A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.
Overview
Qasavara is a powerful fighting vui and cannibal in the Qat cycle. One encounter begins when Qat’s brothers gather chestnuts above his house. Angered by a falling fruit, he kills them and stores their remains in his food chest. Qat subsequently defeats him and revives the brothers by blowing through a reed into their mouths. Codrington expressly notes that the following adventure does not form a consistent continuation of this death.
In that second telling, Qasavara offers hospitality while plotting to kill the visitors. Qat conceals his brothers inside rafters and posts, then escapes through a growing casuarina. The pursuer climbs after them until the tree bends back to land; released, it throws him against the sky. He falls and becomes a stone associated with fighting strength. The source itself leaves the stone’s reported island location uncertain between the narrative’s Vanua Lava setting and Gaua.
Origins & earliest records
R. H. Codrington, The Melanesians: Studies in their Anthropology and Folk-lore (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1891), Chapter X, printed pp. 163–166. 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
“turned into a stone”
Chapter X, p.166; alternative ending · R. H. Codrington
Codrington explicitly calls the next adventure inconsistent with the first. Qat hides his brothers in changing house timbers, then enables their escape into an elongating casuarina. After bending its tip to earth, he releases it with Qasavara still attached: the opponent hits the sky, falls and becomes stone. The collector reports disputed stone location and later honour for fighting prowess; no ritual instructions are reproduced.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
The Melanesians, Chapter X, pp. 163–166
Specific island variants and named narrative provenance retained. Colonial and missionary judgments are not adopted as present community consensus.
- 02
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.
- Qasavara is introduced as a powerful fighting and cannibal vui. Qat’s brothers disturb his house from a chestnut tree; he kills them and stores them in a food-chest. Qat comes, fights and kills him, finds the brothers’ bones and restores them to life. This first killing is not combined chronologically with the following alternative.
- Codrington explicitly calls the next adventure inconsistent with the first. Qat hides his brothers in changing house timbers, then enables their escape into an elongating casuarina. After bending its tip to earth, he releases it with Qasavara still attached: the opponent hits the sky, falls and becomes stone. The collector reports disputed stone location and later honour for fighting prowess; no ritual instructions are reproduced.
- The collector explicitly identifies the late Deacon Edward Wogale’s Mota account, with additions from other sources, as the basis of the following Qat cycle. It is not a single unmodified transcript or an attribution automatically extended to every Chapter X island account.
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. Original Mota account not independently inspected; contributors of additions not identified.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- Primary textCodrington 1891, Chapter X: SpiritsResearch access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.