A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.
Overview
Bagbagak is the great star who accompanies his daughter Gaygayoma and other stars to Aponitolau’s sugarcane field. In the sky household he reinforces her demand that Aponitolau marry her, warning that the stars will eat him if he refuses. The tale names Sinag, the moon, as Gaygayoma’s mother. It does not give Bagbagak an animal anatomy or identify him with a particular modern astronomical object.
Origins & earliest records
Tinguian storytelling, Philippines; particular collected witness
Records & interpretation
Complete relevant story, collection preface, regional introduction and attached notes directly read.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
Philippine Folk Tales
Tinguian; Gaygayoma who Lives up Above, pp.37–43, notes42–46
Family, evolution & connections
Gaygayoma’s named parents in Cole’s tale
Gaygayoma pp. 37–43; celestial descriptions are narrative identities.
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- Joint parents: Bagbagak (great star) and Sinag (moon)
Explicit parentage and half-brother statements in Cole’s English collection; editor’s alias identification retained. These are source-specific translated narratives, not one universal Philippine pantheon. Unnamed attendants are not relatives. Alias equivalence does not erase differences between episodes.
Gaygayoma
The Gaygayoma tale explicitly identifies Bagbagak, a great star, as her father. Other attendant stars are companions, not automatically his children.
Primary records and illustrations
Mabel Cook Cole, Philippine Folk Tales (Chicago: A. C. McClurg, 1916)
Tinguian section. Gaygayoma who Lives up Above, pp.37–43, notes42–46
Full story, relevant regional introduction and preface read; attached notes checked. Collection mediates oral accounts and earlier print sources without a named individual narrator here. No scientific taxonomy inferred.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- Historical collected narrative and editorial notesCole, Philippine Folk Tales (1916), Gaygayoma who Lives up Above, pp.37–43, notes42–46Research access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.