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

Overview

Tugto, a magician whose wife has left him, catches an enormous sea perch through ice and carries it home. After a frightening disturbance on a frozen lake and a period of unconsciousness, he feels his powers increased. Farther on he sees a huge monster covered in bird skins, so large that no movement can be discerned. He turns aside but encounters another like it.

Remembering the power associated with overcoming such a being, Tugto sets down his fish and wrestles it. He tears apart the covering and discovers that the flesh beneath is no larger than a thumb. Afterwards he perceives distant settlements unusually clearly and can pass through roof and ground during a spirit journey. He uses that power to reach the wife whose own abilities had previously exceeded his. The narrative’s visual contrast is between vast bird-skin covering and tiny flesh; it gives neither creature a proper name or a zoological identity, and does not explicitly narrate the defeated being’s death.

Bird-skin coveringHuge exterior and tiny fleshWrestling encounterAssociated acquisition of extraordinary movement
01

Origins & earliest records

The volume’s final source list assigns this narrative to Godthaab, West Greenland Inuit. Knud Rasmussen collected the material; W. Worster edited and translated the 1921 English selection. No individual storyteller is named here. Worster states that he selected and edited versions, including omissions; this is not an unabridged performance transcript.

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Records & interpretation

The complete Qujavarssuk narrative, printed pp.20–37, and its Godthaab source-list attribution were inspected.

Selected bibliography

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

  1. 01

    Eskimo Folk-Tales

    Knud Rasmussen, collector; W. Worster, editor and English translator · 1921

    Qujavarssuk, pp.20–37; complete narrative including subsidiary encounters and final return home.

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.

References

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

  1. Primary textRasmussen/Worster 1921: QujavarssukResearch 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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