A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

Overview

Mabel Cook Cole’s Man and the Alan describes human-sized forest beings hanging head-down from branches like bats. They have wings, toes positioned toward the backs of their feet and long fingers that point backward from their wrists. When a frightened traveler falls face-down, the Alan believe him dead and descend with gold and beads. He keeps the gifts but refuses to return a particular bead; they threaten to burn his house and carry out the threat.

In The Alan and the Hunters, a mother shares fire and helps hunters cut up a pig with her long nails. A hunter kills her baby after eating the liver intended for it. She pursues the men, mistakes their reflections for their bodies, then climbs a vine feet first after they deceive her. They cut the vine and kill her. The Story of Sayen additionally gives an Alan mother a handsome humanlike son. These episodes combine unusual anatomy, generosity, retaliation and family life.

The Story of Sayen adds another family witness. An old Alan lives deep in the forest, with a wrinkled face compared to carabao hide, long arms and backward-pointing fingers. Her son Sayen is exceptionally handsome and brave. He keeps his bride away from the mother’s home because he fears that she will see the Alan. Later Sayen kills the human-shaped predatory spirit Komow and earns recognition from Kaboniyan, who becomes his companion after neither can defeat the other. The pair’s success is explained through their supernatural identities: Kaboniyan is a spirit and Sayen the son of an Alan. Sayen escapes enemies by changing into a fish in water or a chicken beneath a house. His pursuers eventually learn his disguise and catch him in a fish trap near the chicken coop. The episode gives this Alan a named, shape-changing son, alongside the mother and baby in the hunters’ tale.

WingsReversed fingers and toesHead-down suspensionLong nailsFamily life
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Origins & earliest records

Philippines; Tinguian collected traditions

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Records & interpretation

Directly read identified historical collection; narrative and collector classifications distinguished.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

  1. 01

    Philippine Folk Tales

    Mabel Cook Cole, compiler and annotator · 1916

    Tinguian: The Story of Sayen pp.60–64; The Alan and the Hunters pp.74–76; Man and the Alan pp.77–78

Family & connections

A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.

Primary records and illustrations

Direct primary record

Philippine Folk Tales

Tinguian collected traditions. Tinguian: The Story of Sayen pp.60–64; The Alan and the Hunters pp.74–76; Man and the Alan pp.77–78

Actual historical narrative read directly; no generic ethnic photograph substituted for creature illustration. Full episode depth retained: exact appearances, narrative sequence and distinct witness outcomes; no invented general powers.

Inspect the digitized plate · Source collection manifest

References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

  1. Historical collection / primary recorded narrativePhilippine Folk Tales — Tinguian: The Story of Sayen pp.60–64; The Alan and the Hunters pp.74–76; Man and the Alan pp.77–78Research access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

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