View source for Torngarsuk

{{short description|Inuit deity}}
{{redirect|Torngarsoak|the mountain in Labrador|Torngarsoak Mountain}}
[[File:Torngarsuk.png|thumb|Torngarsuk as depicted in the [[Dictionnaire Infernal]], 1863 edition.]]
In the [[Inuit religion]], '''Torngarsuk''' (or '''Torngasak''') is a [[List of water deities|sea]], [[List of death deities|death]] and [[Chthonic|underworld god]],<ref>{{cite book|last1=Jakobsen|first1=Merete Demant|year=2020|title=Shamanism: Traditional and Contemporary Approaches to the Mastery of Spirits and Healing|publisher=Berghahn Books|page=67|isbn=9781789202076}}</ref> one of the more important deities in the [[Inuit]] pantheon. He is said to be the leader of the '''Tornat''', a group of protective gods.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kumlien |first=Ludwig |date=1879 |title=Contributions to the natural history of Arctic America, made in connection with the Howgate Polar Expedition, 1877-78 Ethnology. Fragmentary notes on the Eskimo of Cumberland Sound. |url=https://repository.si.edu/bitstream/handle/10088/30407/bulletinunitedst111518771879unit.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y |url-status=live |journal=Bulletin of the United States National Museum |pages=29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211123035639/https://repository.si.edu/bitstream/handle/10088/30407/bulletinunitedst111518771879unit.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y |archive-date=2021-11-23 |access-date=2022-05-13}}</ref>
Torngarsuk is listed as a demon or spirit in the ''[[Dictionnaire Infernal]]'' - a.k.a. '''Tornatik''', '''Torngarsoak''', '''Torngasoak''', '''Tungrangayak''', '''Tornasuk''' etc. is a mischievous demon/spirit worshiped by offering in [[Greenland]] and the northeastern regions of Canada.
==Description==
Torngarsuk is the master of whales and seals and most powerful supernatural being in Greenland. He appears in the form of a bear, or a one-armed man, or as a grand human creature like one of the fingers of a hand. He is considered to be invisible to everyone but the ''[[angakkuq|angakkuit]]'' (the medicine men or shaman among [[Inuit]] peoples).
These conflicting descriptions leave us unsure as to his form, but as a grand spirit or demon Torngarsuk is invoked by fishermen and by the {{transl|mis|angakoqs"}} when one falls ill. There are other spirits invisible to everyone but the angakkuq, who teach men how to be happy. They see Torngarsuk as their benefactor; when the Anguekkok call upon him, they ask that if he does not come that he leave them "in the land of plenty".
==Familiar==
Each angakkuq keeps a [[familiar spirit]] in a leather bottle which he evokes and consults like an [[oracle]]. This familiar spirit seeks Torngarsuk in a cave and brings good fortune as well as healing power.
==Popular culture==
*In popular culture, the term or phrase ''Tornasuk'' and ''angekok'' are best known from a simple and short reference to this part of [[Inuit]] mythology and ideology by [[H. P. Lovecraft]] in his famous short-story "[[The Call of Cthulhu]]", where these ideas are portrayed as part of an "Eskimo diabolist" cult who revere Cthulhu as an avatar or tangible form of Torngarsuk.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Joshi |first=S. T. |date=August 2013 |title=Review of The Classic Horror Stories |journal=Lovecraft Annual |issue=7 |pages=207 |issn=1935-6102 |jstor=26868477}}</ref>
*In [[Marvel Comics]], Torngarsuk is conflated with elements of [[Anguta]] & [[Tulugaak]] as Hodiak; chief deity of the northern gods and divine grandfather of [[Alpha Flight]] member [[Snowbird (comics)|Snowbird]].<ref name="encyclopaediamythologica">{{Cite comic |Writer=[[Anthony Flamini]], [[Greg Pak]], [[Fred Van Lente]] & [[Paul Cornell]] |Penciller=Kevin Sharpe |Inker=Kevin Sharpe |Title=Thor & Hercules: Encyclopaedia Mythologica |Issue=1 |Date=July 2009 |Publisher=[[Marvel Comics]]}}</ref>
==References==
{{refs}}
==External links==
* [http://www.deliriumsrealm.com/delirium/demon_deplancy.asp Deliriums Realm]
* {{Cite journal |last=Sonne |first=Birgitte |year=1986 |title=Toornaarsuk, an historical Proteus |journal=[[Arctic Anthropology]] |volume=23 |issue=1/2 |pages=199–219 |jstor=40316110}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Taylor |first=J. Garth |year=1997 |title=Deconstructing deities: Tuurngatsuak and Tuurngaatsuk in Labrador Inuit religion |journal=Inuit Studies |volume=21 |issue=1/2 |pages=141–158 |jstor=42869963}}
{{Inuit religion}}
[[Category:Inuit gods]]
[[Category:Sea and river gods]]
[[Category:Underworld gods]]
[[Category:Death gods]]
[[Category:Demons]]
[[Category:Supernatural legends]]
[[Category:Inuit mythology]]