Voices from the Past

Abstract

The history of catastrophic events is not always written down; it is often embedded in place-names, oral traditions, and myth. With examples of oral traditions of sea monsters and the folly of wizards, this chapter discusses catastrophic prehistoric tsunamis generated by a massive earthquake and volcanic eruption that affected Polynesian communities and culture in the 15th century. In Japan, where the roots of oral traditions and written records are much older, the origins of the word “tsunami” are traced through the country’s cultural progression to its introduction to the Western world and to other related Japanese words that merit adoption, such as “Yoda.”