Te Rā- Polynesian GodDeity"The Great Son of the Sun"
Also known as: Tamanuitērā and Tama-nui-te-rā
Titles & Epithets
Domains
Description
Te Rā once raced across the sky so quickly that people could not dry their cloth or tend their gardens before darkness fell. Māui snared him with ropes of braided flax, beat him with an enchanted jawbone, and forced the sun to travel slowly enough for human needs.
Mythology & Lore
Māui Slows the Sun
After the separation of Ranginui and Papatūānuku, Te Rā was set in the sky to light the new world. He crossed it fast. Too fast. No one could finish a day's work before darkness fell. In Grey's account, Māui's mother complained that she could not dry her kapa cloth in the time the sun allowed. Māui braided strong ropes from flax and traveled to the pit from which Te Rā rose each morning. When the sun climbed out, Māui snared him. He beat Te Rā with the jawbone of his ancestress Murirangawhenua until the sun, weakened and battered, agreed to slow his passage. The days lengthened. People had time to work and live in the light.
Relationships
- Associated with