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

Overview

In the Ganviviris tale, a fish carries its captor into a dry cave and becomes Ro Som, glossed as Money. She supplies shell money, pigs and support for his advancement, while directing him to take his ranks at Qakea rather than Mota. When he disobeys, a richly adorned woman enters his house: bracelets, a boar’s tusk, red earth and pigs’ tails mark her appearance. His property disappears and he subsequently dies.

The Little Orphan tells a separate encounter in which Ro Som and her child emerge from the sea and become his household. Gardens, food, pigs and money appear in extraordinary abundance; prepared food and the money she multiplies do not run out. He later mistakes untouched provisions for evidence of an outside male giver and angrily confronts her. She and her child leave while he sleeps, taking their wealth, and his home becomes a deserted garden. The two narratives retain their different beneficiaries and broken relationships.

Fish-to-woman form in one tellingMultiplies money and provisionsWithdraws abundance after broken relationship
01

Origins & earliest records

R. H. Codrington, The Melanesians: Studies in their Anthropology and Folk-lore (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1891), Chapter XIX, III.5–6, pp. 383–395. His introduction credits islanders’ written manuscripts for these translated tales; specific individual writers are not supplied here.

02

Records & interpretation

Complete selected tale read in the public primary transcription, with printed-page markers retained. Descriptive profile titles are identified where the being is unnamed. The original page images have not been visually collated in this pass.

In the literature

“the sauma turned into a woman”
R. H. Codrington; selected manuscript writer unnamed · The Melanesians: Studies in their Anthropology and Folk-lore
Chapter XIX III.5, p.384; benefactor reveals herself · R. H. Codrington

An introductory narrator says Ganviviris was known to his father’s grandfather and friends; this is an attributed generational claim, not independently dated history. Ganviviris shoots a fish which carries him to a cave and turns into Ro Som, Money, a woman who says she pities him. Bags fill with money, allowing him to obtain pigs and advance in rank despite his relatives’ disbelief.

Selected bibliography

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

  1. 01

    The Melanesians, Chapter XIX, III.5–6, pp. 383–395

    R. H. Codrington (English translation and presentation of islanders’ manuscripts) · 1891

    Chapter introduction, p. 356, identifies the manuscript basis. Local story headings retained; collector judgments are not present community consensus.

  2. 02

    The Melanesians: Studies in their Anthropology and Folk-lore

    R. H. Codrington; individual selected island manuscript writers unnamed · 1891

    R. H. Codrington, The Melanesians: Studies in their Anthropology and Folk-lore, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1891; selected University of Toronto scan/OCR. Complete Chapter XIX III.5 Ganviviris, III.6 The Little Orphan, and III.10 Taso independently read. Interleaved Ghost-Wife continuation excluded from Ganviviris; later separate manuscript summaries are not part of the Little Orphan body.

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; selected University of Toronto scan/OCR. Complete Chapter XIX III.5 Ganviviris, III.6 The Little Orphan, and III.10 Taso independently read. Interleaved Ghost-Wife continuation excluded from Ganviviris; later separate manuscript summaries are not part of the Little Orphan body.

  1. An introductory narrator says Ganviviris was known to his father’s grandfather and friends; this is an attributed generational claim, not independently dated history. Ganviviris shoots a fish which carries him to a cave and turns into Ro Som, Money, a woman who says she pities him. Bags fill with money, allowing him to obtain pigs and advance in rank despite his relatives’ disbelief.

    Chapter XIX III.5–6, Mota, pp.383–395; Ganviviris: fish-woman benefactor

  2. Ro Som restricts his rank-taking to Qakea, warning against doing so at Mota. He disobeys. A conspicuously dressed woman enters his house and disappears; the bags are empty and pigs gone. He sickens that night and dies on the fifth day. The source’s supernatural causation remains an attributed narrative, not medical or independently proven historical evidence.

    Chapter XIX III.5–6, Mota, pp.383–395; Ganviviris: restriction and death

  3. In the second separately headed account Ro Som and her child emerge from the sea to accompany the excluded Little Orphan. He later calls her mother, but this is not a claim that she gave birth to him. House, gardens, food, pigs and money become available; her production of money enables his advancement despite family contempt. The source calls her Money.

    Chapter XIX III.5–6, Mota, pp.383–395; Little Orphan: adopted care and inexhaustible support

  4. After an unrewarding voyage the orphan mistakes still-present food for evidence of another man supplying Ro Som. She and her child weep despite his attempt to comfort them. When he sleeps, they remove their support and go back into the sea; the settlement becomes deserted. The ending does not say that this orphan dies as Ganviviris does.

    Chapter XIX III.5–6, Mota, pp.383–395; Little Orphan: accusation and withdrawal

  5. The collector says stories other than the first were translated from manuscripts written for him by islanders. No selected individual writer is named here; Ganviviris’s generational framing is not expanded into an invented informant identity.

    Chapter XIX introduction, p.356

Separate tale endings and source kinship terms retained. No sacred song, rank-taking instructions or ritual formulas excerpted. Facsimile not visually checked in this batch. Underlying original manuscripts not independently inspected.

References

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

  1. Primary textCodrington 1891, Chapter XIX: Stories, III.5–6, pp. 383–395Research access: 2026-10-05
  2. Primary provenance statementCodrington’s Chapter XIX collection and translation statementResearch 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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