Degei

At the beginning there was water and twilight everywhere. The gods had an island place, but no one knew which island it was. It floated around the edge of the world and could sometimes be seen at sunrise. The scene has no settled ground and no fixed location. It has water, dim light and a place that appears at the world's rim.

The creator was Ndengei, the serpent god. He was the head god of the original Fijian gods, those who were in Fiji before later peoples and religions brought other gods. His body did not simply occupy this beginning. His sleep and waking shaped what people saw. When Ndengei slept, it was night. Darkness followed the creator's rest.

Ndengei's movement changed the ground. When he rolled over, there was an earthquake. The world moved because the serpent moved in sleep. Then Ndengei woke, and it was day. Night, the earthquake and daylight formed a sequence tied to one body and its changing state.

Ndengei's son Rokomautu carried out the actual creation of the Fiji Islands. The account separates the two roles. Ndengei is the serpent creator and the god whose sleep marks night, whose turning shakes the earth and whose waking brings day. Rokomautu performs the making of the islands themselves.

Creation Myths of the World: Parts I-II places this cycle in the Fiji Islands. It begins with water and twilight, moves through the serpent's sleep and turning, then arrives at daylight. The island place can appear at sunrise, while the god beneath the cycle remains the figure whose rest and waking organise the hours.