Flesh
Ho Chunk · demigod · soteriological spirits · Recorded classification
Flesh (Warora) is one of the two heroes of the Ho-Chunk Twin Cycle, representing the body in a pairing where his twin brother represents the soul or ghost. The twins were born when their pregnant mother was killed and her womb opened by an old man; one boy was hidden in a hollow stump and the other left in the lodge, and after their father reunited them they became famous monster-slayers, ranging the world to destroy serpents, leeches, thunderbirds, and ogres — though at times they killed creatures they ought to have spared. Radin treated their story as one of the central Winnebago hero cycles.
Domains
- monster slaying
Relations
- twin sibling: StumpFlesh (the body) and Stump / Little Ghost (the soul) are twin brothers, conceived as body and soul paired together.Radin, The Winnebago Myth of the Twins; Dieterle, Encyclopedia of Hočąk Mythology, 'The Twins Cycle' (secondary)
Sources
- existence: Paul Radin, The Winnebago Myth of the Twins: A Comparative Study (secondary); Richard L. Dieterle, Encyclopedia of Hočąk Mythology, 'The Twins Cycle' (secondary)