On the convergence of myth and reality: examples from the Pacific Islands.(Critical Essay)

Various (groups of) myths from the Pacific Islands are discussed. Generic groups considered are diluvian myths, myths involving abrupt subsidence, abrupt uplift, and simultaneous abrupt subsidence and uplift. Specific myths, recently validated, illustrate the superiority of the mythic explanation for recent volcanism over available geological information, and the possibility of myth recalling a migration which took place nearly 3000 years ago. The implications of the correct interpretation of the geographical basis of myths for an understanding of environmental change in the Pacific are explored. Particularly in a region where written history is relatively recent, myths have ...

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