In the
Melanesian mythology
Melanesian mythology refers to the folklore, Myth, myths, and religions of Melanesia, a region in Southwest Oceania that encompasses the archipelagos of New Guinea (including Western New Guinea, Indonesian New Guinea and Papua New Guinea), the ...
of
Malekula Island
Malakula Island, also spelled Malekula, is the second-largest island in the nation of Vanuatu, formerly the New Hebrides, in Melanesia, a region of the Pacific Ocean.
Location
Malakula is separated from the islands of Espiritu Santo and Malo Isla ...
,
Vanuatu
Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (french: link=no, République de Vanuatu; bi, Ripablik blong Vanuatu), is an island country located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is east of no ...
, Ambat is a
culture hero
A culture hero is a mythological hero specific to some group ( cultural, ethnic, religious, etc.) who changes the world through invention or discovery. Although many culture heroes help with the creation of the world, most culture heroes are imp ...
recorded by A.B. Deacon. In the myth, Temes Malau has an
ogress
An ogre (feminine: ogress) is a legendary monster depicted as a large, hideous, man-like being that eats ordinary human beings, especially infants and children. Ogres frequently feature in mythology, folklore, and fiction throughout the world ...
wife
Nevinbumbaau Nevinbimbaau (or Nevinbumbaau)According to the Eranos-jahrbuch, p 251, Bevinbumbaau means 'the crab woman' (''ne'' 'the' ''vin'' 'woman', ''bumba-au'' 'crab') is a goddess in the Melanesian mythology of Malekula Island, Vanuatu. Some descriptions c ...
and had a son Mansip. Nevinbumbaau trapped Ambat's older brothers one after another in a ditch, where they stayed until Ambat came to free them. The same brothers later tried to kill Ambat because they envied him his beautiful wife Lindanda, who learned of her husband's death when she saw blood on the comb he had left her. She escaped from the brothers, who thought they had won (Bonnefoy 1993:96, 99, 103).
See also
*
Nevinbimbaau Nevinbimbaau (or Nevinbumbaau)According to the Eranos-jahrbuch, p 251, Bevinbumbaau means 'the crab woman' (''ne'' 'the' ''vin'' 'woman', ''bumba-au'' 'crab') is a goddess in the Melanesian mythology of Malekula Island, Vanuatu. Some descriptions c ...
References
*Bonnefoy, Yves, (ed). ''American, African, and Old European Mythologies'' Translated under the direction of Wendy Doniger. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 1993.
Vanuatu mythology
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