Laughing skull husband in Rịke´wġi’s tale

Overview

In the tale recorded from Rịke´wġi at Mariinsky Post in October 1900, an unmarried woman finds a bare human skull and conceals it in her sleeping-room. She makes it a decorated cap, laughs at it each evening and receives a small answering laugh. Her mother discovers it in the bag used as a pillow and interprets her daughter as a frightening ke´lẹ. That accusation is a character’s judgment; the narrative does not describe a bodily transformation of the daughter. Her parents abandon her, taking their tent across the water and striking her wrist when she clings to their paddle.

Left behind, the woman kicks the skull and blames it for her abandonment. It speaks, asks her to build a fire and throw it into the flames, and promises to obtain a body. She must keep her head drawn into her clothing despite the sounds around her. After the fire subsides, a reindeer caravan approaches and a well-dressed man addresses her. The story identifies him as her husband: the skull has acquired a body and considerable wealth. They establish a camp together. When her parents later visit, she serves marrow with sharp bone splinters that pierce their throats and kill them. The ending is revenge, not a reconciliation.

Bogoras links the preceding lake-spirit fragment to this account as a continuation, but expressly says the two were recorded from different people. This profile follows Rịke´wġi’s independently opening skull narrative rather than treating the skull as an explicitly identified reincarnation of the lake-spirit. The teller’s closing formula about killing the wind is explained in a footnote as the perceived power of storytelling to quiet prolonged bad weather; it is not an additional action performed by the skull.

Origins & earliest records

Chukchi; Rịke´wġi, identified by Bogoras as a Maritime Chukchee man, Mariinsky Post

Records & interpretation

Complete English narrative, ending and attached notes read; title page, introduction and HTML transcription limitations inspected.

Selected bibliography

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

1. 01

   Chukchee Mythology

   Waldemar Bogoras, recorder and translator; narrated by Rịke´wġi; series edited by Franz Boas · 1910

   Jesup North Pacific Expedition, Memoirs of the American Museum of Natural History, Volume VIII, Part I; 3. (The Girl and the Skull.); pp. 28–34, including all footnotes

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

References

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

1. Historical recorded narrative and English translationBogoras, 3. (The Girl and the Skull.)Research access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

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