Man-Bear

The Man-Bear is a legendary figure from the Yukagir people. The story goes that long ago there was a plague. Many became ill and died, but the shamans could not stop it. One man went to the mouth of River Kolyma to find help but eventually turned around empty-handed. By the time he tried to return, winter struck and he sought shelter to avoid freezing to death. He found a hole he assumed was a bear’s den and entered. Inside he found a large female bear who treated him kindly, allowing him to stay and giving him food. In the spring, the bear gave birth to a Man-Bear, who was the son of him and the bear. The man and the Man-Bear returned to his home where they were greeted happily by his wife and child, but the Man-Bear was regarded with fear. The man’s first son liked the Man-Bear and wrestled with him a lot. After a time the man-bear grew tired of the village and decided to return to the taiga. As he left though, the Man-Bear was invited to join a hunting party and accepted. Every day, one hunter would remain in the cottage while the others hunted. Each day the hunter at the cottage was defeated by a small old man who had a long beard made of hair he could move and manipulate. When the Man-Bear faced the old man, he tied his beard to a tree and went to get the other hunters. When they returned, the man was gone and all that remained was the cut-off beard. They followed the fallen beard hairs of the old man to a cave. The Man-Bear went inside and found the man’s wife in an underground yurta, where she explained that his beard held his strength and he died from cutting it. She tried to trick the Man-Bear into getting lost with bad directions for how to escape, but he did the opposite of what she said. He found a beautiful woman and said he was sent to be her husband. She accepted this and left with the Man-Bear. The woman emerged from the hole in the ground and the hunters sealed the Man-Bear in so they could fight who over would claim her as a wife. The fight of the five ended with only two remaining, who begrudgingly agreed to share the woman. The Man-Bear wandered underground until he found a second beautiful woman with a white eagle. She gave him a way out but demanded the Man-Bear find her a husband. The Man-Bear escaped and when he found the remaining hunters he grabbed their heads and slammed them together to kill them. He told his wife that he rescued that he would do the same to her if she ever left him. He returned to his father’s village with his wife and the other woman, whom he married off to his brother. The Man-Bear then returned to the taiga to live out his life with his wife. Some believe you can still see a Man-Bear in this area or one of his descendants.

Citations:

Sun Maiden and the Crescent Moon: Siberian Folk Tales. United States, Interlink Publishing Group Incorporated, 1991.