Maru
Maru is a Māori war god, particularly prominent in southern New Zealand, where he replaces Tūmatauenga (commonly shortened to Tū), the war god of the rest of New Zealand. In the Hawaiian Islands, he is depicted as an evil and restless god who does not grow his own food but rewards his priests' services. He is also known as the god of wai maori (fresh water) like streams and rivers.
↻ synthesized from 4 sources
When
- First attested
- 0 CE
- Attested period
- 0 – 2020
- Historical notes
- Maru's image was brought to New Zealand by Manaia's daughter Haungaroa.
Relationships
- co occurs with
- Uenuku, Kahukura, Haungaroa, Ngātoro-i-rangi, Manaia, Ihinga, Pūhaorangi, Rehua, Haere, Rongomai, Urutengangana, Whiro, Haumiatiketike, Rongomātāne, Tānemahuta, Aituā, Ngahue, Tamanuiterā, Tūtewehiwehi, Tūmatauenga, Papa, Haumia-tiketike, Rongo-mā-Tāne, Tāne, Rangi, Māui, Miru, Tāwhirimātea, Tangaroa, Rūaumoko, Rongo, Ao, Tiki, Papatūānuku, Ranginui, Tane-rore, Auahitūroa, Tinirau, Io Matua Kore, Te Uira, Tāwhaki, Ikatere, Punga, Makeatutara, Mataaho, Kiwa
- enemy of
- Rongomai
- child of
- Rangihore
Mentioned by
- Tūmatauenga
- Papa
- Haumia-tiketike
- Rongo-mā-Tāne
- Tāne
- Rangi
- Māui
- Miru
- Tāwhirimātea
- Tangaroa
- Rūaumoko
- Rongo
- Ao
- Tiki
- Papatūānuku
- Ranginui
and 12 more
Sources
Source passages
“Maru is a Māori war god, especially well known in southern New Zealand, where he replaces Tūmatauenga (commonly shortened to Tū), the war god of the rest of New Zealand.”
#31626 · extracted by deepseek/deepseek-chat
“a being in whale form which attacked and almost wiped out the war-party of Maru.”
#31741 · extracted by anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.5
“Maru, the god of freshwater, southern god of war.”
#32264 · extracted by deepseek/deepseek-chat
“While Tūmatauenga is the origin of war, powerful local deities such as Kahukura, Maru, or Uenuku were also called upon during times of war.”
#33626 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001