The Giant Grandmother Who Made Jeju
Jeju Island, legend says, was built by a giant grandmother who scooped up earth with her skirt. Her own sons are said to stand on the mountain, turned to stone.
What was reported
In the folklore of Jeju Island, Seolmundae Halmang was a giant goddess, so tall that she could lie with her head on the island's highest mountain and her feet in the sea. She carried earth in her skirt to build the island, and soil falling through holes in it made the hundreds of small volcanic hills, the oreum, that dot Jeju.
In one tale, she had 500 sons. While they were out, she fell into the great pot of porridge she was cooking for them. When they came home and discovered what had happened, grief-stricken, they turned to stone, and they're said to be the rock pillars on the slopes of Hallasan.
Explanations offered
The legend explains the volcanic landscape of Jeju, formed by eruptions over hundreds of thousands of years. Seolmundae Halmang is a central figure in Jeju's culture, and a park on the island is dedicated to her.
- When
- Told for centuries
- Where
- Hallasan, Jeju Island, South Korea
- Witnesses
- Jeju folklore
- Status
- Legend
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.
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