Kaulu in the Fornander Collection

Overview

The collected narrative names Kukaohialaka and Hinauluohia as parents of Kaeha, Kamano and Kaulu. Kaulu delays birth because Kamano threatens to kill the next child; hearing Kaeha defend him, he promises to protect that brother. He is born as a piece of rope, which Kaeha keeps on a shelf until it develops human form. Seeking his abducted brother, the small hero challenges the surf, converses with his named hands and breaks great waves into smaller ones. He also defeats the guarding dog Kuililoloa. His apparent size misleads later opponents about his strength and appetite.

The brothers visit Manowaikeoo, where guards tip the land and send them falling. Kaulu’s reaching power brings them back, and he takes the stored food before returning enough material for propagation. Subsequent attacks target Kaeha: the shark ruler Kukamaulunuiakea swallows him, and later spirits imprison him in a limpet shell. Kaulu retrieves him from both dangers. The shark rescue requires holding the enormous jaws apart; the limpet rescue is followed by Kaeha’s restoration to life.

On Oʻahu Kaulu obtains Makalii’s nets and uses them to trap the female spirit Haumea. A final contest pits him against Lonokaeho, whose projecting forehead reaches heaven before descending to strike. Kaulu fixes the forehead to the ground, where vegetation grows over it. The story ends after Kaeha’s later death: Kaulu marries Kekele, and the couple eventually die without children. These endings distinguish a complete life-story from a generic catalogue of heroic powers.

Origins & earliest records

Fornander Collection IV, Legend of Kaulu, printed pp. 522–532. Hawaiian manuscript corpus gathered by Fornander; English translations revised and edited by Thomas G. Thrum. This edition does not name the particular narrator.

Records & interpretation

Complete narrative from extraordinary birth to childless marriage ending; Hawaiian text on facing pages.

Selected bibliography

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

1. 01

   Fornander Collection IV: Legend of Kaulu, pp. 522–532

   Hawaiian manuscript collection gathered by Abraham Fornander; translations revised and edited by Thomas G. Thrum · 1916–1917

   Complete narrative from extraordinary birth to childless marriage ending; Hawaiian text on facing pages.

2. 02

   Fornander CollectionIV: Legend of Kaulu

   Hawaiian manuscript collection gathered by Abraham Fornander; edited by Thomas G. Thrum · 1916–1917

   Fornander Collection of Hawaiian Antiquities and Folk-lore, first series, Memoirs of the Bernice Pauahi Bishop MuseumIV, Honolulu: Bishop Museum Press,1916–1917. Hawaiian manuscript collection gathered by AbrahamFornander with native helpers; English translations largely supervised by W.D.Alexander, revised and edited by ThomasG.Thrum, as the independently read preface states. No particular tale’s otherwise unnamed translator or informant is invented.

Family, evolution & connections

Kaulu’s named family — Fornander IV

The English translation’s three-son household, pp. 522–532.

Explicit opening parentage and birth order; ending marriage statement. Source-specific narrative genealogy, not a modern pedigree. Unprofiled relatives remain names. Kaulu’s rope form is the same child, not an additional relative. Kekele is his later wife; the text explicitly denies children. Similar names elsewhere are not merged. Hawaiian original not independently translated.

Located primary passages

Specific passages supporting details in this entry, grouped by their published witness.

References

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

1. Primary textFornander Collection IV, original bilingual scanResearch access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

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