Tū
Tahitian · deity · mythic · Recorded classification
Tū is the Society-Islands reflex of the Polynesian war-and-craft god (Maori Tūmatauenga, Hawaiian Kū). In Henry's cosmogony he is the great artificer who works beside Ta'aroa in fashioning the world; Ellis lists him among the four great gods as the old god of war. On Tahiti his war-cult was in time overshadowed by that of 'Oro. Authored as a son/handiwork of Ta'aroa and brother of Tāne, Ro'o and 'Oro.
Parentage
- shaper progenitor: Ta'aroa
Domains
- war
- craftsmen and artisans
Powers
- Work as the great artificer in the making of the world
- Grant prowess and victory in war
Relations
- child: Ta'aroaReciprocal of tahitian_taaroa.parent — Tū is shaped/begotten by Ta'aroa.Teuira Henry, Ancient Tahiti (1928): Tū among the great gods shaped at Ta'aroa's creation (primary)
- sibling: TāneReciprocal of tahitian_tane.sibling — fellow great-god of the one creation.Teuira Henry, Ancient Tahiti (1928): Tāne, Tū and Ro'o among the great gods shaped together at Ta'aroa's creation (primary)
- sibling: Ro'oReciprocal of tahitian_roo.sibling — fellow great-god of the one creation.Teuira Henry, Ancient Tahiti (1928): Tāne, Tū and Ro'o among the great gods shaped together at Ta'aroa's creation (primary)
- sibling: 'OroReciprocal of tahitian_oro.sibling — half-brother as a son of Ta'aroa. The war-god office passes from the elder Tū to 'Oro on Tahiti.Teuira Henry, Ancient Tahiti (1928): 'Oro reckoned among the sons of Ta'aroa with the elder great gods (primary)