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

Overview

Narahdarn the bat attaches a white feather to a bee so he can follow it to honey, holding it overnight under bark when darkness interrupts the search. He orders his two Bilber wives to collect the honey. Each traps an arm in the tree opening; Narahdarn cuts the arms off, and both women die from the shock.

He returns without honey and refuses to explain his blood-covered arms. Their mother alerts her kin, whose trackers discover the bodies and reconstruct events. During a dance Narahdarn is surrounded and thrown into a fire. The tale retains bat naming alongside human household, tool and dance actions, without supplying a transformation scene or turning the wives’ injuries into monstrous anatomy.

Feather-marked bee trackingTrapped honey-gathering armsKin retaliation
01

Origins & earliest records

K. Langloh Parker, Australian Legendary Tales (London: David Nutt, 1896), Narahdarn the Bat, pp. 57–61.

02

Records & interpretation

Complete selected English retelling directly read.

Selected bibliography

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

  1. 01

    Narahdarn the Bat, pp. 57–61

    K. Langloh Parker, collector and English reteller; individual narrator unassigned · 1896

    Complete selected tale 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.

References

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

  1. Primary collected textParker 1896: Narahdarn the BatResearch 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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