Legends of Gods and Ghosts (Hawaiian Mythology): Collected and Translated from the Hawaiian

In Short

W. D. Westervelt’s collection gathers traditional Hawaiian folklore into narrative form, recording tales of shark-gods, ghost-realms, magic canoes, and celestial maidens. The stories span mortal and divine spheres: a father steals back his murdered son’s bones from a tabu temple; a grieving husband plunges into the underworld to trick the king of ghosts; and mythic figures transform into dragons, birds, and sea creatures. Built on oral traditions and early written Hawaiian sources, the book endures because it preserves the rich spiritual geography, ancestral rituals, and cosmic imagination of old Hawaii with clarity and authentic detail.

The Story

The volume opens in the mortal realm, where sacred law and human conflict collide. When a chief’s son is slain to supply sacrifices for the Wahaula temple, the grieving father journeys into enemy territory. Guided by his son’s ghost, he braves robber clans, sneaks past temple watchmen during a storm, and retrieves the hidden bones to place them safely in his family’s ancestral cave. Similar themes of filial loyalty and divine intervention echo through the tale of Kamalo, a priest whose sons break a sacred tabu by beating the high chief’s royal drums. When the chief slays the boys, Kamalo appeals to Kauhuhu, the formidable shark-god of Molokai, who unleashes a devastating storm to punish the murderer.

As the narrative broadens, mortals venture far beyond human shores. The young adventurer Kukali sets sail into unknown waters carrying only a magic, self-replenishing banana skin provided by his father. Landing on a foreign coast, he is captured by Halulu, a monstrous flesh-eating bird whose feathers act like claws, and is thrown into a high-walled prison ravine. Kukali survives by feeding his fellow captives from his magic fruit until he can defeat the terror and escape. Elsewhere, love drives mortals across the boundaries of death. When the rainbow-maiden Kahala is repeatedly murdered by a jealous suitor and restored by an owl-god, her wandering spirit eventually guides her true lover, Chief Mahana, to her shallow grave. Guided by ancestor-ghosts and witch-doctors, Mahana restores her soul to her body.

The collection reaches its grandest scale in the epic sagas of divine maidens and subterranean kingdoms. In the tale of Ke-ao-mele-mele, the Maid of the Golden Cloud, gods construct magical double canoes, send rain and lightning signals across the islands, and teach the arts of the hula to forest leaves and ocean winds. Shape-shifting kupuas—supernatural beings including dragon-gods like Mo-o-inanea—fill the streams with fish and shape the landscape. Yet even among the divine, tragedy strikes: when the forest-dweller Hiku carelessly abandons his bride Kewalu, she strangles herself with ieie vines in despair. Her spirit descends to Po-Milu, the dark underworld. Overcome with remorse, Hiku follows his father’s counsel and journeys to the western leaping-posts of the dead. Descending into the realm of ghosts, he tricks the spectral court, captures Kewalu’s spirit in a hollow gourd, and brings her back to the upper world to reunite spirit and flesh.

How It Unfolds

A father reclaims his son Guided by a spectral outline in the dark, a chief creeps past temple guards, unearths his murdered son’s hidden bones from a sacred stone wall, and carries them home to his family cave.

The shark-god answers a priest After two young brothers are slain for playing a chief's tabu drums, their father seeks vengeance from Kauhuhu, the shark-god, who sends a terrible tempest across the channel to destroy the chief.

A youth faces the bird monster Sailing to distant lands with a magic, self-filling banana skin, Kukali is scooped up by Halulu, a giant bird of prey, and must outwit the creature inside a wall-rimmed valley of prisoners.

The rainbow-maiden rises Murdered and hidden under tree roots, the rainbow-maiden Kahala calls to Chief Mahana through her wandering spirit, allowing a witch-doctor and ancestor-gods to force her soul back into her feet and up into her body.

Fairies and maidens shape the land The menehune and eepa fairy peoples craft swift canoes in single nights, while the maiden Ke-ao-mele-mele dances across ocean waves and forest winds, filling the islands with sacred chants and magic trees.

A spirit enters the ghost court Guided through narrow stone passages by three distinct guardians, a wandering spirit shoves aside spectral heads at the doorway to deliver a genealogy to the ruler of the dead.

A lover descends to the underworld Grieving his bride’s suicide, Hiku ventures down the western leaping-place into the shadowy domain of King Milu, outsmarting the dead to rescue her spirit and return it to her body.

The People

• Kamalo: A priest of Kaluaaha whose heart is broken when his two adventurous sons are executed for touching a high chief's sacred drums. Driven by a desire for justice, he seeks the aid of the powerful shark-god Kauhuhu to avenge their deaths.
• Kukali: A daring young Hawaiian sea-rover who longs to explore far-off lands. Armed only with a magic, self-replenishing banana skin and his own resourcefulness, he endures capture by a monstrous bird-god and saves his fellow captives.
• Kahala: The beautiful rainbow-maiden who falls victim to violent jealousy. Even when her body is buried beneath forest roots, her resilient spirit lingers, desperately seeking a way to communicate with the living so she can return to earthly life.
• Mahana: A noble chief of Kamoiliili who is sensitive to the calls of the spirit world. He heeds the subtle promptings of Kahala's ghost, unearths her body, and uses his family's spiritual power to restore her to life.
• Ke-ao-mele-mele: The Maid of the Golden Cloud, a divine figure who masters the chants and movements of the hula. She travels from island to island, dancing upon surf, clouds, and mountain peaks to restore harmony among her divine kin.
• Hiku: A wild child of the forest whose thoughtless abandonment causes his beloved bride, Kewalu, to commit suicide. Devastated by guilt, he undergoes a dangerous journey into the underworld to capture her spirit and bring her back to life.

In Its Own Voice

When the young stranger launches his magical boat to win a chiefess's hand, the vessel moves with unbelievable swiftness:

"It seemed to be utterly impossible for him to even dream of securing the prize, but the canoe began to move as if it had the wings of a swift bird or the fins of fleetest fish."

When a spirit prepares to enter the grand hall of the ghost king, it must navigate strange, silent sentinels:

"There was motion, but no noise."

In describing the mysterious shape-shifters of ancient Hawaiian tradition, Westervelt notes their dual nature:

"The saying was: 'Kupuas have a strange double body.'"

What It's Really About

Beneath their vibrant surface of sea voyages, magic tools, and giant monsters, these legends explore the delicate relationship between the living, the dead, and the divine. The stories map a universe where physical death is not an absolute end, but a transition where spirits linger, communicate, and occasionally return if proper rites are performed. Sacred boundary lines—tabu laws, temple walls, and western ocean bluffs—serve as constant reminders that human actions must respect spiritual balance. The collection also captures the island landscape itself as a living entity, where mountains, clouds, winds, and sea creatures are animated by powerful ancestral gods (aumakuas) and shape-shifting guardians (kupuas).

Why Read It Today

This volume appeals to readers who love comparative mythology, folklore, and island history. Rather than presenting dry anthropological analysis, Westervelt renders these oral traditions as narrative stories, capturing the dramatic flair and poetic imagery of early Hawaiian storytellers. The reader experiences a world where natural phenomena—a suddenly reddened rain, a unusual cloud formation over a valley, or the peculiar behavior of sea life—are bound to epic tales of human passion and divine power.

The text does require an open mind toward early twentieth-century translation styles. Westervelt writes with formal Victorian cadence, and modern readers may occasionally find his framing of native beliefs slightly dated or romanticized. Additionally, the complex Hawaiian genealogies and extensive native vocabulary can initially feel intricate to navigate. However, these small hurdles are easily overcome by the sheer imagination of the tales. The lingering impression is one of deep reverence for Hawaiian tradition, offering a rare window into how ancient islanders understood life, death, and the unseen forces moving around them.