is unsentimental, to say the least. Happy endings are rare; lessons invariably learned the hard way. If you are looking for "scary stories" to tell at a haunted house, you've struck gold. But make sure that you and your audience have strong stomachs and are not easily rattled by disturbing material.
March 23, 2024
a bird flies off with a guy’s dick (not sarcasm)
Really fascinating compilation of stories explaining the creation of us, magic, food, and more. Each are very minimal (in terms of length, rather than idea) and are notably (to me) centered around survival, sex, food, and cannibalism. I found that Millman did a wonderful job of retelling these folk tales, and that his introduction sets the reader up well for how popular and important these stories are. In particular, I enjoyed “The Origin of Women.”
—
“All true wisdom is only to be found far from the dwellings of men, in the great solitudes; and it can only be attained through suffering. Suffering and privation are the only things that can open the mind of man to that which is hidden from his fellows.” -Igjugarjuk of the Caribou Eskimos (Opening quote for the work)
—
“And so the two men pulled at opposite ends of the woman until she broke in two. The headman carried away the upper part of her body, while Qalaseq kept the lower part with him on the island.”
Really fascinating compilation of stories explaining the creation of us, magic, food, and more. Each are very minimal (in terms of length, rather than idea) and are notably (to me) centered around survival, sex, food, and cannibalism. I found that Millman did a wonderful job of retelling these folk tales, and that his introduction sets the reader up well for how popular and important these stories are. In particular, I enjoyed “The Origin of Women.”
—
“All true wisdom is only to be found far from the dwellings of men, in the great solitudes; and it can only be attained through suffering. Suffering and privation are the only things that can open the mind of man to that which is hidden from his fellows.” -Igjugarjuk of the Caribou Eskimos (Opening quote for the work)
—
“And so the two men pulled at opposite ends of the woman until she broke in two. The headman carried away the upper part of her body, while Qalaseq kept the lower part with him on the island.”
July 15, 2017
I read this book while in Kuulusuk in east Greenland. These are tales from the Inuits. They are quite twisted and reflect the harsh conditions of life in this part of the world. My favorite was how mosquitoes got a taste for human blood.
December 28, 2017
Strange beyond belief and totally unique compared to European and African folk tales. They are short, raw, brutal, sexual and scatological and reflect a harsh unforgiving landcape and way of life. Would have liked more on background and context of the stories.
February 19, 2019
It is a little dated and the perspective is off at times; however, Millman is loyal to the subject matter, and cites where/who he heard each stories from. One of my #CorvusStreetFinds while taking the TTC.
This book is more of a library loan than one for your shelf.
This book is more of a library loan than one for your shelf.
June 22, 2019
A collection of folk tales unlike anything else the stories run the gauntlet of tragic, comedic and horrifying all with in the space of a few short lines, as most of the stories are a page or under. I would highly recommend this for anyone interested in folklore or mythology
December 3, 2019
Like no other book of Inuit folklore you'll ever read! Written by an American, but about 2/3 of the tales are from Canada: Quebec, Northwest Territories, Newfoundland and Labrador.
March 28, 2020
Gruesomely joyous and joyously gruesome
Ignore the book description on Goodreads - these are tales solely from Greenland and Northern Canada
Ignore the book description on Goodreads - these are tales solely from Greenland and Northern Canada
July 28, 2020
Brutal and very entertaining. I don't make me fond of Eskimos with this grim insight into their culture. Packed full of orphan killing, beastiality, incest, and mysogony. This book is a wild ride.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 2, 2021
Full of strange, often disturbing stories. I mostly enjoyed the stories, but was often disturbed and confused by them.
July 29, 2025
Odd little wisdoms and anecdotes. Reminded me that I’m pretty sure the ”new age shamans”, ”Burning mans” and so and such are not familiar with the real lore of - well anything.
December 30, 2016
Don't get me wrong - these are entertaining stories! Most are so short that when read aloud - my family would say upon finishing "is that it?"
The endings are pretty abrupt - with everyone dying (usually starving to death or being killed)
Starving is clearly a huge fear in the North - and scrounging around for "food" (which includes eating excrement or fellow human beings) - seems to pervade every story. I also noticed that most of the stories involve family members, rather than friends. Family is very important to the Inuit - and becomes one of the main reasons not to kill other creatures - "don't kill the fly - he's a grandfather!"
I love reading unusual things - and this book tops that list. Tempted to say 'read one of these stories - and you've read them all'...I realized it's not entirely true. I could never predict the ending of any of these stories - I could not predict the beginning either based on the title. Aesop could appreciate the simplicity of these - and would argue about their meaningfulness I'm sure - but sometimes we just read for entertainment.
In fact, I left this book lying around last summer - and my teenage girls were reading them aloud to their friends - for entertainment. Most reactions were clearly in the "WTF" vein...
The endings are pretty abrupt - with everyone dying (usually starving to death or being killed)
Starving is clearly a huge fear in the North - and scrounging around for "food" (which includes eating excrement or fellow human beings) - seems to pervade every story. I also noticed that most of the stories involve family members, rather than friends. Family is very important to the Inuit - and becomes one of the main reasons not to kill other creatures - "don't kill the fly - he's a grandfather!"
I love reading unusual things - and this book tops that list. Tempted to say 'read one of these stories - and you've read them all'...I realized it's not entirely true. I could never predict the ending of any of these stories - I could not predict the beginning either based on the title. Aesop could appreciate the simplicity of these - and would argue about their meaningfulness I'm sure - but sometimes we just read for entertainment.
In fact, I left this book lying around last summer - and my teenage girls were reading them aloud to their friends - for entertainment. Most reactions were clearly in the "WTF" vein...
May 29, 2011
These are absolutely splendid tales, unexpurgated, harsh or comic, sometimes scatological, marvellous and memorable. They are dominated, as Millman says in his introduction, by the constant search for food in a barren land.
September 5, 2012
Raw tales with interesting outcomes. Beautiful and disturbing visual writing. Great observation of understanding the world with no science to detract from the instinct.
December 11, 2012
Read this out loud with your friends. It's hilarious.
April 10, 2017
A great selection of Eskimo tales told to the author from various people and places in Greenland and the Arctic. His sources are cited at the back of the book a bit like the Grimm Brothers’ collection of German folk tales.
You will discover several recurring themes throughout this interesting and at time hilarious collection. I will not spoiler anything too much but I have picked on tale from each chapter and a sort of reason why.
My top picks are:
I – Origins and Ancestors: Of Giants and Human Beings. This being a tale on the dangers of inter-species swinger parties :D
II – Children. Tulugaq, Who Was Barren. Jan Švankmajer would be proud
III – Magic and Taboos: Him-Whose-Penis-Stretches-Down-To-His-Knees. Best.title.ever :D
IV – Human Beings: Uutuaaq, The Hunter. And the moral of the story is… :D ha ha
V – Animals: The Raven and the Hunter.. Kind of the Eskimo equivalent of the Grimm tale Cat and Mouse in Partnership both ending on a classic last line :D
VI: Death and Old Age: Natatoq, The Storyteller. Yup it is no wonder the poor old man grieved for the death of his eldest son… I think he would have sent the giant skeleton after me too
I would recommend this book to anyone interested in folk tales, especially ones from places and cultures you may not be familiar with. there are fun little illustration scattered throughout and the stories never last longer than a couple of pages. great fun :)
You will discover several recurring themes throughout this interesting and at time hilarious collection. I will not spoiler anything too much but I have picked on tale from each chapter and a sort of reason why.
My top picks are:
I – Origins and Ancestors: Of Giants and Human Beings. This being a tale on the dangers of inter-species swinger parties :D
II – Children. Tulugaq, Who Was Barren. Jan Švankmajer would be proud
III – Magic and Taboos: Him-Whose-Penis-Stretches-Down-To-His-Knees. Best.title.ever :D
IV – Human Beings: Uutuaaq, The Hunter. And the moral of the story is… :D ha ha
V – Animals: The Raven and the Hunter.. Kind of the Eskimo equivalent of the Grimm tale Cat and Mouse in Partnership both ending on a classic last line :D
VI: Death and Old Age: Natatoq, The Storyteller. Yup it is no wonder the poor old man grieved for the death of his eldest son… I think he would have sent the giant skeleton after me too
I would recommend this book to anyone interested in folk tales, especially ones from places and cultures you may not be familiar with. there are fun little illustration scattered throughout and the stories never last longer than a couple of pages. great fun :)
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