A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.
Overview
The winged wife belongs to a company of women who fly from heaven to bathe. Codrington describes webbed wings like a bat’s and records Banewono-wono and Vinmara, glossed as Web-wing and Dove-skin. Tagaro hides one woman’s removed wings at the base of his house’s main pillar, preventing her departure. The corresponding Maewo telling names Qatu as the husband; the collector does not simply classify the woman as a vui.
While weeding, she brings ripe yam tubers into her hands from vines whose crop is not yet ready. Her husband’s brothers accuse her of premature harvesting, and she retreats in tears. The falling tears wear away the earth hiding her wings. Hearing them underneath, she recovers them and flies back to heaven. The ending restores her mobility after the concealment that forced her to remain.
The fuller Maewo telling in Chapter XIX names Qatu or Qat and gives his mother, rather than his brothers, the accusing role. The wife also brings bananas to ripeness. After she departs, Qat builds a chain of arrows reaching heaven; a banyan root follows it, and he climbs with a basket of pork to recover her. He warns a person hoeing not to disturb the root, but that person cuts it while the couple descend. Qat falls and is killed; his wife flies back to heaven. This ending belongs to that separately presented Maewo version.
Origins & earliest records
R. H. Codrington, The Melanesians: Studies in their Anthropology and Folk-lore (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1891), Chapter X, printed pp. 171–172. 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
“stole one pair”
Chapter X, p.172; concealment of wings · R. H. Codrington
Codrington names the husband Tagaro here, noting Qatu in the Maewo story. The woman belongs to a heavenly party with removable webbed wings compared to bats; she is not simply classified as a vui. Tagaro conceals her wings, preventing her departure. Touching yam vines brings ripe tubers to her hands. The selected account names Banewono-wono and Vinmara with translated glosses.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
The Melanesians, Chapter X, pp. 171–172
Specific island variants and named narrative provenance retained. Colonial and missionary judgments are not adopted as present community consensus.
- 02
The Melanesians, Chapter XIX, III.9: The Winged Wife (Aurora), pp. 397–398
Fuller Maewo version: mother’s accusation, arrow-chain ascent, cut banyan root and Qat’s death.
- 03
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 historical scan/OCR. Chapter X final accounts and complete Chapter XIX III.9 and III.13 independently read; interleaved Basi footnote excluded from Deitari narrative.
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 historical scan/OCR. Chapter X final accounts and complete Chapter XIX III.9 and III.13 independently read; interleaved Basi footnote excluded from Deitari narrative.
- Codrington names the husband Tagaro here, noting Qatu in the Maewo story. The woman belongs to a heavenly party with removable webbed wings compared to bats; she is not simply classified as a vui. Tagaro conceals her wings, preventing her departure. Touching yam vines brings ripe tubers to her hands. The selected account names Banewono-wono and Vinmara with translated glosses.
- The brothers accuse her of taking unripe yams. Tears at the house pillar erode the soil concealing her wings, which she recovers before returning to heaven. This Chapter X ending does not itself narrate Tagaro climbing after her or falling to his death.
- This separately headed variant initially names Qatu and subsequently Qat; it describes bird-like wings, the husband’s mother as the accusing worker, and ripe bananas as well as yams. After the wife flies away, he climbs an arrow-linked banyan root to heaven and brings her back. A person cuts the root despite his warning: Qat falls and dies, while the woman flies back to heaven. These differences are not silently transferred into the Chapter X Tagaro ending.
Chapter XIX III.9 The Winged Wife, Aurora, pp.397–398; explicitly distinct Maewo/Qatu version
Specific reported account, not modern universal consensus. No song, prayer, healing or ritual formulas excerpted; facsimile not visually checked in this batch. Related variant identified by Codrington; no identity merger or reconstructed original ending. Chapter X Qat cycle’s named contributor Edward Wogale is not automatically credited for this Tagaro or anonymous Chapter XIX manuscript.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- Primary textCodrington 1891, Chapter X: SpiritsResearch access: 2026-10-05
- Primary textCodrington 1891, Chapter XIX, III.9: The Winged WifeResearch access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
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