Amanikable: From Patron of Hunters to Lord of the Sea

Amanikable is a good example of how Philippine deities change as stories get retold. In the oldest record he's a patron of hunters, and in modern retellings he rules the stormy sea.

The Earliest Record

Pedro de San Buenaventura's 1613 Tagalog dictionary lists Amanikable as an anito of hunters, the one invoked before going after game in the forest.

The Modern Story

In F. Landa Jocano's 20th-century Outline of Philippine Mythology, Amanikable becomes the ill-tempered lord of the sea. In that story he falls for the mortal woman Maganda, is rejected, and sends storms and dangerous waves in his anger. This version is now the most widely shared online.

Fact, Legend and Modern Retellings

The sea-lord story is not clearly attested in the 16th- and 17th-century sources; Jocano is the earliest traceable source for it. We share it as a modern retelling. The hunters' patron is the role found in the colonial dictionary.

Explore More Tagalog Deities

• Bathala

• Mayari

• Lakapati

• Dian Masalanta

• Lakan Bakod

• Tala

New to Philippine mythology? Start with our guide, Filipino Mythology for Beginners.

Sources

• Pedro de San Buenaventura, Vocabulario de lengua tagala (1613)

• F. Landa Jocano, Outline of Philippine Mythology (1969)

• William Henry Scott, Barangay: Sixteenth-Century Philippine Culture and Society (Ateneo de Manila University Press, 1994)

• The Aswang Project (aswangproject.com), source comparisons for Philippine deities