The Hawaiian romance of Laieikawai

Author:

Haleole, S. N., Beckwith, Martha Warren

Title:

The Hawaiian romance of Laieikawai

Year:

1918

Subject:

Hawaiian folklore Hawaiian language texts Hawaii social life and customs

Summary:

The Laieikawai is a Hawaiian romance which recounts the wooing of a native chiefess of high rank and her final deification among the gods. The story was handed down orally from ancient times in the form of a Kaao, a narrative rehearsed in prose interspersed with song, in which form old tales are still recited by Hawaiian story-tellers. It was put into writing by a native Hawaiian, Haleole by name, who hoped to awaken in his countrymen an interest in genuine native story-telling based upon the folklore of their race and preserving its ancient customs and by this means to inspire in them the old ideals of racial glory.

URL:

http://books.google.com/books?id=dNVXAAAAMAAJ

Collection:

Monographs