Dodore

Overview

Coombe's Mala accounts describe Dodore as small people with one arm, one foot and long red hair, ruled by an old woman. Abduction is associated with losing recognition of home and friends and wandering. A student at the Norfolk Island College claims he was bewitched and recovered by friends; when found, he did not recognize them.

A man makes a sleeping mat from a plant growing in a Dodore's lair. He ignores two dreams demanding its return. On the third night the Dodore carry him off with the mat, then become frightened when he wakes, drop him and flee. Comic reports also describe hidden possessions, voices in trees and pools, repeated counting of sleepers' fingers and toes, unsuccessful nut gathering, and flight from a moving fish mistaken for a ghost.

The source presents these threatening and humorous reports together, and they are kept together here rather than split into separate traditions. Coombe offers speculation linking the Dodore to apes or to a displaced population and draws literary parallels; these are the compiler's interpretations, not established findings about the tradition or about present-day Malaita communities.

Origins & earliest records

Recorded in a 1911 missionary compilation from Malaita accounts; the earliest source inspected is an attestation and does not establish the oral origin of the tradition.

Records & interpretation

Coombe, Islands of Enchantment (1911), Part III ch. III, pp. 292–294. Historical compilation; current belief or practice not asserted.

Selected bibliography

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

1. 01

   Islands of Enchantment: many-sided Melanesia seen through many eyes

   Florence Coombe · 1911

   Selected bibliography; Part III ch. III, pp. 292–294. Only literature inspected for this profile.

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. Historical book (public-domain digitised text)Islands of Enchantment: many-sided Melanesia seen through many eyes (full OCR text)Research access: 2026-10-07
2. Archive catalogue recordIslands of Enchantment: many-sided Melanesia seen through many eyes (catalogue record)Research access: 2026-10-07

Image credits

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