M46E. The Sun is a Toy. .31.40.-.42.
The child is promised (and given) the sun (and/or the moon) as a toy.
Swedish, Norwegian, Kodiak, Aleut, Central Yupik, Northern Alaskan Inupiat, Mackenzie Mouth, Koyukon, Ingalik, Tanaina, Tanana, Han, Upper Tanana, Southern Tutchone, Tagish, Interior Tlingit, Kuchin, Tahltan, Eyak, Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, Heiltsuk, Uvikino, Kwakiutl, Nootka.
Baltoscandia. Swedes [legend about the church in Lund, published 1868; the giant Jӕtten Finn promises St. Lawrence to build a church; when the church is ready, he demands that his name be guessed, otherwise he must give him the sun and moon or both eyes; before the time comes, St. Lawrence hears the mother say to the child: if you are smart, your father Jӕtten Finn will soon return and bring the sun and moon or the eyes of St. Lawrence]: Cosquin 1886: 271; Norwegians (southern Norway, Seljord) [a troll promised to build a church within a certain time, but if St. Olaf cannot guess his name, he will take the sun, the moon, and Olaf's head; on the last day, when the troll had to put up the spire and the weather vane, Olaf heard a voice from the mountain: Sleep, little one; Skaane will soon bring Olaf's head, the sun and the moon for you to play with; when Olaf called the troll by name, it fell from the church and was killed, and St. Olaf's Church stands to this day]: Christiansen 1964, no. 2a: 6; Norwegians (Trondheim) [St. Olaf built the local cathedral, but could not top it with a spire; the troll promised to do so if Olaf could guess his name, otherwise he would take the sun; Olaf heard a woman cradling a baby, promising that soon his father Tvester would bring him "heavenly gold"; on hearing his name, the troll fell from the cathedral and was killed]: Christiansen 1964, no. 2b: 7.
Arctic. Kodiak [chief's daughter promised to whoever gets light; Raven turns into fluff, swims in spring, light owner's daughter swallows fluff with water, becomes pregnant; her son asks for three boxes to play with; finds night in first, moon and stars in second, sun in third; flies away taking last two; releases moon and stars first, then sun; gets both chief's daughters]: Golder 1903, no. 6: 85-87; Aleuts ["It is remarkable that this tale about the raven receiving light through birth from a girl was also known to the Lisyev Aleuts in almost the same form, including the name Elya, instead of which the raven-bird plays a role. This toen, the keeper of the luminaries, lived somewhere on high"]: Veniaminov 1840(III): 47 (cited in Lyapunova 1984: 26-27); Central Yupik : Krenov 1951 (Kuskokwim) [the hunters did not give the old woman meat, she hid the light; they began to beat her and killed her; they sent Raven to look for the light; the Milky Way is his trail; he turned into a splinter, fell into a bucket of water; the daughter of the owner of the light brought the bucket home, the splinter turned into a boy, he was adopted; he wants a ball with light to play with; having become a Raven, he carries it away; opens the house, the world is light again]: 193-195; Nelson 1899 (St. Michael Bay, Unaligmiut) [the people become too many; the Raven-creator hides the sun in a bag, opens it only briefly; his older brother turns into a leaf (needle?); the Raven's wife goes for water, drinks, swallows the leaf, gives birth to a boy; he asks for the bag with the sun to play with; takes it away, opens it; makes the Morning Star from a bunch of burning grass; his descendants gradually become ordinary ravens]: 460-462; Inupiatnorthern Alaska: Gubser 1965 [an umialik (rich man) owns two balls, one with a bright light and one with a dim light; the others live in darkness; the umialik's daughter refuses to marry; a raven turns into an eagle feather, falls into a lake, the girl goes for water, drinks, swallows the feather, soon gives birth to a boy with a bump on his forehead; he grows quickly, wants to play with the light, the grandfather gets tired of his crying, he allows it, although the bump resembles a raven's beak; the raven takes the light away, breaks it, it becomes light; the woman cries, says that let the day be divided into dark and light parts; the dim light at first remained with the umialik, but then he breaks it out of grief]: 35-39; Hall 1975, #EH6 (Noatak) [it is always dark; the rich man has two balls; Squirrel digs a hole near a well where a rich man's daughter gets water; Raven hides there, drops dirt (probably his own excrement) into the well; the girl drinks the water, swallows the dirt, gives birth to a boy with a tail; he asks for balls to play with; at first gets only the small one; when he gets the large one, he pushes it out of the house; Squirrel and the boy run away, tossing the ball back and forth, the owner cannot take it away; he shouts to Raven that his people should take half; if Raven had taken the small ball, the days would be short, but now they are long]: 83-85; Lucier 1958, #3 [the world is dark; Raven becomes a child, demands a ball to play with; carries it out of the house, breaks it, sunlight bursts out; the father says that this is how the light will be forever]: 92; the mouth of the Mackenzie [a man and a woman hold light in two bladders; The Fox and the Raven come to kidnap him; the woman goes out to urinate, the Raven orders a willow branch to penetrate her vagina; the woman becomes pregnant, gives birth to a boy; he demands the balls for a game; pushes the smaller one out, the Fox carries it away; the child turns into a Raven, flies after him; escaping from pursuit, the Fox and the Raven tear the ball, light floods the earth; if they had carried off the larger bubble, there would be no night]: Ostermann 1942: 70-73.
Subarctic. Koyukon : Attla 1983 [the sun has disappeared; people have tied a rope to the Bear so that when he looks for berries, they too will find them; the Bear thinks that there is nothing to worry about, let it be dark; people ask the Raven to help, give him as much food as he wants; the Raven flies away; turns dust and grass into good clothes and shoes; the owner of the sun suspects that it is the Raven, but others say that it is a rich handsome man; his daughter has fallen in love with the Raven, he has started living in their house; he has noticed a dog, asked to hang it; people notice that someone with a three-toed paw has pecked at the corpse; everyone must show their bare feet; the Raven orders that a veil be covered their eyes, those gathered do not notice that he has three toes on each foot; sent his wife for water, threw a fir needle into the water, the woman drank, swallowed; gave birth to a boy; in the same place, where it remained dark, the Foxes sang, Let there be light ; rattles are tied to the sun and the moon in the house, so that no one can secretly touch them; the boy cries, asks for the sun to play with, grandfather gives it; the Raven wants the dog to catch the salmon; everyone rushed into the yard after the dog, but the Raven returned to the house, grabbed, released the sun, it became light; kicked the child, he turned into a pile of fir needles; grabbed the moon, began to tear off pieces, giving each one the name of one of the months of the year; December became Nameless; the Raven returned back, everyone is glad of the light]: 89-105; De Laguna 1996, no. 23 [Raven makes himself a rich outfit of pine cones and berries, marries the daughter of the chieftain who owns the Sun and the Moon; the baby boy asks for the sun and the moon to play with; Raven's outfit begins to transform into what it came from; Raven flies away, taking the sun, moon, and stars; the wind places them in the sky], 25 [Raven makes the sun and the moon, the chieftain steals them; Raven comes to him disguised as a rich man; throws a fir needle into the water, the chieftain's daughter swallows it, gives birth to a boy; Raven takes her as his wife; the boy asks for the sun and the moon to play with; Raven cries out that a dog is robbing a barn with frozen fish; everyone runs there, he turns the boy into a fir branch, carries off the sun and the moon; then he makes the stars], 26 [as in (23); Old Raven gets the sun; cuts off a piece, makes a moon out of it]: 197-198, 201-209, 210-214; Jette 1908-1909 [people promise Raven two dogs to eat if he finds the missing sun; he flies, sees a beautiful girl coming to drink; turns into a fir needle; the girl swallows him with water, gives birth to a boy; he asks for the sun hanging in the house for a game; brings it back to the people]: 304-305; Ingalik [a rich man's daughter rejects suitors; it is light in her father's village; Raven comes, turns into a fir needle, the girl swallows it with water, becomes pregnant, gives birth to a boy; he keeps crying until he gets the shining thing; flies away with her, bringing light to people]: Chapman 1914, No. 5: 22-26; tanaina[the rich man hides the sun and the moon; the Raven drops its feather into the spring or turns into a fish; the rich man's daughter drinks, swallows the feather or fish; gives birth to a boy; he asks for the sun and the moon to play with; turns into a raven, carries them away; the people are grateful to him]: Osgood 1937 [the Raven drops a fir needle, the rich man's daughter swallows it with water; the child receives the sun and the moon to play with; becoming a Raven again, flies out through a crack in the corner of the house]: 183-184; Vaudrin 1969 [drops a feather]: 43-44; tanaina [the rich man took the sun, it became dark; the people began to ask the Raven for help; when the rich man's daughter went to fetch water, he turned into a fingerling, quietly appeared in the bucket, the girl began to drink, swallowed the fingerling, became pregnant; gave birth to a boy, his grandfather fell in love with him; he began to cry, wanted to play with the sun; the rich man gave permission; the raven grabbed the sun, flew out through the smoke hole, released the sun]: Wassilie sa: 28-29 (=Smelcer 1992: 111, but the raven gets the sun and the moon, not just the sun); atna [the chieftain keeps the stars, the moon, and the sun in three carved boxes; his daughter comes to the spring; the raven turns into a speck of dust, the girl swallows it with water; gives birth to a son; the boy asks for and receives the stars and the moon to play with; throws them out through the chimney; receives the box with the sun; turns into a raven, carries it away; the people do not believe that light exists; the raven opens the box; the people scatter in fear throughout the world]: Smelcer 1997: 19-21; khan (Eagle) [The bear took the sun from the sky, hung it around his neck under his clothes; the raven marries his daughter; they have a son; Raven tells him to ask for the sun for a game; the boy throws the sun out of a hole in the roof, Raven flies away after him]: Schmitter 1910: 26 (=1985: 38-39); Upper Tanana : Brean 1975 [a rich chief stole the sun and the moon; Raven turns into a piece of moss, the chief's daughter swallows it after scooping up some water; gives birth to a boy; he asks for and receives the moon and the sun for a game; throws them out of a hole in the roof, flies away]: 37-41; McKennan 1959 [an old man is in possession of the sun and the moon; Raven turns into a fir needle, falls into a spring; the old man's daughter swallows it with the water; gives birth to a boy; he asks for the sun and the moon for a game; turns into Raven, carries off the luminaries; smears them with resin, sticks them to the vault of heaven; traces their path across the sky with a pole]: 190-191; Smelcer 1992 [as in Tanaina; turns into a piece of moss]: 111; Southern Tutchone: McClelland 2007(1), #1b [the world is dark, a rich man owns daylight, the sun, and the moon; he has a daughter; her maid goes to fetch water; Raven turns into a speck of dirt, tells the maid to keep quiet about it, the owner of the luminaries' daughter swallows the dirt along with the water; becomes pregnant, gives birth to a boy three weeks later; he asks for a box with daylight to play with, then the sun, then the moon; each time he releases him into the world; then turns into a raven, flies away]: 18-22; Workman 2000 [(informant remembered fragments); Raven created the world; the rich man's daughter was collecting water; Raven caused rubbish to fall into the ladle; after drinking the water, the girl swallowed it, gave birth to a son, Raven; something about the stolen sun]: 81; Tagish , Interior Tlingit [Raven turns into a pine needle, falls into the cup of the chief's daughter; she spits out the needle, but it ends up in her mouth again, is swallowed; she gives birth to a boy; her father gives him the sun, moon, and stars to play with; Raven puts them in a box, carries them away; the animal-people do not give him fish; he opens the box, it becomes light; the animal-people turn into animals]: Cruickshank 1992: 42-43; Kuchin : McGary 1984 [Bear lives upriver, hides the sun, hangs it in his house behind his bed; Raven swims there, enters the house; Bear's daughter goes out to the river, scoops up water to drink, something black keeps falling into the ladle, she swallows it, immediately feels that she is pregnant; The raven swims away, the Bear's daughter gives birth to a boy that same night; he grew up, began to go outside on his own, one day he began to cry, asking for a bright ball; his grandfather gave it to him, told him not to take it far; the boy threw the ball into the sky, the sun shone; the Bear rushed at the boy, he flew away like a raven down the river, sat down on a fir tree]: 275-285; McKennan 1965 [The Bear holds the sun in a sack above his bed; the Bear's daughter comes to get water; The raven turns into a speck of dust, falls into her bucket, she swallows it with the water, gives birth to a boy; he demands the sun for a game; rolls it out the door, places it back in the sky]: 90-91; taltan [the chief holds a light in a box; The raven turns into a cedar needle, falls into the water; a servant brings water to the chief's daughter to drink; she gives birth to a son; he asks for the game first the sun, then the Big Dipper, then daylight; flies out through the chimney, holding the sun and the light in one hand, the moon and the Big Dipper in the other; throws the light to the north, the sun to the east, the moon to the west, the Big Dipper to the south]: Teit 1919, No. 1.5: 204-205; tagish[A raven goes to get the sun, the moon, and daylight; on the island lives their owner with his daughter; the raven turns into a fir needle, falls into a cup from which a girl drinks; she becomes pregnant, gives birth to a boy, who cries and is given the moon to play with, throws it away; then receives and carries off the bag with the sun; steals fat from people in the dark, throws dog shit back to them; opens the bag with the sun; with the appearance of light, the animal people turn into animals, each one tells what he will be]: McClelland 1987: 254-257 (=2007, no. 73c: 361-362).
NW Coast. Eyak [rich family keeps sun, moon, stars; Raven turns into fir needle, falls into vessel of water from which girl drinks; flies out through chimney carrying off stars]: Birket-Smith, Laguna 1938: 251 [people fish; Raven cannot fish in darkness; releases stars from box; it becomes eternally light], 259-260 [fishermen give Raven no fish; he gets stars; they give him all their catch in exchange for light]; Tlingit [rich man/chief in upper Ness River area owns lights; Raven turns into dust; rich man's daughter swallows it with water; her father gives his grandson first bag of stars, then bag of moon; he throws stars through chimney into sky; receiving a box with daylight, turns into a Raven, carries away the light]: Golder 1907c: 292-293; De Laguna 1972: 852-856 [Raven turns first into a feather, then into a fir needle], 860-862 [first into a beetle, then into a hemlock needle]; Smelcer 1992 [into a hemlock needle]: 31-32; Swanton 1909 [into a hemlock needle], no. 1, 31: 3-4, 81-82, p.374 [the world was dark; one man knew that the Raven of the Headwaters of the River Ness had light, came to his daughter; was born began to ask his grandfather for light, brought it to the people]; Haida : Barbeau 1961 [two-mouthed monster - chief's slave; brings much spoil, eats most of it himself; chief's son dies; people mourn, he is resurrected; monster tells him to eat his own skin scale; now the youth is always hungry; his father is ashamed, allows him to go get light, gives him a raven's skin to wear; youth flies to heaven through a narrow passage whose walls sometimes come together, sometimes apart; fir needle]: 83-85; Swanton 1905 (Skydegate) [as in Barbeau; some kind of needle; steals the moon; where the chief lives is unclear; breaks the moon before throwing it into the sky (phases of the moon)]: 116-118; Haida (Masset): Swanton 1908a: 308-311 [Raven comes to a lonely woman who owned the moon; dies and she becomes pregnant (no details); Raven comes out of her thigh; cries, asks the moon to play; closing all the holes in the house, the woman gives the moon; when she widens the smoke hole, Raven changes into a raven, flies out with the moon under his wing; Raven asks the fishermen for fir needles, meaning the candlefish; promises to make light, they do not believe him; he shows the moon, they give him the fish; he breaks the moon in half, making the sun and the moon; the fragments turn into stars]; Tsimshian[as in Haida: flies through a narrow passage]: Barbeau 1961 [(three versions); fir needle]: 75-82; Barbeau, Beynon 1987 [the world is dark (gloomy), no sun; the chief entered and saw his wife with her lover; he thought it was his nephew; he told his wife that he knew everything; she was shocked and soon died; the coffin was hung on a pole; the chief is surprised that his nephew shows no signs of grief; he orders them to watch; the people see a woodpecker flying to the coffin every evening and flying away in the morning; they hear laughter from the coffin; the chief came to see for himself, but corpse worms rained down on him; the woman gave birth in the coffin, the baby crawled out; when the coffin was opened, there was a decomposed corpse in it; the chief ordered one of the sisters to take care of the baby as if it were his son; She has a son of her own, the same age; they grow up like brothers; the chief's son gets two ducks, skins them; putting them on, the young men learn to turn into ducks, to fly; they fly to the chief, who has daylight; they have to fly between two mountains, which sometimes come together, sometimes move apart; the brothers agree that whoever flies through will get two of the chief's daughters as a wife; they fly through and land on the lake in front of the chief's house; each of his daughters takes one of the ducks, which turn into men at night; both give birth to a son; the elder has Txamsen ("Clever"), the younger has Lugabula ("Lazy"); at this time the houses of the missing young men mourn their loss; two babies are seen on the seaweed in the sea; the chief: these are the missing ones returned; they grow up, one of them takes the form of a raven to steal the sun from the chief of the sky; flew to where the chief's daughter was getting water, turned into a pine needle, she swallowed it with the water; it was the same Txamsen; the baby cries, wants a ball with light to play with; one day rolled the ball out of the house, became a grown man, then put on a raven skin and carried the ball away; saw spirit people fishing by torchlight; they refused to share the fish, T. tore the ball apart, daylight spread over the world, the sun appeared, the spirits disappeared]: 1-5; Boas 1902 [cedar needle]: 10-16, 21-23; Garfield, Forest 1961 (Ness River) [chief Raven of the Upper Ness River owns the sun, moon and stars; Raven asks fishermen for fish, they mock him, promise to give fish in exchange for daylight; A raven goes to the chief's daughter, turns into a piece of trash, is thrown out with the water; then into a hemlock needle, the girl swallows it; gives birth to a boy; the girl's mother suspects that the baby has feathers under his skin; the grown boy asks for the moon to play with, throws it up to the sky, pretends that it was an accident; receives a box with the sun, gets stuck in a chimney, gathers all his strength, flies out; the fishermen continue to laugh at him; he opens the box, the fishermen turn into all those animals whose skins they wore]: 78-79; heiltsuk[The Raven successively turns into a fish, a pine needle, a berry; the chief's wife throws out this garbage each time; finally, into a drop of fat, the woman swallows it with water; a newborn boy asks for a box with the sun to play with; he takes it away; several groups of fishermen refuse to share their catch with the Raven (they catch candlefish); he opens the box, the people turn into frogs and waterfowl]: Boas 1916, no. 1: 883; uvikino [(told by a young woman); Our Father sent the First Chief to earth; he taught how to weave nets to catch salmon; only the moon shone in the sky; Raven ("the true chief", "the great inventor") knew that only Menis ("one in the world") owns the sun; became a pine needle, fell into the vessel of the eldest daughter M.; she drank the water without swallowing the needle; then Raven became berries, she noticed their reflection, ate them, gave birth to a boy; he immediately spoke; cried, asked his grandfather to make a weir to catch salmon for him; he did so, but the grandson soon cried again; the same - bow and arrows; oar; boat; box hanging under the roof; mother does not give it, grandfather does; grandson succeeds in being allowed to take the box away in the boat; the first time he returns, the second time he opens the box, sunlight floods the world]: Boas 1916, no. XX.1.1: 208 (=2002: 443-445); Kwakiutl (tlatlasikwala neweti) [the world is dark, Omeatl (raven) turns into a piece of wood; the owner of the sun sends his daughter to fetch it; taking it, she becomes pregnant; the newborn boy asks for the box with the sun to play with, takes it with him in the boat; cuts the rope, swims away, opens the box; first the eternal day; the former owner of the sun also makes the night]: 377-379: Boas 2002, no. XVIII.1 (=1895: 173-174); Nootka : Boas 1916, no. 1 [the chief of another village keeps the sun in a box; Raven turns into a hemlock needle; weeping, he receives first the boat that moves faster than all, then an oar, then the box with the sun; he opens it only after the wise Wren promises that everyone will give him a fish and an oyster of each kind after each catch]: 888-892.