A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.
Overview
Marawa appears in Qat’s canoe-building episode as a small elderly man with long white hair who rises from the ground and restores the chips cut from a tree. Qat hides one chip and confronts him. The being, called Marawa the Spider, then finishes the canoe with his nails. He subsequently saves Qat from his brothers’ traps: a toppled rock, a damaged branch and an enlarged nutmeg tree that prevents descent. In the last escape, his extraordinarily long hair becomes Qat’s way down.
The Lakona account gives him a different role: he makes wooden people, animates them with drumming, then buries them. Their decay introduces death, unlike Qat’s successful creation. Codrington also records Manlepei’s reported encounter with a small long-haired man identifying himself as Marawa. A tapped rock opens into his home, and assistance follows the visit. These are separately attributed narratives, rather than a single fixed spider anatomy.
A separate continuation to Mota’s Ghost-Wife tale places Marawa in explicitly spiderlike activity. After the wife ascends through smoke and leaves her child below, the husband seeks help from other creatures. The Spider agrees, spins a line from earth to heaven, and carries father and child on his back. During a heavenly feast the child repeatedly calls to its mother; recognition leads her to agree to return, and the Spider carries all three safely down. Codrington states that the written manuscript ends earlier: this reunion belongs to his supplied continuation, so it remains distinct from the original manuscript ending.
Origins & earliest records
R. H. Codrington, The Melanesians: Studies in their Anthropology and Folk-lore (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1891), Chapter X, printed pp. 152, 157–161. The selected historical account dates this collected witness; it does not establish the beginning of the tradition.
Records & interpretation
The complete relevant primary narrative was read in the public transcription, with printed-page markers checked. The original page images have not been visually collated in this pass. Local account and collector interpretation remain distinct.
In the literature
“soon finished it with his nails”
Chapter X, p.159; canoe completion · R. H. Codrington
In the Lakona creation variant Marawa animates wooden figures but later finds them decayed after burial, accounting for death. In the canoe account he appears as a small white-haired old man restoring chips nightly; caught by Qat, he completes the canoe with his nails. The text names him the spider but gives this human-like narrative appearance.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
The Melanesians, Chapter X, pp. 152, 157–161
Specific island variants and named narrative provenance retained. Colonial and missionary judgments are not adopted as present community consensus.
- 02
The Melanesians, Chapter XIX, III.4, footnote 1: Ghost-Wife continuation
Actual source explicitly distinguishes the manuscript ending from this further reunion sequence.
- 03
The Melanesians: Studies in their Anthropology and Folk-lore
R. H. Codrington, The Melanesians: Studies in their Anthropology and Folk-lore, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1891; University of Toronto historical scan/OCR. Complete Chapter X opening accounts and Qat cycle through its departure independently read. The Qat cycle is explicitly translated from Edward Wogale’s Mota account with additions from other sources; no original manuscript independently inspected.
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.
The Melanesians: Studies in their Anthropology and Folk-lore
R. H. Codrington, The Melanesians: Studies in their Anthropology and Folk-lore, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1891; University of Toronto historical scan/OCR. Complete Chapter X opening accounts and Qat cycle through its departure independently read. The Qat cycle is explicitly translated from Edward Wogale’s Mota account with additions from other sources; no original manuscript independently inspected.
- Manlepei is named as a Vanua Lava man who follows a small long-haired being into a rock-opened dwelling. The being identifies himself as Marawa and promises future contact; subsequent prosperity and mediation for neighbours are reported. The collector’s account is an attributed encounter claim, not independent verification that an actual cave opens supernaturally.
- In the Lakona creation variant Marawa animates wooden figures but later finds them decayed after burial, accounting for death. In the canoe account he appears as a small white-haired old man restoring chips nightly; caught by Qat, he completes the canoe with his nails. The text names him the spider but gives this human-like narrative appearance.
- Marawa saves Qat when brothers trap him under a stone and later make him fall from a tree. When an enlarged nutmeg tree traps him while his wife and canoe are taken, Marawa sends up his long hair as a route down. This rescue uses hair in the stated account, not an inferred spider web.
Historical collector account, not present consensus or independently observed supernatural fact. No sacred songs, formulas or ceremonial procedures excerpted. Facsimile not visually checked in this batch.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- Primary textCodrington 1891, Chapter X: SpiritsResearch access: 2026-10-05
- Primary textMota Ghost-Wife continuation, Chapter XIX footnote 1Research access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.