The White Condor (South American myth)

Author: Traditional Inca

Time Period: 1001 CE–1500 CE

Country or Culture: South America

Genre: Myth

Overview

The Inca myth of the white condor is a mythological explanation of how the Andean condor came to be an almost entirely black-feathered bird as well as a testament to the condor’s ability to inspire awe and spark the imagination of pre-Columbian Andean cultures. The story survived the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire, during which many of the historical and literary traditions of the region were suppressed or forgotten. The myth of the white condor remains a story of interest for its incorporation of transcultural themes such as doomed love, depiction of pre-Columbian peoples’ relationships to the natural world, and use of anthropomorphism and the supernatural.

Condor complained to his love that his back itched, and she offered to scratch his back. When she did, he changed back to a condor and flew off with the young woman on his back. The view from the clouds overwhelmed the young woman, and the idea of living at the top of the mountains appealed to her, so she agreed to marry him.

“Condor,” South and Meso-American Mythology A to Z

When studying what may be called Inca myths, it is important to remember that myths such as that of the white condor were typically the product of centuries of storytelling in the Andes, where scores of distinct cultures lived in close proximity to one another. While these people had several commonly held beliefs, it was generally the case that neighboring groups developed different versions of tales, and no two versions of the story would have been exactly the same. Indeed, due to the nature of the mountainous region in which the story of the white condor originated and is set, travel was difficult, and many of the people who were later unified under the Inca Empire spoke different languages and had different oral traditions. After conquering and assimilating various groups, the Incas promoted Quechua as the empire’s official language. The Incas also commonly used devices known as quipu, bundles of dyed and knotted cords,

to record both statistical information, such as census accounts and tribute records, as well as information that could be interpreted—in some manner we do not yet fully understand—by experts called quipucamayoqs (‘knot-makers or keepers’) in narrating stories about the Inca past. (Urton 25)

The story of the white condor would probably have been known to many of the peoples united under the Incas, who often ascribed supernatural powers to the condor. In Andean mythology, the soaring condor “is also associated with the mountain peaks and is considered to be keeper of the lightning” (Steele 108).

The tale of the white condor provides a quintessential depiction of Inca religious beliefs, which entail a generally animistic polytheism and feature countless examples of anthropomorphic figures who typically possess powers or information that is unavailable to humans. Also present are the predominating conceptions the Inca held regarding their environment, particularly in regard to the relationship between mountains and plains and the earth and the sky, upon which they placed gendered attributes that the condor and the young woman in the story come to represent. The tale of the white condor is an example of how the Inca, like a great many other cultures the world over, used myths to explain how things in the world around them came to be. At the same time, it serves as a parable, warning young Andeans about the dangers of love that cannot last.

Summary

The myth of the white condor begins with the condor flying high over a field in the mountains in search of food. From his great height, he looks down and sees the most beautiful young woman he has ever seen. The condor falls madly in love with the young woman and decides that he must have her for his own. He flies down as fast as he can, wishing to speak with her; unfortunately, his size and the speed at which he approaches frighten her greatly, and she runs away at the sight of him. However, the condor is determined to have her, and the following day, he transforms himself into a handsome young man and sets out to find her. She falls in love with him upon seeing him as a man, and they are briefly united as two human beings. One day, the transformed condor asks the young woman to scratch an itch on his back. As she does so, he transforms back into a condor and flies away with her clinging to his back in fright.

Feeling the sturdiness of his wings, the young woman soon grows accustomed to the sensation of flying and wonders at the tininess of her village below. The condor takes her higher into the mountains and eventually sets her down on the cliffside he calls home. For a while she finds the idea of living in the mountains, so incredibly close to the celestial gods, to be acceptable, and she agrees to marry the condor. Yet time passes, and soon she grows weary of eating the carrion meat the condor brings her. It is cold high in the mountains, and the young woman has “nothing but a few feathers to keep her warm” (Bingham 25). On one particularly cold and rainy day, a parrot flies up to her on the cliffside, where she is huddled around her eggs. The parrot tells her about her family in the village below and how much they have missed her since she left. Overwhelmed with emotion and longing for home, the young woman decides to return to her family. The parrot offers to carry her home, and she accepts. Clinging to his back, she flies back to the village, where her family rejoices at her return.

Soon afterward, the condor returns to the cliffside to find his eggs unattended and his wife missing. Suspecting that she may have somehow returned to her family, he flies to the village in search of her. When he arrives he begs her to return to the mountains with him, but the young woman refuses. She grows angry at the thought of returning to the frigid cliffside and “[throws] a pot at him to chase him away” (35). As he flies away, the condor is so stricken with grief that his feathers turn from white to black, remaining that way forever.

Bibliography

Bingham, Ann. “Condor.” South and Meso-American Mythology A to Z. New York: Chelsea House, 2004. Print.

Chebez, J. “Andean Condor Vultur gryphus.” BirdLife Data Zone. BirdLife International, n. d. Web. 30 August 2012.

Classen, Constance. Inca Cosmology and the Human Body. Salt Lake City: U of Utah P, 1993. Print.

“Limuw: A Story of Place.” Channel Islands National Park. National Park Service, 9 August 2012. Web. 30 Aug. 2012.

Mead, Charles. Old Civilizations of Inca Land. New York: Amer. Museum of National Hist., 1935. Print.

Molina, Cristóbal de. Account of the Fables and Rites of the Incas. Trans. Brian Bauer. Austin: U of Texas P, 2011. Print.

Silverblatt, Irene. “Andean Women in the Inca Empire.” Feminist Studies 4.3 (1978): 36–61. Print.

Steele, Paul. Handbook of Inca Mythology. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 2004. Print.

Urton, Gary. Inca Myths. Austin: U of Texas P, 1999. Print.

Waisbard, Simone, and Roger Waisbard. Masks, Mummies, and Magicians. Trans. Patricia Russell. London: Oliver, 1965. Print.