Kū

One of the four great Hawaiian gods; god of war and patron of chiefs.

Domains

• war
• politics rule

Powers

• Grant strength and victory in battle

Epithets

• Kū-kāʻili-moku hawaiian · cultKū the Snatcher (Seizer) of Land — the war god of the Kamehameha lineMartha Beckwith, Hawaiian Mythology (1940), ch. 1 'The Coming of the Gods' (secondary)
• Kū-ka-ʻōhiʻa-laka hawaiian · cultKū of the ʻōhiʻa-lehua forest; patron of canoe-buildersMartha Beckwith, Hawaiian Mythology (1940), ch. 1; cf. E. S. C. Handy, Polynesian Religion (1927) (secondary)
• Kū-huluhulu-manu hawaiian · cultKū of the bird-feathers; god of bird-catchers and feather-workMartha Beckwith, Hawaiian Mythology (1940), ch. 1 'The Coming of the Gods' (secondary)

Relations

• equated with: TūmatauengaReciprocal of polynesian_tumatauenga.equated-with — Cognate war-god (PPn *Tuu): Maori Tu(-matauenga) = Hawaiian Ku. War domain and human/chiefly patronage preserved; the Maori epithet -matauenga and Hawaiian state-cult form Kuka'ilimoku are independent local elaborations.Edward Tregear, The Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary (1891), s.v. 'Tu' (secondary); Martha Beckwith, Hawaiian Mythology (1940), ch. 1 'Ku gods' (secondary)

Sources

• existence: Beckwith, Hawaiian Mythology (1940) (primary)