Tangaroa

English

Sculpture of Tangaroa on Rarotonga, Cook Islands

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Proper noun

Tangaroa

1. (Polynesian mythology) The god of the sea in Polynesian mythology, variously either the supreme deity or of status equal to Tane, and sometimes (e.g. in Samoan and Tongan traditions) revered as the creator god.
   • 1995 [1928], Johannes Carl Andersen, Myths and Legends of the Polynesians, Dover Publications, page 378,

     Among the very many varieties of banana and plantain only the plantain belonged to Tangaroa on account of its redness and the uprightness of its fruit. Bananas of all kinds belonged to Rongo. The very name of the plantain, uatu, the upright fruit, testified to the dignity of the eldest of the gods. The plantain, being the kokira, or head of the great meika family, including the banana and plantain, does not bend its head, just as Tangaroa is the kokira or first in the family of the gods.

   • 2021, David Seal, Sharon K. Smith, World Mythology, Wipf and Stock, unnumbered page,

     Tangaroa is an important god to the Polynesians, appearing under several similar names. While many of the gods and goddesses in Polynesian literature are interrelated in families, Tangaroa is an independent deity. Tangaroa is a creator god and sometimes seen as the supreme being. In some stories, Tangaroa sends a bird over the water and throws a rock to form an island.³²⁸ The bird lands and creates the first people.

   • 2021, J. G. Cheock, Austronesian Myth or History?, J. G. Cheock, page 9,

     Myths from Austronesian Oceania tell of Tangaroa - God of the Oceans, progenitor of life, and guardian of boats. It was he who sent out the bird named Tuli over the waters, only to return with the report that there was no land. So Tangaroa threw down stones to make the islands. Tangaroa is one of the oldest Polynesian gods, "known as Tagaloalagi in Samoa, Takaroa in Hawai'i, Tanaoa in Marquesas, Ta'aroa in Tahiti, and Tangaroa in Rarotonga..."16

2. (Maori mythology) The god of the sea, lakes and rivers, and of the creatures, especially fish, that live in them.

See also

• Tagaloa
• Tangaloa

Maori

Proper noun

Tangaroa

1. Neptune (Roman god)
2. Neptune (planet)