Stump

Stump — also called Little Ghost (Wanaghi) — is the dominant of the two heroes of the Ho-Chunk Twin Cycle, representing the soul or ghost to his brother Flesh's body. He takes the name 'Stump' because, after their pregnant mother was killed and her womb opened, this boy was hidden in the hollow of a stump (and says that his grandmother is a stump), while his twin was kept in the lodge. Reunited by their father, the twins became renowned monster-slayers who killed serpents, leeches, thunderbirds, and ogres and grew so powerful that even their father feared them. Radin recorded and analyzed their cycle as one of the principal Winnebago hero narratives.

Domains

• monster slaying

Relations

• twin sibling: Flesh

Sources

• Paul Radin, The Winnebago Myth of the Twins: A Comparative Study
• Richard L. Dieterle, Encyclopedia of Hočąk Mythology, 'The Twins Cycle'