The legend of the Mother of the Sea

Mural painting by Aka Høegh

“The Mother of the Sea was bothered by the Inuits’ evil deeds at the settlement and as a punishment gathered all the animals the Inuits used to hunt in her fiery hair at the bottom of the sea. When “The Blind One” came down to remedy the situation, he combed her hair, gathered the dirt in a heap and then threw it away. At the same moment everything came alive, and there were bear, fox, hooded seal, bearded seal, ringed seal, harp seal, common seal, walrus, narwhal and all manner of birds.”

This is a passage from the legend of the Mother of the Sea, probably the most famous of all the Greenlandic myths and legends. The legend’s universe is colourful and fantastic, and the overall moral of the tale is that people must not be greedy and that they must observe society’s customs and the word of the shaman.

The famous Greenlandic artist, Aka Høegh, has used the legend of the Mother of the Sea to produce beautiful decorations and illustrations in books and in visual art. She has also used it as inspiration when decorating ships and not least in the large murals at the college in her home town of Qaqortoq.
 

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