A composite Servant that combines his status as a mortal and a god. Oyna or Ayoyna-kamuy, who in Ainu tradition is a culture hero or culture-giving deity, is otherwise known by the names Ainurakkur or Okikurmi according to some sources. Aynurakkur and Okikurmi may have originally been distinguished, but seem to have become conflated after a body of similarly plotted narratives became attached to them. Ainurakkur, signifies "he who has a human smell". The name, which contains the element rak meaning "smells of~", is literally "human who smells like human" hence "humanlike person" according to Kindaichi. The implication is that this is a half-god, half-human being or divinity
As a mortal, Okikurumi is a Ainu culture hero who features in many myths as an extremely pious powerful man who performs all the rituals, or who calls on the kamui for assistance for his people. Okikurmi is wise and good, but he has a counterpart, Samai-unkur, the chieftain of a neighboring village, who is stupid, careless, and weak. The acts of the two are often counterpoised, demonstrating the proper reverential way of dealing with the kamui. Although Okikurmi performs the right rituals and is always respectful toward the kamui, Samai-unkur, either through stupidity or malevolence, often forgets, or does not perform the right rituals, and brings about calamities on his people. Several myths recount how Okikurmi and Samai-unkur went fishing. In one such, they are met by the North Wind goddess, who dances up a storm. Samai-unkur dies, but Okikurmi, knowing the proper magic, procured a magical bow and arrow, and shoots the deity dead. In another, they harpoon a swordfish that drags their boat across the waves for many days and nights. Again, the weak and indecisive Samai-unkur dies, but the hero knows the magic of the harpoon, curses the fish, then lets him go. The swordfish dies of the curse and is washed upon the beach, where he is eaten by foxes and unclean crows, instead of being treated royally and enjoying the ritual send-off deities-as-prey are entitled to. In contrast, a tree goddess, entreated properly by Okikurmi, allows herself to be made into a boat that conducts many glorious trading voyages to the Japanese. Once old and broken, the boat is dismissed ritually together with the presents she has been instrumental in acquiring. Okikurmi also features in myths as a lone hero, succeeding either by wit or agility. In one myth, Okikurmi tricked a sak-somo-ayep, a dragon, or snake god, who hates the cold; Ainu dragons live in lakes, and their mere stench is sufficient to kill other beings, into going upriver to its source, where there would be a bride waiting for him. The dragon followed the instructions, but instead of finding a fine house and a waiting bride, as was promised, he found himself in a hornets’ nest, where he was stung to death. In another similar myth, Okikurmi appears to an ararush, an evil monster bear, who has been hoarding the fish and the game on his own drying racks. The hero charms the bear with an inau and tells him to leave and find a place over the sea where others of the bear’s kind are feasting. The ararush does so, dying of hunger when he reaches his objective and finds a rocky shore rather than a paradise. Okikurmi breaks the bear’s storehouses and drying racks, releasing the game and fish there, thus allowing them to repopulate the rivers and forests and avert an Ainu famine. On another occasion, Okikurmi ambushes the ferocious man-eating furi bird. He hides all the people in the forest, walking about on the beach by himself. When the furi stoops, Okikurmi dodges, and the furi bird buries itself in the sand, its beak impaling the bottom of the earth. The hero then rushes up and beats the monster to death. The corpus of Okikurmi myths represents the ideal Ainu man: Tough and able to stand privation, he knows magic and is able to overcome even the most powerful opponents by his knowledge or his cleverness. Above all, Okikurmi myths reiterate the fundamental basis of Ainu life: the need to accommodate to nature by using the proper ritual observances.
As the deity Ae-oyna-kamuy, Ainurakkur was born between thunder deity Kannakamuy and Princess Chikisani who’s also the spirit of Japanese Elm. In a time when animals nor humans roamed Earth, several Kamuy descended from the heavens to manage and populate the barren land with life as well as defend them from malevolent entities who sought to destroy their work as they immerged from the ground. Sometimes later, Kannakamuy and the other deities who remained in heaven curiously observed the situation that was unfolding down on Earth. There, the lovely Princess Chikisani caught Kannakamuy’s attention and after several courtships later, Chikisani ascended towards Kannakamuy through thunderbolt. This violent ascension proved near fatal for the princess as she then fell from the sky creating multiple explosions while being engulfed in flame. Though it was within this moment when Ainurakkur was born thus making him the very first deity born of Earth. Hearing this event, the other deities previously dispatched on to Earth quickly began the preparation for nursing Ainurakkur and built a fort high above the ground to protect both the newborn deity and Princess Chikisani. Unfortunately, the princess got reduced to charcoals after burning for six days. However, her charred remains kept on burning, forever providing warmth for Ainurakkur as solar deity Tokapcup-kamuy became his guardian. As deities provided humans with language and wisdom of Nature, people abandoned their cave-dwelling lifestyle and began constructing houses as well as using fire. This was also when Ainurakkur began playing with other human children which led to him creating useful tools such as bow and arrow as well as ropes. On a rainy day just before Ainurakkur was about to turn 16 years old, Tokapcup-kamuy gave him two important directives. First, he was tasked to become the leader of humankind by vanquishing any aggressors, both human and non-human, who attempt of disrupting the peace. Second, he was destined to be the husband of Swan Princess Retacchir after she descended to Earth.
Rumor broke out that a giant deer terrorized the human community. This was when Ainurakkur decided to test his strength as a defender of humankind by defeating this beast. As he departed his fort to confront the beast, he by chance came across his future wife Swan Princess near the river, but Ainurakkur didn’t have a moment to spare so he pressed forward. While on the trail, the giant deer presented itself and promptly attacked Ainurakkur. This was a hard battle even for Ainurakkur who was used to wrestling with deers since he was very young which was nothing like the beast he was currently facing his body was almost twice the size of a normal stag. Nonetheless, Ainurakkur prevailed and defeated the giant deer. Then Ainurakkur sensed that this giant deer was no malevolent entity like the one which immerged from the ground at the very beginning of time, but a divine beast sent by the deities in the heavens to test Ainurakkur’s strength. Alas, he venerated the giant deer and crafted an arrow which he shot upwards as the spirit of the deer rode on top; ascending to the heavens. After defeating the giant deer, Ainurakkur met up with the Swan Princess once again, but their marry making was cut short when the evil sorceress Uesoyoma who was rumored to have roamed the Earth at night kidnapped the Swan Princess. Ainurakkur fought hard to retrieve the princess at first, but the sorceress’s incantation was far too powerful for him to handle. Subsequently, Ainurakkur faced his first defeat as the Swan Princess got carried down to the Underworld and the sorceress’s magic blinded the hero. Upon witnessing this event, Tokapcup-kamuy quickly took Ainurakkur back to his fort and attended to his wounds. That same night, as Ainurakkur fully recovered with his vision also restored, he armed himself in heavy armor and a heavenly sword blessed with Kannakamuy’s power that Tokapcup-kamuy bestowed to him in order to annihilate the evil sorceress and the rest of the malevolent entities inhabiting the Underworld as well as saving the Swan Princess who’s imprisoned there. As Ainurakkur descended to the Underworld, he caught his opponents off guard and began massacring them. After defeating the great king of the Underworld and the rest of his subordinates, Ainurakkur pointed his sword high up to the sky, and every time he thrashed the sword downward, a massive lightning bolt struck the realm which caused the Underworld to burn for twelve days only to finally cease after everything turned to ashes. Ainurakkur soon married the Swan Princess after rescuing her from the Underworld. Although Ainurakkur was a mighty hero deity who looked after human by eliminating every threat posed against humanity, he was not immortal, and eventually, he grew old and weary. Then one day, Ainurakkur vanished as he left for a land far, far away where he presumably died. The people lamented the loss of Ainurakkur as misery began to plague the land now that he was gone. Some, however, remember what Ainurakkur told them before his departure about how he would occasionally visit the human world as lightning. Therefore, the people are reminded of Ainurakkur’s presence and pray to him whenever lightning courses through the sky.
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Originally Posted by Comun
