Tama-nui-te-rā

In Māori mythology, Tama-nui-te-rā (Tamanuiterā) is the personification of the Sun.

Etymology
Tama-nui-te-rā is a Māori Sun god

In the Māori language, Tama-nui-te-rā means "Great Son of the Sun". The Māori word for "sun" or "day" is rā, deriving from Proto-Polynesian *laqaa.

Legends

Hero Māui decided that the days were too short and caught Tama-nui-te-rā with a snare, then beat him to make him travel more slowly across the sky.

Family

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, Hineraumati, and the Winter maid, Hinetakurua.

The child of Tama-nui-te-rā and Hineraumati, Tane-rore, is credited with the origin of dance.[1]

Another son of Tama-nui-te-ra is Auahitūroa, god of comets and fires, and grandchildren of Tama-nui-te-rā are Ngā Mānawa.[2]

See also

Bibliography
  • J. White, The Ancient History of the Maori. Volume II. Government Printer: Wellington, 1887, 136–137, 151–152.

Notes
  1. Best, Elsdon (7 October 1901). "The Diversions of the Whare Tapere: Some Account of the various Games, Amusements, and Trials of Skill practised by the Maori in Former Times". Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand.
  2. E. Best, Māori Religion and Mythology, Part 2 (Dominion Museum Bulletin No.11. Museum of New Zealand: Wellington, 1982), 244-245.


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