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

Overview

The spirits, angered by Kaulu’s actions, invite his brother Kaeha to surf and call the sharks to carry him to their ruler, Kukamaulunuiakea. The narrative gives that ruler immeasurable breadth and length, coral growing over its body, and jaws reaching to heaven above and the sea bottom below. It swallows Kaeha whole. Kaulu drains the sea searching for his missing brother but cannot locate him among the other man-eating fish. Makalii finally identifies the coral-covered shark for him.

Kukamaulunuiakea tells Kaulu that Kaeha has already been digested. When asked about its strength, it opens its immense mouth, allowing Kaulu to hold the jaws apart and call his brother out. Kaeha emerges bald, contradicting the predator’s claim that he is irretrievably consumed. Kaulu kills the shark; its spirit rises into the sky and becomes the Milky Way. The brothers return as Kaulu restores the swallowed sea, with the text also linking that restoration to the water’s saltiness. The shark’s cosmic transformation belongs to this particular telling.

Coral-covered bodyHeaven-to-seafloor jawsSwallows KaehaSpirit becomes Milky Way
01

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.

02

Records & interpretation

Complete swallowing and rescue sequence, read within the whole Kaulu story; the Milky Way identification appears in the narrative and accompanying editorial note.

Selected bibliography

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

  1. 01

    Fornander Collection IV: Legend of Kaulu, pp. 526–528

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

    Complete swallowing and rescue sequence, read within the whole Kaulu story; the Milky Way identification appears in the narrative and accompanying editorial note.

  2. 02

    Fornander CollectionIV: Legend of Kaulu: Kukamaulunuiakea

    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 & 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.

Located primary passages

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

Fornander Collection IV: Legend of Kaulu, pp. 526–528

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.

  1. Spirits summon sharks to carry Kaeha to their king Kukamaulunuiakea, whose unknown dimensions, coral-covered body and jaws reaching heaven and ocean floor are narrated. Kaulu drains the sea and seeks Makalii’s help to find him. The shark says it has swallowed and digested Kaeha, but Kaulu holds its mouth open and calls his brother out alive and bald. Kaulu kills the shark, and its spirit rises as the Milky Way. The brothers return as Kaulu restores the ocean, which the story connects with the sea’s saltiness.

    Printed526–528, complete shark encounter in the independently read522–532 tale

Selected historical English rendering only; Hawaiian facing pages not independently retranslated, entire collection not claimed read. Individual tale informant/translator not named in the inspected witness; Thrum revision and Alexander-supervised translation preserved. Existing public access is not a blanket worldwide reuse licence.

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.

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