Balladeer’s Blog continues its examination of the grand and exciting Hawaiian epic about the goddesses Pele and Hi’iaka.
PART TWENTY-SIX
The ship carrying Hi’iaka, Prince Lohiau and Wahine arrived at Iloli on the island of Molokai. The generally barren nature of the area prompted the trio to remain with the ship’s crew when they soon put off for Maui. Continue reading
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Balladeer’s Blog continues its examination of the grand and exciting Hawaiian epic about the goddesses Pele and Hi’iaka.
PART TWENTY-FIVE
With the conclusion of the hours of romantic jockeying during the kilu competition, Hi’iaka and Prince Lohiau’s growing passion for each other was evident to all. Princess Pele’ula, one of Lohiau’s former flames, was inwardly seething at her failed attempt to reclaim his heart.
This might have caused trouble for Hi’iaka, the Prince and the mortal woman Wahine if not for Hi’iaka’s quick thinking. The goddess used her divine power to transport herself and her two mortal traveling companions far away from Pele’ula’s realm in what is now Honolulu. In their place she left three images of herself, Lohiau and Wahine, fooling the Princess and her subjects into thinking they were still there at the kilu festival until the illusions evaporated nearly an hour later. Continue reading
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Balladeer’s Blog continues its examination of the grand and exciting Hawaiian epic about the goddesses Pele and Hi’iaka.
PART TWENTY-FOUR
Hi’iaka, Prince Lohiau and the mortal woman Wahine guided their double-canoe into Kou (modern-day Honolulu). The goddess’ companions were unaware of the passions raging within Hi’iaka now that she knew her sister Pele, the fire and volcano goddess, had unleashed a lava flow on her beloved lehua forest at Puna. That betrayal had convinced Hi’iaka to repay her older sister in kind by yielding to her growing attraction to Prince Lohiau – the intended husband of Pele. Continue reading
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Balladeer’s Blog continues its examination of the grand and exciting Hawaiian epic about the goddesses Pele and Hi’iaka.
PART TWENTY-THREE
Following Hi’iaka’s triumph over the renegade shark gods named Kua and Kahole’a she decided that since she was already far up Mount Pohakea she would go all the way to the top and soak in the monumental view. In the waters below she saw the double-canoe in which Prince Lohiau and Hi’iaka’s mortal female friend Wahine were sailing along.
In some versions of the story Wahine – like Pele and Hi’iaka – is beginning to fall prey to Lohiau’s charms and begins rubbing noses with him. Causing her voice to be heard far below Hi’iaka warns the pair to cease and desist, since the prince is, after all, the intended husband of Hi’iaka’s sister Pele. Wahine and Lohiau separate and Hi’iaka uses her divine powers to extend her gaze all the way back to the Big Island. What she sees there fills her with alarm, dread and anger. Continue reading
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Balladeer’s Blog continues its examination of the grand and exciting Hawaiian epic about the goddesses Pele and Hi’iaka.
PART TWENTY-TWO
Hi’iaka and her two mortal companions – the woman Wahine and Prince Lohiau, the intended groom of Pele – departed from Haena in a double-boat. They headed west around the island of Kauai and in some versions of this tale Hi’iaka left the vessel at one point, planning to rendezvous with Lohiau and Wahine at Mana.
On her inland detour Hi’iaka said a formal goodbye to another relative of her and Pele – the mountain god Pohaku. From there she traveled on foot through the sandy domain of the Menehune, the Hawaiian equivalents of elves and dwarves. The Menehune were delighted to see the goddess and accompanied her to the beach at Mana. Continue reading
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Balladeer’s Blog continues its examination of the grand and exciting Hawaiian epic about the goddesses Pele and Hi’iaka.
PART TWENTY-ONE
Hi’iaka, her mortal friend Wahine and the freshly-resurrected Prince Lohiau soaked in the praise of the throng surrounding them on the beach beneath the cliffs overlooking Haena. That crowd of Lohiau’s family and subjects felt a certain bittersweet elation. They knew that, though their prince had been restored to life they were about to figuratively lose him again when he moved away to the Big Island to become the mate of the volcano and fire goddess Pele.
Eventually Hi’iaka led Prince Lohiau and the mortal woman Wahine through the rejoicing mob so that they could refresh themselves with the feel of the ocean waves. The trio froliced in the water for a time, then Lohiau could restrain himself no longer. He grabbed the first available surfboard and paddled out to enjoy some surfing. (Many figures in Hawaiian myths surf – even the deities.)
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Balladeer’s Blog continues its examination of the grand and exciting Hawaiian epic about the goddesses Pele and Hi’iaka.
PART TWENTY
In the aftermath of Hi’iaka’s defeat of the two sorceresses Kilioe and Kalanamainu’u, she and her mortal traveling companion Wahine were in sole possession of the battlefield: the cavern lair of the dead witches. As a bonus Hi’iaka’s divine powers had even managed to snag the wandering spirit of Prince Lohiau, which Kilioe and her ally had tried to destroy out of spite when their defeat at Hi’iaka’s hands seemed imminent. Continue reading
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Haena on the island of Kauai
Balladeer’s Blog continues its examination of the grand and exciting Hawaiian epic about the goddesses Pele and Hi’iaka.
PART NINETEEN
Hi’iaka and her mortal traveling companion Wahine approached the sorceresses named Kilioe and Kalanamainu’u, ready for battle. The naked sorceresses who had stolen the corpse of Prince Lohiau were fighting on their home turf there in their cavern hideaway, where they were familiar with every shadowy tunnel and corner.
Any advantage that may have provided Kilioe and her sister witch was lost the minute Hi’iaka saw Lohiau’s corpse on the mats that lined the floor. It was then that she realized that her speculation was right – the pair of sorceresses had used their dark magic to preserve Lohiau’s body in all its male glory. They had never been able to woo the late prince in life but wanted him all to themselves in death. Continue reading
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KAUAI
Balladeer’s Blog continues its examination of the grand and exciting Hawaiian epic about the goddesses Pele and Hi’iaka.
PART EIGHTEEN
On the island of Kauai the goddess Hi’iaka and her female mortal companion Wahine prepared to launch their assault on the cavern lair of the evil sorceresses named Kilioe and Kalanamainu’u. The entrance to that cavern was nearly inaccessible, since it was basically just a large hole on the side of a steep mountain hundreds of feet up.
Hi’iaka and Wahine needed to reach the cave to free the corpse of Prince Lohiau from the clutches of the sorceresses so that it (the corpse) could be reunited with its wandering spirit, thus restoring life to Lohiau, the chosen mate of Hi’iaka’s sister Pele, the fire and volcano goddess. (Meanwhile, Megan’s love for Stan is still unrequited since he is obsessed with his sexy new neighbor Samantha, not realizing she is his mother’s murderer Sam after a sex-change operation …)
When our two heroines began to climb the sheer cliff wall the sorceresses used their dark magic to create winds strong enough to knock them back to the ground. After repeatedly being hindered by this maneuver Hi’iaka used her divine powers to make Kilioe and Kalanamainu’u so sensitive to sunlight that they had to retreat to the furthest reaches of their cave to avoid the burning pain. Continue reading
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Kauai
Balladeer’s Blog continues its examination of the grand and exciting Hawaiian epic about the goddesses Pele and Hi’iaka.
PART SEVENTEEN
After the feast of dog meat served up by their mortal hosts, Hi’iaka and Wahine engaged in conversation with those hosts regarding some of the gods of Hawaii. They discussed Kahikona, the god of fishermen … Limaloa, the god of mirages and illusions … And Nomaka’o, the goddess who was the older sister of Pele but had been reduced to serving as Pele’s chambermaid after being conquered by the volcano and fire goddess.
Eventually the ladies went to sleep, as did the seer Malaeha’akoa and his wife, in whose Kauai home the travelers were staying.
The next morning etiquette permitted Malaeha’akoa to ask his honored guests what had brought them to his home. He was grateful to Hi’iaka for restoring his ability to walk and was anxious to offer her any help he could. The goddess explained the quest she and the mortal woman Wahine had come on – to secure and escort Kauai’s Prince Lohiau back to the Big Island of Hawaii to be the mate of the goddess Pele. Yet upon arriving on Kauai they had spotted the spirit of Lohiau roaming the cliffs above the village of Haena. Continue reading
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