A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.
Overview
Tumuitearetoka is the immense human-eating shark paired with Tikokura in Gill’s Ngaru account. After the challenge brings storm surf, it follows behind the hero’s board and prepares to strike. Moko sees its dark outline and calls a warning.
Ngaru alternately leaps above the shark and dives beneath it, avoiding its open jaws with repeated help from his grandfather. After eight days and nights he relinquishes the board, ending the encounter without killing either sea being. The name and outcome remain distinct from Hawaiian shark deities and from Tiaio’s ancestral shark form.
Origins & earliest records
William Wyatt Gill, Myths and Songs from the South Pacific (London: Henry S. King, 1876), X: The Adventures of Ngaru. General contributor acknowledgements name Tereavai and Sadaraka; individual prose narrator not supplied.
Records & interpretation
Complete selected prose narrative and interpretive ending read in consecutive bounded OCR sections. Variant endings and compiler judgments retained as such.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
Myths and Songs from the South Pacific, X: The Adventures of Ngaru, pp. 225–226
Direct digitized printed witness; original-language scan collation remains open.
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.
- Primary collected textMyths and Songs from the South Pacific, X: The Adventures of Ngaru, pp. 225–226Research access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.