Kingfisher
Andamanese · demigod · time of the ancestors (animal people era) · Recorded classification
Animal-ancestor culture-hero (a fire-bringer of the 'animal-people' generation, addressed with the honorific 'Maia,' Sir). Classed as demigod under the schema's instruction to map culture-heroes to deity/demigod; given demigod for an ancestor-tier transformer hero rather than a cosmic creator. The fire-theft underlies the Andamanese 'cooked world.' Names are Latin transcriptions.
Domains
- origin of fire
- culture hero trickery
Powers
- steal fire from the creator and bring it to the ancestors
- Steals fire from the sleeping creator and brings it to the ancestors
Relations
- enemy: BilikuThe kingfisher stole fire from the sleeping Biliku, who hurled her pearl-shell lightning after the thief.A. R. Radcliffe-Brown, The Andaman Islanders (1922) (secondary)
Sources
- A common North Andaman statement is that fire was stolen from Biliku by Maia Lirčitmo (Sir Kingfisher); in a parallel version the bronze-winged dove (Mite) is the thief.: A. R. Radcliffe-Brown, The Andaman Islanders, Cambridge University Press, 1922 (ethnography)