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

Overview

The boy in this account survives a village famine with his older sister, who gives him a bag of valuables so that he can find food. Near a whale’s carcass he enters a small house occupied by a divine-looking man in speckled clothing and a woman dressed entirely in black. After feeding the visitor, the man takes his treasures away, promising an exchange. The woman then identifies herself as the bear-goddess and her husband as the dragon-god. She explains that she avoided looking at the visitor because of her husband’s jealousy and warns that the proposed exchange will substitute counterfeit valuables.

She instructs the youth to request her instead of the treasures. When he does so, thunder crashes, the house disappears, and the man is left with the goddess and his valuables. She explains that her husband has departed in anger. The pair subsequently live together, and the teller presents their union as the reason bears are partly like human beings. This particular story gives the goddess no personal name and does not narrate a visible change into a bear, a named child, or the death of her earlier husband. Its explanation of bear–human resemblance is a traditional narrative claim, not zoology.

Self-identification as a bear-goddessBlack clothing in humanlike appearanceUnion with a human survivor
01

Origins & earliest records

Ainu oral narrative in Chamberlain’s historical English collection

02

Records & interpretation

Complete numbered tale, ending, attached notes, title and collection introductions read; teller and recording method retained.

Selected bibliography

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

  1. 01

    Aino Folk-Tales

    Basil Hall Chamberlain, collector and English translator; narrative by Ishanashte · 1888

    x, The Man who Married the Bear-Goddess, pp.12–14; Ishanashte, 9 November1886; labelled translated literally. Folk-Lore Society XXII. Page markers from the English transcription, not independent scan collation.

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

Complete English narrative and edition context read

Aino Folk-Tales

Basil Hall Chamberlain; Folk-Lore Society XXII,1888; introductionEdwardB.Tylor. x, The Man who Married the Bear-Goddess, pp.12–14

Complete cache chamberlain-aino-10.txt; master chamberlain-aino.html/.txt. Ishanashte, 9 November1886; labelled translated literally. Actual Ainu original not collated. Source-specific divine or transformed identity; no genericJapanese/Chinese identification. Preface distinguishes male named informants, memory and literal methods, and separately expurgated illustrated adaptations.

Inspect the digitized plate · Source collection manifest

References

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

  1. Historical English record of a named Ainu tellingChamberlain, Aino Folk-Tales — x, The Man who Married the Bear-Goddess, pp.12–14Research 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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