New Zealand Mythology

Admittedly, as a UK migrant to New Zealand possessed by myths and fantasies, I sometimes do.

I' m longing for the magic of Europe to be woven into the wonderful New Zealand countryside, from the lovely people of the woods to the pond beasts. The" Lord of the Rings" movies by Peter Jackson helped to satisfy this wish, but they are no replacement for a wealthy folk music that has been handed down and stitched for millennia.

There is a wealth of folk music in New Zealand that may not have been handed down for tens of millions, but at least hundred of years. Folk music contains many magic beings, not only the Tanivha that everyone knows. It' got ghosts and devils, ovens and savage men. Here I have put together a shortlist of New Zealand magic critters.

I would like to believe that Alexander Bathgate would have done so in any case, and maybe one of these days I will be writing a fiction myself, which will be influenced by New Zealand music. It resembles a bit the dragon, although it has the capacity to transform into real beings like a whale or items like pieces of timber.

Sometimes acting as guards, they are also known for abducting people by carrying them into their caves to either banquet or violate them. It was the first time I learned about the Tanihwa when my home was on a New Zealand motorhome rental with Rotorua. More frightening is that they once lived as true New Zealand creatures: The now dead Haast Adler was certainly big enough to chase the now dead Mara, so it's not irrational to think they might have fallen on people.

While some believe Mania are a monster, they are actually couriers, twins for mortals and ghosts. In fact, many have considered them completely innate and some Maori even claimed to be part of the Maeros family. They are the fairies living among the wood. Frequently these fairies have the shape of bugs or aviaries.

Porotais are semi fleshy, semi-stone organisms. There are two faces, but little is known about them because they are not visible to people. Kahui-Tipua were a group of Ogrens, the first residents of the South Island of New Zealand. Kahui-Tipua did not last long after the people arrived in New Zealand.

Gnomes are peculiar, human-like beings sitting on the twigs of a tree like bird. Tura, the mythical man-expenturer, tried to bring the Nuku-mai-tore the value of home-style food and birth. Patupairarehe are New Zealand's Fair Folk, which inhabit woods and hills. Faint-skinned, with faint-eyed and reddish haired heads, their build is similar to that of man, although there have been reports of very large and very small fairy phylx.

Because of their faded face and foggy appearance, they are vulnerable to the sun, so you can only see them at nights or on foggy outcrops. Packpakeha are small humans; faeries as fairy skinny as the pathupaiarehe. Its name, packagepakeha, and its pallor-like character is the reason why New Zealand's whites, with their pallid skins, became known as parka.

A number of folks believe that the ancient tales of Patupai marriage are proof that New Zealand was initially populated by whites - "Celtic" Europeans - who were assembled and/or wiped out upon the arrival of the Maori. In the daytime they are lurking under the sea, because like the pathupaiarehe they have a pallid complexion and are afraid of both sun light and fire.