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Warohunugamwanehaora
Warohunugamwanehaora is a character in San Cristoval folklore in Melanesia; he is similar to Qat and Maui, being the youngest of a band of brothers. Mythology The youngest of a family of brothers, Warohunugamwanehaora is born and grows to adulthood all in one day. His brothers fear and envy him for his cleverness and strength and under the guidance of the oldest brother, Warohunugaraiia, they try several times to kill him. The first time, they trick Warohunugamwanehaora into a deep hole and drop a post on him, but when they turn around there he is, sitting on top of the pole. Then they try sending him against various vicious animals—a giant clam, a man-eating fish, a wild boar—hoping he will be killed, but each time Warohunugamwanehaora is victorious and when they arrive home he is sitting there waiting for them. Next they try magic, sending the young man up a betel The betel (''Piper betle'') is a vine of the family Piperaceae, which includes pepper and kava. The bet ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Qat (deity)
Qat (or ''Qet'', ''Kpwet'', ''Iqet'', ''Ikpwet'' etc. – see below) is the principal god in the oral mythology of the Banks Islands, a small archipelago of northern Vanuatu, Melanesia. Although Qat was never formally worshipped as a deity, the folklore of these once animist populations traditionally referred, and still does, to Qat as the spirit to whom we humans owe several elements of our culture: the world itself (in the form of the Torres and Banks archipelagoes); Night; Death; women; marriage rules and incest prohibition; as well as the ''song language'' in use throughout the area, locally known as "the language of Qat". This mythological figure has connections with the god known as Tagaro in other parts of Vanuatu. Name The deity is called ''Qat'' (pronounced ) in Mota, an Oceanic language which was first documented by Robert Codrington at the end of the 19th century. That pronunciation (spelled ''Qat'' or ''Kpwat'') is also found in Nume and Lakon. The same hero ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Māui (mythology)
Māui (Maui) is the great culture hero and trickster in Polynesian mythology. Very rarely was Māui actually worshipped, being less of a deity and more of a folk hero. His origins vary from culture to culture, but many of his main exploits remain relatively similar.Craighill Handy 1927: 118 Tales of Māui's exploits and adventures are told throughout most of Polynesia; they can be traced back as far west as islands off New Guinea. Some exploits common to most Polynesian traditions are stealing fire for humans from the underworld, fishing up islands with his magical hook, and capturing the Sun to lengthen the days. There is a great deal of variation in the representations of Māui from nation to nation, from being a handsome young man, to being an old wise wandering priest. Although Māui was said to be very rascally or "kolohe", many of his deeds were to better the lives of his fellow people. He was respected throughout most cultures of the Pacific and still is famous to this day. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Melanesia
Melanesia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It extends from Indonesia's New Guinea in the west to Fiji in the east, and includes the Arafura Sea. The region includes the four independent countries of Fiji, Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands, and Papua New Guinea. It also includes the French oversea collectivity of New Caledonia, Indigenous Australians of the Torres Strait Islands and parts of Indonesia, most notably the provinces of Central Papua, Highland Papua, Papua, South Papua, Southwest Papua, and West Papua. Almost all of the region is in the Southern Hemisphere; only a few small islands that are not politically considered part of Oceania—specifically the northwestern islands of Western New Guinea—lie in the Northern Hemisphere. The name ''Melanesia'' (in French, ''Mélanésie'') was first used in 1832 by French navigator Jules Dumont d'Urville: he coined the terms ''Melanesia'' and '' Micronesia'' along the preexisting '' Polyne ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fratricide
Fratricide (, from the Latin words ' "brother" and the assimilated root of ' "to kill, to cut down") is the act of killing one's own brother. It can either be done directly or via the use of either a hired or an indoctrinated intermediary (an assassin). The victim need not be the perpetrator's biological brother. In a military context, fratricide refers to a service member killing a comrade. Religion and mythology The Abrahamic religions recognize the biblical account of Cain and Abel as the first fratricidal murder to be committed. In the mythology of ancient Rome, the city is founded as the result of a fratricide, with the twins Romulus and Remus quarreling over who has the favour of the gods and over each other's plans to build Rome, with Romulus becoming Rome's first king and namesake after killing his brother. Osiris Myth In ancient Egyptian mythology, the god Osiris is murdered by his brother Set who usurps the throne. The Mahabharata and the Ramayana In the Hi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Giant Clam
The giant clams are the members of the clam genus ''Tridacna'' that are the largest living bivalve mollusks. There are actually several species of "giant clams" in the genus ''Tridacna'', which are often misidentified for ''Tridacna gigas'', the most commonly intended species referred to as "the giant clam". ''Tridacna gigas'' is one of the most endangered clam species. Antonio Pigafetta documented these in his journal as early as 1521. One of a number of large clam species native to the shallow coral reefs of the South Pacific and Indian oceans, they can weigh more than , measure as much as across and have an average lifespan in the wild of over 100 years. They are also found off the shores of the Philippines and in the South China Sea in the coral reefs of Sabah (Malaysian Borneo). The giant clam lives in flat coral sand or broken coral and can be found at depths of as much as 20 m (66 ft).#Reference-idKnop1996, Knop, p. 10. Its range covers the Indo-Pacific, but p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wild Boar
The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The species is now one of the widest-ranging mammals in the world, as well as the most widespread suiform. It has been assessed as least concern on the IUCN Red List due to its wide range, high numbers, and adaptability to a diversity of habitats. It has become an invasive species in part of its introduced range. Wild boars probably originated in Southeast Asia during the Early Pleistocene and outcompeted other suid species as they spread throughout the Old World. , up to 16 subspecies are recognized, which are divided into four regional groupings based on skull height and lacrimal bone length. The species lives in matriarchal societies consisting of interrelated females and their young (both male and female). Fully grown males are usually solitary ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Magic (fantasy)
Magic in fiction is the endowment of characters or objects in works of fiction or fantasy with powers that do not naturally occur in the real world. Magic often serves as a plot device and has long been a component of fiction, since writing was invented. Historical beliefs Historically, witches such as the Weird Sisters in William Shakespeare's ''Macbeth,'' wizards such as Prospero in '' The Tempest'' or characters like Doctor Faustus in Christopher Marlowe's play of the same name were widely considered to be real. Contemporary authors tend to treat magic as an imaginary idea, opting to build their worlds with a blank slate where the laws of reality do not carry as much weight. Function Within a work of fantasy, magic can help to advance the plot, often providing power to heroes or to their opponents. The use of magic frequently manifests itself in a transformation of a character, if not the transformation of the fictional world. For magic to carry out its functions, it ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Betel
The betel (''Piper betle'') is a vine of the family Piperaceae, which includes pepper and kava. The betel plant is native to Southeast Asia. It is an evergreen, dioecious perennial, with glossy heart-shaped leaves and white catkins. Betel plants are cultivated for their leaves which is most commonly used as flavoring in chewing areca nut (betel nut chewing). Etymology The term betel was derived from the Malayalam word ''vettila'' via Portuguese. Distribution ''Piper betle'' is originally native to South Asia and in Southeast Asia, from Island Southeast Asia (Philippines, Timor-Leste and the Lesser Sunda Islands, and Peninsular Malaysia) to Indochina (Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Myanmar). Its cultivation has spread along with the Austronesian migrations and trade to other parts of Island Southeast Asia, Papua New Guinea and Melanesia, Micronesia, South Asia, the Maldives, Mauritius, Réunion Island, and Madagascar. It has also been introduced during the Colonia ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cannibalism
Cannibalism is the act of consuming another individual of the same species as food. Cannibalism is a common ecological interaction in the animal kingdom and has been recorded in more than 1,500 species. Human cannibalism is well documented, both in ancient and in recent times. The rate of cannibalism increases in nutritionally poor environments as individuals turn to members of their own species as an additional food source.Elgar, M.A. & Crespi, B.J. (1992) ''Cannibalism: ecology and evolution among diverse taxa'', Oxford University Press, Oxford ngland New York. Cannibalism regulates population numbers, whereby resources such as food, shelter and territory become more readily available with the decrease of potential competition. Although it may benefit the individual, it has been shown that the presence of cannibalism decreases the expected survival rate of the whole population and increases the risk of consuming a relative. Other negative effects may include the increased r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Attempted Murder
Attempted murder is a crime of attempt in various jurisdictions. Canada Section 239 of the ''Criminal Code'' makes attempted murder punishable by a maximum of life imprisonment. If a gun is used, the minimum sentence is four, five or seven years, dependent on prior convictions and relation to organized crime. United Kingdom England and Wales In English criminal law, attempted murder is the crime of simultaneously preparing to commit an unlawful killing and having a specific intention to cause the death of a human being under the Queen's Peace. The phrase "more than merely preparatory" is specified by the Criminal Attempts Act 1981 to denote the fact that preparation for a crime by itself does not constitute an "attempted crime". In England and Wales, as an "attempt", attempted murder is an offence under section 1(1) of the Criminal Attempts Act 1981 and is an indictable offence which carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment (the same as the mandatory sentence for murde ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
