Rainbow Bird

Story

Long ago, when the world was first beginning, the whole of Australia was dark and cold. The bird ate her food raw and slept at night without a fire to warm her. The crocodile had fire sticks, but when the bird asked if he would share them, the crocodile refused, cruelly hoarding all the fire for himself. One day, the bird tricked the crocodile, and swooping down, stole the fire sticks from his grasp. The bird flew across the land, giving the fire to everyone to make light and heat. As she flew, the fire made colourful lights in her tail, and she became the Rainbow Bird. Now scared of fire, the crocodile was forced to remain in watery places like swamps, where he remains to this day.

Why we chose it

A beautiful Dreamtime myth that tells of how fire was given to the world.

Where it came from

The Rainbow Bird is a traditional myth from Northern Australia about the origins of fire. According to indigenous Australian legend, the land was bare until ancestor spirits created the world and everything in it. This time is known as the Dreamtime, and its events still echo in the land of Australia today. Their actions describe the origins of the world’s natural phenomena. Animals are often at the heart of these stories. The Rainbow Bird has many variants across the different indigenous cultures of Australia. The tale also describes the origins of the rainbow lorikeet, an Australian bird.

Where it went next

In 1993 the story was adapted into a popular picture book, The Rainbow Bird: An Aboriginal Folk Tale from Northern Australia, written by Eric Maddern and illustrated by Adrienne Kennaway.

Associated stories

There are countless other Dreamtime myths about ancestor beings and the origins of our modern world. The most widely known is probably that of the Rainbow Serpent, which has many variants, though most agree it is a gigantic snake which travels beneath the Earth’s surface, forming mountains and valleys in previously flat terrain.