Oceania

Oceania spans over Australian, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Polynesia, Melanesia, and Micronesia. These places have good and bad dragons alike. Here, dragons are very complex and inter-mixed with one another. The most complex, perhaps, is the Rainbow Serpent.

• Agunua
• Aranda
• Eingana
• Hatuibwari
• Hotu-puku
• Kataore
• Peke-Haua
• Rainbow Serpent
  • Galeru
  • Great Father
  • Julunggul
  • Kalseru
  • Warramunga
• Walutahanga
• Footnotes

History: Aranda was said to inhabit rivers where the current was deep, thereby preventing the creature from disturbing the surface. When humans would come into these rivers alone, usually to fish, Aranda would grab them and swallow them whole for a snack.

Symbolism: Aranda seems to be a bogey, or a creature used to scare people from doing something. In this case, this serpent is suppose to scare fishermen from fishing alone.

Physical Description: Mostly, Aranda is described as an enormous serpent that dwells within the water.

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History: Many people going between Rotorua and Taupo began to disappear. Thinking that neighboring countries were the problem, a war band was set out. Instead of finding attackers, however, they encountered a dragon called Hotu-puku.

Hotu-puku became very agrivated and attacked the war band. Many warriors were killed and the rest of the band fleed so that they may tell the story.

A man named Pitaka then arrived and organized a dragon-hunting party. Using himself as bait, he managed to hang a noose around the tail of the dragon. This worked when Hotu-puku attack, was ensnared by the net, and eventually died of strangulation.

They made sure that this was the same dragon by cutting him opened. There they found the remains of the other victims, and they burried them. After this, they roasted and ate Hotu-puku.

Symbolism: I am unsure of the symbolic nature of Hotu-puku. The story's moral, however, was to not to assume. (Had they not assumed that their neighbors were involved with the missing people, they would not have lost their warriors.)

Physical Description: A huge lizard, one of the few famous Taniwha.

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History: After Pitaka killed the dragon Hotu-puku, he became very popular. He was called to Te Awan-hou so that he could slay another taniwha called Peke-Haua. Peke-Haua lived in a deep water hole called Te Waro-uri, and he was very hard to reach.

Since Peke-Haua was a water taniwha, Pitaka needed a different way to slay him. Thus, Pitaka and his men set vines as traps. Later, Pitaka himself swam into Te Waro-uri and tied a rope around the mighty dragon. With that, they hoised the dragon up with magic, and then they killed him.

Symbolism:Perhaps the moral is that one can not hide from justice.

Physical Description: Like other taniwha, this was a huge lizard-serpent.

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History: The Rainbow serpent was a god(dess) and was said to have horns and the body of a serpent. This creature was said to have helped shape the land, especially the water ways.

Sadly, the Rainbow Serpent would also eat people. Luckily for the people, however, the dragon would regirguitated them in rebirth. In addition, he or she flew, even without wings.

The gender of the creature was never clear, and there are many representations of this god(dess) creature. Other representations include:

Julunggul - goddess of Aborigines. Eternally pregnant, she vomits and produces Sisters of Dreamtime. While she is noted as female, she could trasform herself into a male or back into a female whensoever she pleased. As a symbol of manhood initition, she was obviously an important goddess. Other names include: Mumuna, Kalwadi, and Kungpipi.⁴

Galeru - swallowed the Djanggawul in order to demonstrate the "maintenance of life". She was a giant, rainbow serpent, too. (Found basically in Arnhemland beliefs.)⁵

Warramunga or Wollunqua - rainbow serpent, and was known to be the creator of life. Even though he was blind, he was a symbol of the spring. As he flew from waterhole to waterhole, a rainbow could be seen.⁶

Great Father (Yurlungur) - similar to Warramunga. He was also a symbol of changing a boy to a man and of fertility. Many believe that the "evil maiden-eating" dragon theme was derrived from him. After all, he swallowed to girls that wandered into his cave. Thunder was said to sound when his voice spoke. It was also said that he caused the great flood. He spit into the sky and caused great rain to fall. (Wawalik sisters were said to play a role in this as well.)⁷

Kalseru - she was the goddess of rain and fertility. She is found amoung religions in the Northwestern Austrialians.⁸

Symbolism: The different forms of serpents have different symbols. See above.

Physical Description: A huge serpent with horns and no wings...obviously, this dragon was rainbow colored.

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History: She is also called maker of All water, land, animals, and kangaroos. She was a huge reptilian creature revered as a goddess and giver of life. She also was a part of the dreamtime and came out to give birth on occation.

She also took on the role as the Death Goddess. She holds a sinew of life for each creature, and if she ever lets go, the life stops. And, it was said, that if she were to die, so would all things that existed.

Symbolism: Similar to Yin and Yang, she is a symbol of both life and death - both passive and active.

Physical Description: Unknown

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History: Kataore was one of the taniwha that lived within a cave. The cave was located near Rotorua, in the Tiki-tapu district, and Kataore was a pet to the local chief, Tangaroa-mihi. However, as Kataore grew, he became violent and began to eat travelors. Finally, he devoured Tuhikarapapa, a high-born young maiden who was going to marry Reretoi.

Reretoi called for people to help him slay the beast. He even called tohunga, men with magical powers, so that they may sap the dragon's power. With these people, he planed to kill Kataore, the green-eyed dragon.

Pitaka, now on his third encounter with dragons, came to help slay the dragon. He and his men grabbed a few fresh nouses and snuck into the dragon's cave. Since the dragon was week from the tohunga's magic, they easily slipped the nouses around the dragon's neck and raced out of the cave.

When the men left the cave, the others began to pull on the ropes which were now fixed around the dragon's neck. At first, Kataore began to writhe as they pulled him out of the cave. However, as the ropes began to get tighter, the dragon lost his strength.

With that, the men leaped upon Kataore and tore his flesh until he died. They cooked his heart, and they named that ridge Te Ahi-Manawa.

Symbolism: This story possibly says that one should not keep such dangerous pets as a dragon.

Physical Description: Kataore was said to be a huge serpent-lizard with four legs, greenstone eyes, and huge spines.

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History: For those who lived on the Solomon Islands, this was the primary creator of the world. He created fruit, vegetables, and the first male child. Seeing that the male child was unable to care for itself, he also created the first woman, who could care for man. He was shown as a winged serpent. It is said that the first cocunt from each cocunut tree was sacred to him.

Symbolism: He was seen as the Creator god.

Physical Description: He was said to be a winged serpent.

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History: In Melanesia, Hatuibwari is seen as the ancestor of the human race, and he nourished all that he created by using his four breasts. His upper body was said to be that of a human, and he had four eyes. However, his lower half was that of a huge serpent, and he had two huge wings to help him fly.

Symbolism: This is much like "mother earth", but in a male form.

Physical Description: He has the upper body of a human, four breasts, and four eyes. His lower body was that of a serpent and he had wings.

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History: An ordinary woman bore a snake as a child, and she quickly hid this child from her father in order to save her. Unfortunately, Walutahanga's father discovered her and cut her into eight pieces; however, after eight days of rain, her eight pieces joined together and she was again whole.

She began to journey, and soon she resorted to eating people, which resulted in her being cut into eight pieces again by the members of the village she was threatening. Afterwards, the people all cooked and ate her, save for one woman and her child who refused. The eight pieces of Walutahanga's bones were then cast into the sea. Again, after eight showers of rain, she became whole.

In retaliation, she summoned eight huge waves and sent them to crush the village, sparing only the two people who did not feast upon her flesh. For the two survivors, she made them foods, such as yams, and left. Although she was a creature that struck fear into some, she became a sort of gaurdian spirit.

Symbolism: Walutahanga can be symbolic of many things; perhaps she is a symbol of children lost due to being outcast by parents for some reason. She also represents vengeance and, in some lights, a guardian spirit.

Physical Description: Her description is simple: she was a large snake-like serpent.

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1. Giants, Monsters, & Dragons by Carol Rose
2. A History of Dragons
3. Mythological Dragon List
4. Giants, Monsters, & Dragons by Carol Rose
5. Giants, Monsters, & Dragons by Carol Rose
6. Giants, Monsters, & Dragons by Carol Rose
7. Giants, Monsters, & Dragons by Carol Rose
8. Giants, Monsters, & Dragons by Carol Rose
9. Entry for Eingana
10. Rotorua Legends
11. Giants, Monsters & Dragons by Carol Rose
12. Giants, Monsters & Dragons by Carol Rose
13. Oceanic Mythology by Poignant

For more information, see the Bibliography