Ethnographical collections from East Greenland. 631 



I cannot refrain, however, from dwelling for a little on the most inter- 

 esting specimens of amulets mentioned in the tales from Ammassalik. 



Amulets are consecrated with a spell. Kunuk's step-mother "sang over 

 his anorak" to make him invulnerable before he went away to fight his 

 enemy. Kaluluk's grandmother also sang her magic songs over three amulets, 

 namely a water-scoop, a wooden peg and her own meat turner; the latter 

 was a seal's rib which had been used by Kaluluk himself as a child; she 

 gave him the things and told him to use them as amulets in accordance 

 with their qualities, i. e. to point with the bone in the direction of his enemy, 

 to insert the peg into the wound of the enemy, then to say: "now I dragged 

 it out — then mjf enemj'^ will die from loss of blood." This is undoubtedly 

 meant to be an imaginary action; but in the tale we hear that Kaluluk 

 actually performs the deed and wounds his enemy whilst using these amulets 

 as weapons. The step-mother also sang over the water-pail and placed it 

 where the hostile kaiakmen went on shore; in compliance with the spell of 

 the water-pail they now made use of it to their own destruction ^). All amu- 

 lets are undoubtedly consecrated by recitation of a spell ог by singing 

 over them^). 



The amulets become living. Misana, Imerasugsuk's unhappy wife, filled 

 her anorak with lamp-moss and put it in her own place on the platform 

 with the back turned outwards, whereafter she hid herself. "When he stabs 

 you, shriek!" she said to the anorak. And then it was really alive and 

 wailed when Imerasugsuk stuck his knife into it. Another kind of living 

 amulet is the premature embryo (angiaq) which accompanies Kaluluk. We 

 have a specialized form of the same idea when the amulet is a knife or some 

 other implement, which suddenly in the hour of danger begins to grow and 

 etfects the killing itself or covers the pursued person, as when the old hag 

 hides herself under the wooden scoop, her amulet (in the tale of the Foster- 

 children)^). 



When the Moon in bear-skin attire descends to punish those who have 

 overstepped the taboo-laws and approaches the house of the sinner, only 

 the angakoq is able to help the unhappy ones against its attacks; but it can 

 be chased away from the entrance of the house by means of boot-soles. 

 Near Puolortuloq, where this incident took place, two amulets were placed 

 up above the door opening, namely a hammer and a lamp foot-stool. When 

 the Moon arrived these became living, the hammer made a noise and the 

 lamp foot-stool tumbled down and buzzed round about on the floor*). 



The amulet sometimes covers the person who wears it as a slough or 

 changes him. In the tale about Kumagdlat and Asalok (in Rink) the first 

 travelled in a umiak on which the skull of a harbour seal was placed as 

 amulet on the stem of the boat; therefore his enemies on land thought that 

 it was a harbour seal instead of an umiak, which was coming against them^). 

 In the tale about Imerasugsuk the fleeing Misana is first transformed into a 



^) Holm's collection in this book, tale no. 4, p. 240 (Kunukl; no. 3, p. 239 with note 

 1 (Kaluluk). 



^) "To sing over" the amulets only means that a spell is recited over them, which 

 is always in a fixed form with traditional rhythm and accent. 



3) Tale no. 2 Imerasugsuk p. 235; no. 3 Kaluluk pp. 237—238; no. 19, the Foster- 

 children p. 269. 



*) Tale no. 30 about the Moon pp. 284—285. 



s) Rink (1866) p. 57. 



