George Grey’s Polynesian Mythology

Record summary

George Grey’s Polynesian Mythology, published in 1855, presents Māori narratives, genealogies, cosmological episodes, and accounts of divine or ancestral beings. It is a major nineteenth-century source for studying how Māori traditions were translated, selected, and reorganized for an English-reading audience. Researchers may compare its treatment of sacred knowledge, incantatory language, and creation traditions with contemporary occult ideas, while recognizing that Grey’s editorial framing and informant relationships shaped the published form. The book is a documented publication, not evidence that its supernatural narratives occurred as described.