386 W. THALBITZER. 
minicences of ancient, or even obsolete cult. They tell of metamor- 
phosed animals, conversations between animals or of legendary heroes. 
They are the fossils among legends, they have existed for very long 
periods and are known from one end of the Eskimo world to the 
other. A single detail may be retained from Bering Strait to Denmark 
Strait. This holds true for instance of the passionate scornful cry of the 
sun (woman) to the moon (man) who pursues her. The cry is almost 
identical in both the Greenlandic and Alaskan myths (no. 215). + 
However it is not my intention at this time to test the stability 
or instability of these traditions. The extensive spread of certain tales 
(motives) in the same language and sprung from the same surroundings, 
is sufficient assurance that they, like the great oak of the forest, have 
deep roots, and that these roots are deep in the life of the people. 
For an historical investigation of legends this material contains 
countless unsolved problems, — probably some never to be solved. The 
names of the heroes are not common Greenlandic names, even though 
the stories about them are known everywhere among the Eskimo. 
Many of these names do not even sound like true Greenlandic or 
Eskimo words, for instance (my quotations are from both West and 
East Greenland) Jorute?, Givioq?, Qasidtta*, Qaasuk”, Kaat”tattik ””, 
Kuza (or Kula), Kunuk®, Nawaranak’, Kuniliuse (and) Pitruse®, Paulinak”, 
Ulivatsiak © (my Uleewaaitsiag). Seen from the Eskimo language these 
names might seem obsolete or borrowed, — at all events, the original 
form and meaning are obscured. 
Once when Mitsuarnianyna and I were working together and dis- 
cussing the ancestors of the Ammassalik Eskimo, he told me what 
he thought of the localisation of the separate stories from olden times. 
He went over several of these with this question in mind. About many 
of them he had nothing to say (indicated by a question-mark in 
my list p. 381—384). About others he claimed that the event referred 
to in the tale had happened “here in Ammassalik fjord, or nearby” 
(marked A), in other cases he attributed it to the coast further south (S), 
in a couple of instances further north (N). If the tale told of inland- 
dwellers he pointed toward the west (puane), in the center of the 
country (I). His knowledge was very evidently based on old tradition, 
which often gained support from the fact that the names of localities 
mentioned in the story were known along this coast. A localisation 
of that nature is not especially scientific, yet Mitsuarnianya’s ideas 
on the subject proved in noticeable agreement with the result which 
from a critical and comparative study would seem probable. It is 
characteristic that tales with a mythical content — such as Asiag; the 
animal with the iron tail; Niwaaniaq (Navagiak) — were either impos- 
sible to localise or were attributed to the locality, “here”. It is inter- 
esting that he placed the Koopajeeq-legend toward the north (Sermiligaq 
or further north), for the direction might indicate that the legend about 
1 Cf. Rink II (1871) p. 207. 2? Rink II, no. 81. 3 Rink I, no. 21. + Rink I, no. 61, 
Kasiagsak. 5 Rink I, no. 88, Kagsuk. %2 Rink I, no. 1 Kagsagsuk (= Holm). 6 Rink I, 
no. 14 (= Holm). ” Rink I, no. 24. 8 Rink I, по. 10. ? Rink II, no. 44. 10 Holm, see 
First Part p. 245. 
