Polynesian Mythology

Sir George Grey

Published by Withcombe and Tombs Ltd, hardcover with duskjacket, illustrated


Polynesian Mythology
SIR GEORGE GREY
The most important source-book for the basic Maori legends has always been Sir George Grey's Polynesian Mythology, to which he gave the sub-title `Ancient Traditional History of the New Zealand race as furnished by their Priests and Chiefs'. With interest in the history and customs of the Maori people renewed and increased in recent years it is appropriate that a new edition of this important book should now be issued,.

Here in their original form are all the well-known Maori legends — the story of the formation of the heavens and the earth, the achievements of Maui, the quarrels at Hawaiki that led to the peopling of New Zealand by the Maori, the accounts of the voyages; and such famous stories as that of Hinemoa and Tutanekai; of the magical wooden head, of Kae's theft of the whale, of Kahukura and the fairies, and of Hatupatu and his brothers. To read these legends again as Grey wrote them, after contact with so many secondary versions, is a worth-while experience.

For this edition, the text of 1855 has been followed with the exception only that the spelling of Maori words has been normalized by the late Mr W. W. Bird. An index adds greatly to the value of the book as a work of reference. The text is illustrated with a set of sixteen drawings by Russell Clark, who also designed the jacket.