Language and Folklore. 159 
will be found, especially of a linguistic nature, among which are 
the textual variants from my records — many, perhaps the majority 
of the poems I took down from various informants or recorded them 
on the phonograph as well as from dictation —; in that manner we 
have often been enabled, ‘through a textual criticism, to arrive at a 
better reading by correcting the text that I have given as the basis 
of my translation by means of the variations. 
The headlines over each poem do not belong to the original 
poems, but are given by me in accordance with the contents. The 
natives use no other name than the first line of the poems. The 
names of the informants appear 
under the headings. 
The names of the authors are 
generally unknown. No doubt there 
have lived in each generation au- 
thors, singers or players who have 
enjoyed the happiness of celebrity 
from Kialineq to Aleek, but the 
death of the poet or artist casts 
the fatal shadow of taboo over his 
name which it is forbidden to men- 
tion after his death, and therefore 
everlasting fame does not fall to 
the lot of the classical product of 
any Eskimo poet or artist. It is 
only as an apparent exception that 
we may give the names of some 
authors of drum-songs; itis due to Fig. 18». Anittånne, viewed in profile. 
the lucky accident that they had (W.T. phot. October 1905.) 
not yet been forgotten when the 
first ethnologists arrived from Europe and were able to set down 
their names and works in their books. The names of the Eskimo 
legendary heroes form another kind of exception. — It is а char- 
acteristic feature that the author’s poem (drum-song) is called his 
pia, i.e. his property. It would not be considered fair for anyone 
else to sing or recite the author’s poem as long as he himself may 
be alive. On the other hand it was quite customary for a drum-singer 
to borrow a part of one of the drum-songs of the forefathers and 
use it as an introduction in his own new drum-song. 
