There are many legends of the Menehune told throughout Hawaiian history, most characterize them as mischievous, hard-working and even comedic, with documentation of their adventures going back as far as 1907.

Eleu and Molawa are two of three Menehune that are named — the rest (to my knowledge) are anonymous, a characteristic of their shadowy existence.

The way Uncle Charlie, a Hawaiian storyteller described the two in his writings from 1995:

“Eleu in Hawaiian means "quick and nimble" and whenever Eleu moved, he was so quick that he disappeared and no one could follow him. Molawa's name means "lazy," but what most people didn't know was that whenever he appeared to be sleeping or lazy, his magical self became imperceptible and he would go around the island and do good deeds.”

Menehune tales made a sudden appearance in the Hawaiian newspapers and journals in 1861. Prior to this, the earliest Hawaiian scholars and missionaries made no reference to the forest people who were mysterious construction workers.

Love stories like these? See our reading list of books like Percy Jackson, but Hawaiian →

The video below is from an artist that I grew up with on the Big Island of Hawaii. It features footage of areas we grew up playing in, the inspiration for much of what takes place in the Pacific Chronicles. If you enjoy the music, give this band a follow, everything they do is great.

Fun fact: Chase, the artist behind the music below, appears in book 2.