ANALYSING THE MOTIF OF “DWARF PEOPLE” IN POLYNESIAN MYTHOLOGIES. MYTHICAL BUILDERS – Part II

Abstract

Mythical BuildersAccording to numerous Polynesian myths, the Menehune were great builders, especially when it came to working with wood and stone.They were very skilled in processing stones which they transported over great distances.Myths recorded on the Hawaiian Islands attribute to them many heiaushrines, lokoi'aponds, roads and waterways.All these myths have an interesting common motif of the Menehune always finishing their work in just a single night.Thomas G. Thrum, in his article "Stories of the Menehunes.Hawaii the Original Home of the Brownies" also presents a message of the informant Moke Manu who mentioned that it was their rule that any work undertaken must be completed in one night.Otherwise, it would be left unfinished, as they did not labour twice on the same job; hence the origin of the saying: "He po hookahi, a ao ua pau", in one night, and by dawn, it is finished.1 Another commonly found motif in these myths is the willingness of the Menehune to help people.This was mainly expressed through the Menehune  This article contains many words and phrases from Polynesian languages, such as Maori and Hawaiian, which retain their original orthography, including apostrophes and dashes, from their respective language.However, when citing English language publications, the orthography of these words is given as it appears in the source cited.This study is published as part of the VEGA 2/0028/18 and 2/0053/20 grant project. 1