Adlet
ADLET (Inuit Mythology) – The Bloodthirsty Offspring of a Woman and a Dog
In the stark, unforgiving landscapes of the Arctic, Inuit mythology speaks of the Adlet—five fearsome, blood-drinking monsters born from the union of a woman and a dog. This dark tale begins with a young woman who, after rejecting many suitors, found herself the target of her father’s frustration. Exasperated, her father declared that if no man was good enough for her, she might as well marry a dog.
The very next day, a mysterious suitor arrived, wearing an amulet made of dog claws. Despite her father’s harsh words, the woman accepted this new suitor, and together, they moved to a nearby island to start their life. However, it wasn’t long before the woman began to suspect something unnatural about her new husband. Her fears were confirmed when she gave birth—not just to human children, but to a litter of five puppies and five human babies. In one version of this chilling tale, it is the human children who grow up to become the Adlet, monstrous beings with an insatiable thirst for blood.
Seeking to rid herself of the puppies, the woman set them adrift in a boat. According to legend, these puppies survived and went on to become the ancestors of white people. But this was not the end of the story.
In another version of the tale, the woman’s husband, who was indeed a dog capable of taking human form, swam daily to her father’s home to beg for food, as he could not hunt in his dog form. Growing weary of this arrangement, the father devised a cruel plan. He filled the bag of meat with heavy boulders, and when the dog attempted to carry it back, he sank beneath the waves and drowned.
Upon learning of her husband’s death, the woman was consumed by rage. The next time her father visited, she unleashed her dog-children upon him, and they savagely killed him. Left with no family and ten children to care for, the woman made a desperate decision. She transformed her boots into boats, and sent all ten of her children—both human and dog—out to sea to fend for themselves.
These children are said to have become the ancestors of both Native Americans and white people, their tragic origins forever entwined with the myth of the Adlet. The tale of the Adlet serves as a haunting reminder of the blurred boundaries between human and animal, natural and supernatural, and the brutal consequences that can arise from such unions.
SOURCE
Encyclopedia of Vampires, Werewolves, and Other Monsters – Written by Rosemary Ellen Guiley – a leading expert on the paranormal – Copyright © 2005 by Visionary Living, Inc.
