Slayer of Sido

Meuri is the fatal antagonist of the Kiwai first-death legend. When Sido's wife Sagaru fled from her husband, Meuri desired her and fought Sido for her, killing him and cutting off his head. In Landtman's recorded text Sido's spirit tells the beings it meets on its westward wandering, 'Méuri he kill me,' and is answered that, as the first man to die, Sido must make a good road for all people to follow. Meuri's deed thus stands at the origin of human mortality in Kiwai tradition.

Domains

• warfare

Powers

• to overpower rivals in single combat

Relations

• slayer of: First Man to DieMeuri fought Sido over Sagaru and killed him, cutting off his head; in Landtman's text Sido's wandering spirit announces, 'Méuri he kill me, my body I leave him along ground.' Sido thereby became the first man to die.Landtman, Gunnar. The Folk-Tales of the Kiwai Papuans (Acta Societatis Scientiarum Fennicae XLVII). Helsingfors, 1917. (secondary); Lawrence, David. Gunnar Landtman in Papua: 1910 to 1912. Canberra: ANU E Press, 2010. (secondary)
• consort of: Wife of the First Man to DieMeuri wanted Sagaru as his wife and took her after the fight; she later ran away from him.Lawrence, David. Gunnar Landtman in Papua: 1910 to 1912. Canberra: ANU E Press, 2010. (secondary)

Sources

• Meuri is the strong man of the Sido cycle who fought Sido over the woman Sagaru, killed him and cut off his head, making Sido the first man to die and setting the spirit-road to the land of the dead in motion.: Landtman, Gunnar. The Folk-Tales of the Kiwai Papuans (Acta Societatis Scientiarum Fennicae XLVII). Helsingfors: Printing Office of the Finnish Society of Literature, 1917. (secondary); Lawrence, David. Gunnar Landtman in Papua: 1910 to 1912. Canberra: ANU E Press, 2010. (secondary)