Gawigawen of Adasen

Overview

Cole’s Tinguian tale begins with Aponibolinayen longing for oranges from Gawigawen of Adasen. Her husband Aponitolau travels despite repeated bad omens. Gawigawen challenges him to eat an entire carabao before allowing him to collect fruit; ants and flies accomplish the task for him. The orange tree has branches like knives, and Aponitolau is wounded while gathering the fruit. He sends two oranges home on his spear, but the vine planted as his life-token withers.

The journey to Adasen involves several warnings that acquire a second meaning when Kanag repeats it. An old woman, Alokotan, sends a dog to bite Aponitolau; lightning and thunder ask him to stand on rocks and test his reaction. He flinches, and each warns that he will not return. He nevertheless crosses the sea on his enchanted head-ax. Adasen is surrounded by a bank nearly reaching the sky, which he ascends using a spider’s thread. After his death, Kanag withstands lightning and thunder without moving and receives favorable predictions. He can leap over the bank into the settlement instead of requiring the spider’s help.

His son Kanag later reaches Adasen and discovers buildings roofed with hair and heads displayed around the settlement. Gawigawen boasts that a single finger can defeat the boy and throws enormous weapons. Kanag evades them by changing into an ant, then spears the giant and cuts off five heads, preserving the sixth until his father’s scattered remains are found. He restores Aponitolau by magic and finally severs Gawigawen’s last head.

Gawigawen’s heads are not merely mentioned as an appearance: their progressive removal structures the rescue. The giant remains alive with one head long enough to lead Kanag to Aponitolau’s remains. His skin has become a drumhead, his hair adorns the house, his head is displayed at the gate and his body lies beneath the building. Kanag reunites the parts and revives him. Aponitolau cannot cut the last head himself, so Kanag completes the defeat. The father’s restored life is also signaled when the vine at home becomes green again.

The preceding tale, Aponibolinayen, presents a different Gawigawen episode. His mother Dinawagen arranges his marriage, but his bride is frightened by a false report that he has three noses. A rooster and monkey deny the report. After she escapes to Kadayadawan, Gawigawen tries to carry her away from the wedding feast and is killed, then restored to life and compensated. The six heads in the orange-grove adventure are explicit anatomy; the three noses in the marriage tale are a rumor rejected inside that tale. These versions are not combined into a nine-featured body or a single chronology.

Origins & earliest records

Philippines; Tinguian collected traditions

Records & interpretation

Directly read identified historical collection; narrative and collector classifications distinguished.

Selected bibliography

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

1. 01

   Philippine Folk Tales

   Mabel Cook Cole, compiler and annotator · 1916

   Tinguian: Gawigawen of Adasen, printed pp.25–36

2. 02

   Philippine Folk Tales

   Mabel Cook Cole, compiler and annotator · 1916

   Aponibolinayen, pp.17–24, notes16–29; comparison with Gawigawen of Adasen, pp.25–36, notes30–41

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 collection / primary recorded narrativePhilippine Folk Tales — Tinguian: Gawigawen of Adasen, printed pp.25–36Research access: 2026-10-05
2. Historical collected narrativeCole1916, Aponibolinayen marriage episode, pp.17–24Research access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

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