Te-manava-roa, the Buried Giant

Overview

In Gill’s “The-long-lived,” Te-manava-roa lies face downward beneath Rangimotia. The central hill, described as half a mile long, forms his back; the head is at Butoa toward sunrise, with a depression marking the neck. Ridges on opposite sides represent his arms, and longer southwest and northwest chains his legs. The account connects these divisions with the island’s named right, left and head regions.

The body also explains a traditional distribution of large stranded fish: the head goes to the eastern chiefs, the middle to central chiefs and the tail to those at sunset, before further subdivision. Gill explicitly distinguishes this buried giant from the similarly named stationary spirit in his creation account. His recorded landscape proportions belong to the narrative mapping, rather than a claim that a measured giant corpse was excavated.

Origins & earliest records

William Wyatt Gill, Myths and Songs from the South Pacific (London: Henry S. King, 1876), VII, “The-long-lived,” pp. 128–130. Individual narrator unnamed.

Records & interpretation

Complete selected section read; explicit same-name distinction preserved.

Selected bibliography

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

1. 01

   Myths and Songs from the South Pacific, VII: The-long-lived, pp. 128–130

   William Wyatt Gill, collector and translator · 1876

   Direct digitized OCR; title spelling normalized to manava as in creation name, while selected notice OCR reads manaya.

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 textGill, The-long-lived, pp. 128–130 (1876)Research access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

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