Qalupalik
Also called Qallupilluk, Qalupaliit.
In Inuit folklore, the Qalupalik is an amphibious, hooded humanoid who lurks beneath sea ice and along shorelines to snatch away children who wander too close to the water's edge, carrying them off in the pouch of her amautiq.
At a glance
- Tradition
- Inuit mythology
- Region
- Nunavut (place of origin)Nunavik (place of origin)Greenland (sighted there)Alaska (sighted there)
- Trait family
- The Song-Binders
Near this figure
Symbols
Judged against the description by a model. Meanings are our own paraphrase.
- Hair bears image-domain Hair denotes vitality and the state of the head it grows from, ordered or wild, shorn in renunciation, and red for ardour and suspicion alike.
why
She is most often described as a green- or grey-skinned, amphibious humanoid with long hair, sharp fingernails, and a distinctly human-like face, cold and slick to the touch, at home equally in the sea and on the rocky shore.
- Hood bears The hood denotes invisibility, death, withdrawal, thought, and spiritual detachment, but also blindness or narrowed vision; it accompanies underworld and waning-sun figures.
why
… womens' parka with a large hood or pouch at the back …
Traits
Read from the figure's description, which a model wrote. Open "why" for the sentence a trait came from.
Form
- Pouch used to snatch children
why
She is depicted wearing an amautiq, the traditional womens' parka with a large hood or pouch at the back normally used to carry an infant, and it is this same pouch that she uses to snatch up and carry away children who disobey warnings about the ice and shoreline.
Behaviour
- Drags victims underwater
why
she is said to hum or sing softly to lure a curious child closer before seizing them and vanishing beneath the water
Sight and sound
- Hums to lure curious children
why
she is said to hum or sing softly to lure a curious child closer before seizing them and vanishing beneath the water
Utility powers
- Aquatic locomotion
why
She is most often described as a green- or grey-skinned, amphibious humanoid with long hair, sharp fingernails, and a distinctly human-like face, cold and slick to the touch, at home equally in the sea and on the rocky shore.
Curses
- Hypnotic enchanting song
why
she is said to hum or sing softly to lure a curious child closer before seizing them and vanishing beneath the water