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The Goose Wife is a mythical female character that appears in tales from the Inuit and other ethnic groups that dwell across the circumpolar Arctic region. The usual story is that the geese alight on land, become women by taking off their goose-skins and bathe in a lake. However, they are unaware that a human hunter is spying on them, and he steals the goose-skin of one of them, forcing her to be his wife. Due to the great similarities between both characters, the goose wife has been compared to the swan maiden, another female that alternates between human and bird forms.
References
- ↑ Jakobsen 1999, p. 143.
- 1 2 3 Dixon-Kennedy 1998, p. 121.
- 1 2 Burland 1996, p. 140.
- 1 2 Turner & Coulter 2013, "Idlirvirissong".
- 1 2 3 Bane 2016, p. 75.
- 1 2 Kroeber 1900, p. 318.
- 1 2 Kroeber 1900, p. 319.
- 1 2 Rasmussen 1929, p. 77.
- ↑ Rasmussen 1929, p. 49.