Nerrivik

Overview

A magical bird courts her in human form, wearing a fine sealskin coat and walrus-tusk spectacles that conceal weak eyes. He brings fish while calling them seals. Her brothers remove her while he is away; pursuing them, the bird beats up a dangerous storm. The people in the boat blame her for the peril and throw her overboard. When she grips the boat, her grandfather cuts off one hand.

She becomes Nerrivik on the seabed and controls the sea's animals. Because she has only one hand, she needs help combing her hair. When hunters cannot catch seals, spirit practitioners descend to tend it, and she sends food in return. The printed note translates her name as Meat Dish. This exact version has a grandfather, a single severed hand and food released as thanks; details from other sea-woman traditions are not silently substituted or added.

A comparable but unnamed sea woman appears in Qujavarssuk, which the same volume assigns to Godthaab in West Greenland. Tugto’s wife reaches a dangerous house after helping spirits carry her over the ice. A great dog guards it, a river crosses its narrow entrance and an older woman fights the visitor. Once defeated, the host is cleaned and has her hair arranged. She recalls an earlier visitor, Atakana from Sardloq, who had also cared for her.

Moving the host’s lamp brings flocks of birds and then seals, initially appearing as long-haired men. The sea woman asks that people stop emptying dirty vessels towards the sea because the waste reaches her. On departure the once-threatening dog wags its tail. Back home, Tugto’s wife waits for her wounds to heal before the ice opens and abundant game arrives. This Godthaab story shares the care-and-marine-food association but does not call the woman Nerrivik or give her the Smith Sound mutilation history. It is retained as an explicitly regional comparison, not evidence that the proper name applies everywhere.

Origins & earliest records

The volume's final source list assigns this narrative to Smith Sound, northern Greenland. Knud Rasmussen collected the material; W. Worster edited and translated the1921 English selection. No individual storyteller is named for this episode. Worster explicitly states that he selected clear versions and omitted or edited passages, so this is not an unabridged oral-performance transcript.

Records & interpretation

Complete selected narrative and regional source-list entry read. Nerrivik, begins printed p.113; name gloss in note11. The editorial omission and translation limitations recorded in the introduction remain explicit. Complete Godthaab comparison now read through the release of game, delayed thaw and hunters’ first catches; no identity asserted for its unnamed sea woman.

Selected bibliography

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

1. 01

   Eskimo Folk-Tales

   Knud Rasmussen, collector; W. Worster, editor and English translator · 1921

   Nerrivik, begins printed p.113; name gloss in note11. Complete episode and regional source-list attribution checked. Comparison: complete Qujavarssuk, pp.20–37, assigned to Godthaab; sea woman remains unnamed.

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 textRasmussen/Worster1921: Nerrivik, begins printed p.113; name gloss in note11.Research access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

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