20 Famous Legends & Stories from African Mythology

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Plus, common themes from African myth and where to learn more
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Africa’s mythology is rich, storied, and full of complex moral dualities from countries, tribes, and cultures all over the African continent. However, these myths and legends are not as well-known as those from Greek and Roman mythology, which is why we’ve put together this list of important stories from African folklore. You can read some of the most famous African myths in their entirety, learn about the common themes and motifs in African folklore, and find more resources for a deep dive into the fascinating world of African mythology.

What are some well-known African myths?

The African continent is home to countless myths, but they vary across Africa’s regions, cultures, and tribes. Some of the most well-known legends, however, include Ananse and the Pot of Wisdom (Ghana), the Bumba Creation Myth (Democratic Republic of the Congo), and Heitsi-Eibib vs. Ga-Gorib (South Africa, Namibia).

Section 1 of 3:

20 Famous African Myths & Legends

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  1. 1
    Heitsi-Eibib vs. Ga-Gorib Heitsi-Eibib is a god of hunting in Khoekhoe mythology, but he was originally born as a mortal chief known for his hunting skills and trickster-like intellect. Heitsi-Eibib is a part of several myths, but one of the most famous is his defeat of the monster Ga-Gorib. Every day, the monster would sit on the edge of a deep pit and challenge any passersby to try to throw a stone at his forehead. If a passerby agreed to the challenge, they would throw the rock at Ga-Gorib’s head, and the stone would bounce off the monster’s forehead and kill the thrower. Their body would then fall into Ga-Gorib’s pit. [1]
    • One day, Heitsi-Eibib was passing by and was challenged to attack the monster. Heitsi-Eibib agreed to the challenge.
    • However, before Heitsi-Eibib threw his stone, he drew Ga-Gorib’s attention to one side. When the monster turned his head, Heitsi-Eibib threw the rock behind his ear and killed him. The monster’s body then fell into his very own pit.
  2. 2
    Two Roads Overcame the Hyena A ravenous hyena once roamed the plains of Tanzania, crossing the lands endlessly in his hunt for food. One day, he came to a split in the bush road where the two paths veered in different directions. At the end of each path, he could see a goat caught in a thicket. With his mouth watering at the thought of two trapped and helpless goats, he decided that his left leg would follow the left path and his right leg would follow the right path. As the two paths continued to veer in different directions, the hyena tried to follow them both at once. Finally, the hyena split in two—in the end, two roads overcame the hyena. [2]
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  3. 3
    The Trickster Tortoise & the King’s Feast This Yoruba folktale tells of a trickster god named Ìjàpá, or the Tortoise. Ìjàpá was the most cunning creature in all the land—he had a sharp tongue, an insatiable hunger for food, and an endlessly scheming mind. One day, the king Aláàfin announced a great feast. Hunters and farmers brought food from all over the region, and the king declared that every kind of creature was welcome—but only creatures who came bearing gifts would be allowed into the palace. Ìjàpá, being a lazy creature, had nothing to bring. He thought to himself, “If I arrive empty-handed, the palace guards will laugh me away. But, if I can find a trick, I’ll eat until my shell cracks.” [3]
    • In the days leading up to the feast, Ìjàpá visited his neighbors one by one. He visited the farmer and said, “My good friend, let me carry your yams to the palace, for I walk with honor, and the king will see your name praised.” The farmer was pleased by Ìjàpá’s words and gave him the yams.
    • Then, Ìjàpá went to the hunter and said, “Brother, let me deliver your bushmeat to the king. I will sing your name before him.” The hunter was flattered and gave his meat to the tortoise. Ìjàpá continued to gather gifts, making each person believe that he was their faithful messenger.
    • On the day of the feast, Ìjàpá dressed himself in fine garments and carried his gifts with pride. Arriving at the palace, the guards asked Ìjàpá what he brought. Ìjàpá, with his chest puffed, replied, “I bring yams from my farm, meat from my hunt, and palm wine from my grove.” The guards let him enter through the doors and into the king’s court.
    • The feast began, and Ìjàpá ate greedily. He boasted that there was no one in the land greater than him, and even the king welcomed him like a prince. Soon, however, the true owners of Ìjàpá’s gifts began to arrive at the palace. When asked by the king, the farmer said that Ìjàpá brought his yams. The hunter was proud of his bushmeat, but the king said that Ìjàpá claimed it as his own.
    • The king’s eyes grew dark, and he struck the ground with his staff before declaring, “Ìjàpá, you’ve eaten with a lying mouth. The food you claimed as yours belongs to others. Such deceit cannot be left unpunished.” The guards seized Ìjàpá, tied him up, and carried him outside.
    • As punishment for his greed and cunning, Ìjàpá was denied access to the rest of the feast. The guards detained him near the gate so that all who came and went could see his swollen belly. From that day on, no person in the land trusted Ìjàpá. He was no longer given any gifts, and he was often left hungry while others feasted.
  4. 4
    The Maasai Legend of the Gift of Cattle At the beginning of time, the Maasai people did not have any cattle. One day, however, a man named Maasinta, who was the first Maasai, was called by God. God said, “I want you to make a large enclosure and, when you’ve done that, come back and inform me.” Maasinta did as the god asked and returned to reveal the enclosure he’d created. God told him to go and stand outside the wall of the house, promising that he’d give Maasinta an item called “cattle.” He told Maasinta to stay quiet and not be surprised if he sees or hears anything. [4]
    • The next morning, as Maasinta stood waiting, he began to hear loud thunderclaps. He looked up and saw that God had stretched a long leather thong from Heaven to Earth. Cattle begin to walk down this thong and into Maasinta’s enclosure.
    • As the cattle descended, the surface of Earth shook so vigorously that Maasinta’s house almost collapsed. Despite his shock and fear, however, Maasinta did not move or make a sound.
    • While the cattle were still descending, Maasinta’s housemate awoke from sleep. He went outside and was stunned by the cattle coming down from the sky. In complete shock, he shouted, “Ayieyieyie!”
    • Hearing the sound and believing that it came from Maasinta, the god took back the cattle. He said, “Is it that these cattle are enough for you? I will never do this again to you, so you better love these cattle in the same way I love you.” For this reason, the Maasai people continue to be extremely fond of cattle and center much of their culture and lifestyle around their herds. [5]
  5. 5
    The Xhosa Myth of Izi Khaleni Near Coffee Bay, a town on the Wild Coast of the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, there’s a prominent rock formation with a large hole in the middle. The local Xhosa call this place “Izi Khaleni,” or “Place of Thunder,” because the waves sometimes crash through the hole so violently that the sound is similar to thunderclaps. But why does this near-perfect hole in the cliff exist? According to Xhosa mythology, there was once a young girl who lived in a small village near the sea. Her village sat near a landlocked lagoon that was blocked from the ocean by a sheer cliff face. The villagers would often tell of people who lived in the sea and who were completely human—except they had flippers instead of hands and feet. [6]
    • One day, while on a walk near her village, the young girl spotted one of these sea-people. The sea-person she encountered was struck by her beauty and became intent on winning her heart. However, the villagers were disgusted by the romantic match and the young girl’s father forbade her from ever seeing the sea person again.
    • The sea people, in turn, were offended by the reactions of the villagers and vowed to help the lovers be together. One night, the tide rose up high, and the sea people gathered on the ocean side of the cliff face.
    • With the help of a giant fish, the sea people repeatedly rammed the rock until they all broke through. The sea people all swam into the lagoon, swimming around and singing out in joy. The fearful villagers ran away and hid, while the girl and her sea-lover ran off together into the night.
  6. 6
    The Yoruba Creation of the Universe Olorun, the Supreme Being in the Yoruba religion, lived in the sky with all of the other gods. One day, he told Orisanla—the god of purity and wisdom—to create the Earth for him. Olorun gave Orisanla some soil, a chain, a five-toed chicken, and a snail shell before sending him on his way. When Orisanla arrived at the gates of Heaven, he noticed that some of the other gods were having a party. Orisanla stopped to chat with them for a bit and drink some of their palm wine. The purity god became quite drunk and soon fell asleep. That’s when Odua, Orisanla’s younger brother, stopped by and noticed that his brother was sound asleep. Odua took all of the objects that Olorun gave to Orisanla, and he then traveled to the edge of heaven with Chameleon. [7]
    • Odua dropped the chain from the edge of heaven and climbed down it before throwing some of his soil onto the water below. Odua then released the chicken, which scratched out the Earth and expanded it in several directions until the ‘ends of the earth’ were created.
    • Chameleon then stepped onto the Earth to make sure it was stable. Odua followed after and ended up settling at a place called Idio.
    • At this point, Orisanla had woken up and realized what had happened. Orisanla immediately placed a taboo on palm wine for his followers before going down to Earth to claim it.
    • However, Odua demanded that he be made the owner of the Earth, since he had created it. The two brothers continued to fight until Olorun summoned them. Olorun gave Odua the right to own the Earth and rule over it, but he told Orisanla that he’d become the creator of mankind.
    • In order to keep the peace between the two brothers on Earth, Olorun sent them back to Earth with Sango, God of Thunder, Ifa, God of Divination, and Eleshije, God of Medicine.
  7. 7
    The King’s Magic Drum There once lived a wise and generous king in a land known as Calabar. This king was the owner of a magical drum, which he would strike whenever trouble arose. When struck, this drum would magically produce food and drink for the king’s people. Any argument, conflict, or disagreement would quickly turn into a joyful feast! However, if the king ever stepped over a stick or a fallen branch, the food would instantly spoil, and men bearing sticks would appear to thrash the ruler. Everyone coveted the king’s magic drum, but he would never share it with anyone or allow anyone else to strike it. [8]
    • One day, the king’s wife—and the queen of Calabar—was bathing her young daughter in a nearby spring. The small daughter was complaining of hunger, so the queen gave her a palm nut from a tree. However, the queen was unaware that the palm nut belonged to a cunning tortoise.
    • The tortoise, sensing an opportunity to acquire the king’s magic drum, brought the issue of the palm nut to the king. The king offered money, cloth, and palm oil to the tortoise, but the tortoise refused all of these apologetic gifts.
    • Finally, the tortoise pointed to the king’s drum and said, “That’s all that I want.” Fed up with the tortoise and the fuss he was making, the king agreed to give him the drum…but he didn’t mention the tricky rule about sticks and fallen branches.
    • The excited tortoise arrived home with the drum and immediately struck it, creating an incredible days-long feast for himself and his family. Feeling generous, the tortoise decided to invite the entire city to a banquet, which went swimmingly.
    • After some time, however, the tortoise became complacent and arrogant, and he began to indulge in excessive drinking. One night, he came home tipsy and accidentally stepped over a stick. Not knowing what would happen, he beat the drum the next morning for food. However, instead of a feast, a group of men with sticks appeared and painfully beat the tortoise and his family.
    • The tortoise regretted his decision and decided to return the drum to the king. The king felt sorry for the tortoise and gifted him with a magic foo-foo tree that would drop food once a day—but only if nobody collected the food more than once.
    • However, one of the tortoise’s sons was very greedy. He followed his father one day, discovered the tree, and took more than his single share of food. This disobedience broke the magic, and the tree disappeared. The tortoise told his family that they’d ruined the magic, and they had to live under a prickly palm tree from that day forth.
  8. 8
    The Eloko (Biloko) The Eloko (or Biloko, in plural) is a vile, cannibalistic dwarf or troll that’s said to reside in the Congo, according to Nkundo folklore. Biloko live inside hollow trees and have grass for beards, leaves for clothes, and typically carry bells that they use to attract and bewitch innocent humans. They’re said to slowly eat away at their victims, eventually killing them by eating their liver last, which is where the spirit is said to reside. In one popular legend, a Nkundo man built a fenced-in hut in the forest in order to hunt for game. Whenever the husband left for the village, he’d warn his wife against answering if she were ever to hear the sound of a little bell. [9]
    • However, as boring hours passed by in the hut, the wife soon found herself hypnotized by the ringing of a bell deep in the forest. Eventually, the wife ran outside and called to the eloko, “I’m here! Come to me!”
    • The eloko appeared, and the wife was so happy that she prepared a meal of fish and fried bananas for her guest. The eloko refused the meal, however, saying, “I only eat human meat, and I am so hungry. You are a delicious woman. Give me a piece of flesh.”
    • The wife obliged and offered her arm, from which the eloko took a piece of meat. He roasted and devoured the meat, then left the wife to bandage her wound in silence. This happened multiple days in a row.
    • The woman’s husband would return each day to find his wife bedridden and in pain, but she’d refuse to explain or show him her wounds. One day, the husband decided to lie in wait instead of returning to the village. When the eloko came to the hut, he pulled out a knife and told the wife that he wanted her liver.
    • The husband then fired an arrow into the eloko before running him through with a spear and decapitating him. However, the eloko had already stabbed the wife in the liver, causing her to pass away.
  9. 9
    The Weeping Willows There was once a happy family of a mother, father, and their ten beautiful daughters. On one particularly hot day, the group of sisters went to play together in the river. A strange old man came wandering by the water and spoke to the girls, saying, “Dip me up some water, pretty girls. I’m very thirsty.” The girls giggled amongst themselves, saying that the man was ugly, “like an old frog.” All of the girls were laughing together except for one, who was ashamed and embarrassed by her sisters’ rudeness. [10]
    • The old man suddenly revealed himself as a magician. In a wave of his hand, he turned nine of the sisters into tall, slender trees that drooped along the riverbank.
    • The only surviving daughter—the one who hadn’t been laughing—ran crying to her parents and told them what had happened.
    • The parents, overwhelmed with grief, rushed to the riverbank with an ax and tried to chop down one of the trees. However, as soon as the ax’s blade hit the tree trunk, the splintered bark began to ooze with blood.
    • The father tried three times to strike the tree with the ax, but blood ran each time, so he soon gave up.
    • Filled with sorrow and grief, the parents sent their last daughter to live in a faraway land where she’d be safe from the musician. The parents, meanwhile, sit grieving below the drooping trees forever.
  10. 10
    Savuri and the Rain Bull It was a time of drought in Africa, when the clouds that carried the rain sailed high above the earth and didn’t let their life-giving moisture fall. The people of Africa had no fruits, no fodder, and hardly anything to drink. One day, however, the rain passed over the earth and noticed the enchanting scent of a young woman named Savuri. As the rain looked down at Savuri, he noticed that her skin looked like shining wet rock and her hair was as dark as dew-moist berries. The rain wanted Savuri as his lover and bride, so he transformed himself into a bull and placed himself on earth. This “Rain Bull” stood by the hut where Savuri slept, and space became misty and moist with his breath. [11]
    • Eventually, the feel and smell of rain filled the hut and woke Savuri up. She then watched as the Rain Bull lay back his ears, lowered his tail, and bent to kneel before her. His eyes were dark and clouded, and he stomped his foot on the ground to make the earth rumble with thunder.
    • Savuri could sense the Rain Bull’s desire to take her away. She covered herself up with a kaross made of soft skins, then noticed the sweet smell of rain outside. Savuri realized that any hope of rain for her lands and people must be welcomed with love. So, she smiled and climbed up on the Rain Bull’s back.
    • The Rain Bull trotted away with Savuri on his back, and the sound of his hooves was like rain falling on dry ground. The pair continued to run toward the distant mountains, where the rain comes from.
    • Rain then began to fall on the earth, filling up the emptied waterholes and bringing life back to the people of Africa. Savuri earned the admiration of everyone who heard her story—they recognized that she had given herself up to the Rain Bull for the hope of rain.
  11. 11
    The Lightning Bird The Lightning Bird or Impundulu is a frightening mythic creature belonging to Zulu folklore. The impundulu is a black-and-white, human-sized bird. According to myth, the creature is able to summon thunder and lightning with its wings and talons, but it’s also associated with witchcraft and vampiric tendencies. It’s said to serve witches and witch doctors by attaching their enemies and drinking their blood. In some stories, the impundulu will take the form of a handsome young man in order to seduce and drink the blood of a young woman. [12]
    • Some stories claim that these frightening creatures start off as normal birds that become impundulus after being struck by lightning.
  12. 12
    Mapandangare, the Great Baboon There was once a young girl who had neither a mother nor a father. Her parents did leave her with a great herd of cattle, sheep, and goats, but she had no one to help her look after them. So, she let the goats and sheep wander away, and just kept the cattle that she could look after herself. However, there were still too many cattle for the girl, and men would come each day to steal one or two cows from her. One day, the girl was walking down the Valley of Choncho when a Great Baboon crossed her path. To the Baboon, she said, “If only you were a man, you would herd my cattle for me.” The Baboon heard the girl and replied, “I’ll herd your cattle for you if you’ll give me some of those oranges you have there.” [13]
    • The girl thanked the Baboon and gave him some oranges, but she also asked whether the Baboon was afraid of the men becoming angry once they found out that a Baboon was herding the cattle.
    • “Afraid? Never! Or my name’s not Mapandangare the Brave,” replied the Baboon. “Here’s what we’ll do—climb on my back and I’ll carry you up to the top of the High Hill, where only Baboons can climb. You can look out for the thieves who steal your cattle. When you see them, call out to me, ‘Mapandangare, wa munawe, Mapandangare the Brave,’ and I’ll shoot the men down with my bow and arrows.”
    • So, that’s what the girl and the Baboon did. The girl sat on the hill while the Baboon herded cattle, but it wasn’t long until the girl called out after she saw some men coming to steal her cattle.
    • The Baboon shot the men with his arrows and killed all but one of them. He walked up to the last man, took his knife out of his belt, and cut off both of the man’s ears. He told the man to return to his people and tell them what Mapandangare, the Great Baboon, is doing in the Valley of Choncho…and not to visit this area any more.
    • The Baboon then returned to his herding, but was soon interrupted by the call of the girl and more men coming to steal from the herd. He took the same actions as before and, soon enough, all of the cattle thieves in that country had been driven away. The Baboon then brought the girl safely to her home, and they both lived happily ever after.
  13. 13
    The Lion’s Share One day, a lion, wolf, and fox went hunting together. The trio of predators ended up catching a wild donkey, a gazelle, and a hare. The lion spoke to the wolf and said, “Mr. Wolf, you may divide our findings for us today.” The wolf said, “I would’ve thought it best, Sir Lion, that you should have the donkey and my friend, the fox, should take the hare. As for me, I shall be content to take only the gazelle.” Upon hearing this, the lion became angry and raised his mighty paw. He struck the wolf on the head, cracking the animal’s skull and killing it instantly. [14]
    • The lion then turned to the fox and said, “Now you may try to divide our meal better.”
    • Solemnly, the fox replied, “The donkey will be your dinner, Sir Lion. The gazelle will be your supper, and the hare will be your breakfast for tomorrow morning.”
    • The lion, feeling both surprised and pleased, asked the fox, “When did you learn so much wisdom?”
    • The fox then replied, “When I heard the wolf’s skull cracking.”
  14. 14
    The Snake and the “No Good Men” One day, a young village girl was bitten by a wild snake, causing all of the men of the village to become enraged with the reptile. The men chased and chased the snake all the way down to the river. At the river, there was a man sitting in a boat. The snake said, “Quick! Take me to the other side!” The man asked the snake why he was in such a hurry, to which the snake said, “Never you mind, I’ll tell you afterwards.” So, the man took the snake across the river, where the man asked again what the snake’s hurry was. The snake told the man that he had bitten a girl and was being chased by the male villagers. “And now,” said the snake, “I’m going to bite you, too.”
    • “Ah, you wouldn’t do that,” said the man. “I’ve just taken you across the river!” However, the snake argued that he would, because there were no good men anywhere. When the man insisted that there must be some good men, the snake challenged him to go and ask the nearby Fig Tree for its opinion.
    • The man went to ask the Fig Tree, who agreed with the serpent that there were no good men. The Fig Tree said, “Look at me! Every time I have any figs, the men come and take them all. Of course, there are no good men!”
    • The man went back to the river and told the snake what the Fig Tree had said. The snake was pleased and said that he’d now bite the man; however, the man asked for another chance, and the snake told him to go ask the Wild Plum Tree nearby.
    • The man asked the Wild Plum Tree about there being good men. The Wild Plum Tree replied, “Half of me has been cut down and turned into firewood already, and as for what is left, if I have any plums, the men come and take them all. Of course, there are no good men.”
    • Again, the man told the snake what had happened, the snake threatened to bite him, and the man asked for another chance. The snake asked the man who he would ask this time, and the man said that he wanted to ask his wife. His wife said, “No good men? Of course, there are no good men. But somehow, we can't help loving some of you, sometimes.”
    • The man then told his wife that the snake would bite him if she said that there were no good men. His wife then nodded and started to cook up a pot of special, very hot porridge. She picked it up, put it on her head, and then led her husband back to the river.
    • The man told the snake that his wife said there were no good men. But when the snake moved to bite the man, the wife presented her porridge to him as a present. She scooped some porridge onto her finger and presented it to the snake, pouring a drop onto his tongue.
    • The snake loved the porridge, and the wife tilted the bowl over to him. The snake wriggled up, plunged his head right into the bowl of hot porridge, and burned himself right up.
  15. 15
    Ananse and the Pot of Wisdom A long time ago, people knew very little of the world and how to survive in it. They knew nothing of farming, tools, or cloth-weaving. In those times, Nyame, the god of the heavens, held onto all of the wisdom. He kept all of his wisdom stored up in a clay pot. One day, however, Nyame gave this pot of wisdom to Ananse the spider. Ananse was so excited—every time he looked into the clay pot, he learned something new. He decided to keep the pot away from the rest of the world, as he wanted to keep all of the wisdom for himself. However, it wasn’t always easy to keep the pot by his side. One day, Ananse wanted to climb a tree, so he tied a rope around his waist and tied the rope around the pot of wisdom. [15]
    • Ananse began to climb the tree, but he found that the pot dragged him down, and he was unable to climb as high as he wanted to.
    • A small boy came along and noticed Ananse’s struggle. He suggested that Ananse tie the clay pot full of wisdom to his back, which would allow him to climb higher and faster.
    • Ananse did just that, and it was much easier for him to climb with the pot. However, Ananse soon became angry, thinking that he was the one with all the wisdom of the world, but the little boy was still smarter than him.
    • In a rage, Ananse threw the clay pot out of the tree, and it smashed into pieces on the ground. The wisdom in the pot flew out and away, spreading throughout the entire world. That’s how people learned to farm, make clothes, make iron, and do all the things that modern humans know how to do.
  16. 16
    The Bumba Creation Myth At the beginning of time, there was only darkness, water, and Bumba. Bumba was the creator of the universe and the first ancestor, but he was also completely alone. One day, he vomited up the sun, which created light. The water began to dry up, and the outlines of landforms started to emerge. Bumba then vomited up the moon, the stars, and lightning. He vomited again, and a series of animals emerged from him: a leopard, a crested eagle, a crocodile, a fish, a tortoise, a heron, a beetle, and a goat. Finally, several men spilled out of Bumba’s mouth. [16]
    • All of these creatures went on to create more creatures. The heron created birds, the crocodile created serpents, the goat made horned beasts, the fish created more varieties of fish, and the beetle created other insects.
    • The three sons of Bumba then took on the task of finishing the world’s creation. Nyonye Ngana attempted to make white ants, but he died during the attempt. Chonganda created a plant that gave birth to all trees and plants of the earth. Chedi Bumba created the kite.
    • Lightning, one of Bumba’s creations, soon became so troublesome that Bumba chased her into the sky. However, she continued to strike at the earth.
    • In the meantime, Bumba showed the humans on earth how to create fire out of trees, telling them that every tree contained fire.
    • When every creation was complete, Bumba gave all of them to humans.
  17. 17
    How the Ostrich Got His Long Neck There was once a kind and gentle Ostrich who loved his wife very much, and always helped her with any tasks she had to do. One day, the Ostrich’s wife laid seven eggs in her nest in a hollow in the ground. She sat on her eggs for days and days to keep them warm and protected. One evening, her husband offered to look after the eggs at night so that she could rest and have some time to herself. The ostrich wife happily stood up to stretch her legs and ran off to dance in the fields that surrounded the nest. However, the husband realized that it’d be difficult to see his wife as she danced in the fields while he sat on the nest. He’d have to crane his neck in order to see her—and, at this time, ostriches had short necks, like a typical bird. bird. [17]
    • The ostrich husband did crane his neck to watch his wife, and noticed her dancing with her feathers flying. He thought that she shouldn’t be dancing around like that, being a mother now, but he settled down eventually to wait out the night while his wife danced in the fields.
    • One night, the husband heard laughing and stretched his short neck as far as he could. He saw his wife dancing in the grass with a handsome young ostrich. The husband was angry and got up to see what was going on. However, he realized he had to look after the eggs, so he sat right back down again and stretched his neck as much as he could to see what his wife was doing.
    • Eventually, the night came to an end, and the Ostrich’s wife came back to sit on the eggs. Her husband tried to get up, but he felt very stiff, and the muscles in his neck were hurting. When he finally stood up, he looked down and noticed that his feet looked to be very far away from his head.
    • Suddenly, the Ostrich realized what had happened. During that long night, he’d stretched his neck so far that it’d gotten stuck that way. Nothing he tried would change the newfound length of his neck!
  18. 18
    Hippos Don’t Eat Fish Long ago, the god N’gai created the hippopotamus as an animal of the forests and plains. However, the hippo was greedy and, with food all around him and no enemies to be found, he grew gluttonous. The hippo grew larger and larger and found it harder to bear the hot equatorial sun. Each day, when the hippo went down to the river for a drink, he gazed with envy at the fish swimming in the cool water. The hippo would sigh and daydream about how nice it would be to live like a fish in the cool and refreshing waters of the river. Eventually, the hippo asked the god N’gai to allow him to leave the sun-baked forests and plains behind and instead live in the clear, cool waters of rivers and lakes. [18]
    • At first, N’gai denied the hippo’s request. He said, “My fish are dear to me. If you lived in the rivers and lakes, you might eat those fish. So, you must stay on dry land.”
    • The hippo accepted this answer and remained in his forests and plains. However, he eventually grew so miserable that he again pleaded with N’gai to live in the waters. He promised that he would not eat the fish.
    • N’gai thought it over and eventually told the hippo that he could live in the rivers and lakes. However, he asked the hippo how he would prove to the god that wasn’t eating the little fish.
    • The hippo answered, “I will come out of the water every time that food passes through my body. I will scatter my dung on the earth with my tail. All that I’ve eaten will be spread out in your sight, and you will see for yourself that there are no fish bones.”
    • The hippo does this to this day. He comes out of the water to scatter his dung, looks up to the heavens, and says, “Look, N’gai, no fish!”
  19. 19
    Guinea Fowl Child Pitipiti was a woman married to a rich man with many cattle. Pitipiti should’ve been happy, but after many years of marriage, she was unable to have any children. She asked many people for their advice on solving her problems, but nothing seemed to work. Eventually, her husband married a new wife who could have children. Every time Pitipiti learned that the new wife had given birth, she went to offer a gift to the newborn—but she was turned away every time. Pitipiti was saddened by the loss of her husband’s love, but she continued to live the best life she could in solitude.
    • A few months later, Pitipiti was working in the fields when she heard some screeching from the bushes. She walked toward the bushes and found a guinea fowl sitting at the top of a branch.
    • The guinea fowl looked at Pitipiti and said, “I am very lonely. Will you make me your child?” Pitipiti replied that she couldn’t have a guinea fowl for a child, as everyone in the village would mock her.
    • However, the guinea fowl asked if she would make him her child only at nighttime, so that nobody would know. Pitipiti agreed, and she and the guinea fowl lived happily each night from dusk to dawn.
    • Often, the new wife would pass by and mock Pitipiti for all the land her husband had given her and what a waste it was that she had no one to feed but herself. Pitipiti would ignore the comments, but the guinea fowl couldn’t.
    • So, the guinea fowl flew to the new wife’s fields, sat in her bushes, and began to sing a song: Come and eat my friends there is lots of grain / Come and eat my friends, eat all of this woman’s grain .
    • Soon, more guinea fowls began to arrive at the fields. They filled their bellies, stealing all of the new wife’s crops. The new wife killed the guinea fowl one by one, including Pitipiti’s son, and prepared them for dinner.
    • As the new wife and her husband took the last bite of their dinner, they again heard the song of the guinea fowl. Looking around to find the source of the sound, they discovered the music was coming from their own stomachs. In a panic, they grabbed knives and stabbed at the birds in their stomachs.
    • The birds flew out of the holes and left the couple dead on the floor before returning to the field to eat what grain was left. Pitipiti found out what happened and felt happy that she no longer had to deal with the new wife. She got to keep all of her husband’s land and cattle, and many suitors soon came knocking on her door.
  20. 20
    Br’er Rabbit & the Tar Baby This story originates in West African folklore, but it was transmitted to North America by African people who were enslaved and forcibly brought to North America, where they shared this tale. The existing version of the story tells of Br’er (or Brother) Rabbit and Br’er Fox. Br’er Fox creates a figure that’s covered in tar, known as the “tar baby,” and places it on the side of the road in order to trap Br’er Rabbit. Br’er Rabbit stumbles across the tar baby white walking along the road, and he tries to talk to the fake “baby.” When the tar baby doesn’t respond, Br’er Rabbit becomes enraged and hits the figure—which gets him stuck in the sticky tar. [19]
    • Br’er Rabbit tries to wiggle his way out, but he only becomes more entangled. Br’er Fox shows up and begins to gloat over the success of his trap. He begins to ponder his next move, asking aloud, “What should I do with you, Br’er Rabbit?”
    • Br’er Rabbit, thinking quickly, replies, “Do whatever you please—roast me, hang me, eat me. But, please, Br’er Fox, don’t throw me into the briar patch.”
    • Br’er Fox seizes on the idea of the briar patch, reveling in the fact that Br’er Rabbit will be torn into a million tiny pieces by the briar’s spiky thorns. Br’er Fox snatched Br’er Rabbit out of the tar, swung him around, and flung him into the briar patch.
    • Br’er Rabbit screamed and fell into the briar bushes with a crash. Then, everything went silent, and Br’er Fox listened intently for any whimpers or moans of pain from the patch. However, he heard nothing…until he heard someone calling his name from somewhere behind him.
    • Br’er Fox looked behind up and up the hill, where he saw Br’er Rabbit sitting on a log with a smug expression, combing tar out of his fur with a wood chip. “I was bred and born in the briar patch, Br’er Fox,” said Br’er Rabbit. Then, he skipped away merrily while Br’er Fox ground his teeth in rage.
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Section 2 of 3:

What motifs and themes appear in African mythology?

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  1. Common myth elements include tricksters, twins, and the divinity of nature . While African mythology is a broad category that encompasses diverse traditions, cultures, and religions across the continent, some common themes and characters recur frequently. For starters, creation and origin stories that explain how the world came to be are common. As are moral tales that explore social norms, ethical virtues, and real-world dualities (like good vs. evil, life vs. death, and chaos vs. order). [20]
    • African religions are mostly polytheistic, meaning that there are several gods and goddesses detailed in their mythologies. However, there’s usually also a singular “supreme” deity who may be associated with the sky and have a distant, unknowable persona.
    • As for the characters in African mythology, there are often witty but chaotic trickster figures that use their cunning to challenge social norms and outsmart powerful figures. The tortoise is a common trickster, as is the Yoruba messenger god, Eshu, and the spider Anansi (from West African folklore).
    • Aside from tricksters, animals are very prevalent in general. Myths tend to emphasize the spiritual connection between humans and nature, so animals can represent divine power, fertility, wisdom, authority, and other moral traits or lessons.
    • Cultural heroes, powerful kings, and legendary leaders are also common characters in mythology. Twins are especially common, since Western and Central African cultures regard twins as sacred beings that represent life’s dualities.
Section 3 of 3:

Further Learning: Top Books on African Folklore

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  1. Read more African myths in reputable book collections. If you’re fascinated by African cultures and their mythologies, we highly recommend that you read an authentic, published collection of African myths and legends. Here are some that are highly recommended by literary critics and Amazon reviewers alike: [21]
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      References

      1. ↑ https://mythopedia.com/topics/heitsi-eibib/
      2. ↑ https://www.stcypriansprimaryacademy.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Year-4-Week-9-Day-3-1.pdf
      3. ↑ https://folktales.africa/the-trickster-tortoise-and-the-kings-feast/
      4. ↑ https://artsandculture.google.com/story/the-maasai-legend-of-the-gift-of-cattle-project-fuel/DgXxjwmgj1thJQ?hl=en
      5. ↑ https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/cattle-economy-maasai/
      6. ↑ https://africafreak.com/south-africa-myths
      7. ↑ https://hearstmuseum.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/TeachingKit_YorubaArtAndCulture.pdf
      8. ↑ https://www.worldoftales.com/African_folktales/Nigerian_folktale_4.html
      9. ↑ https://abookofcreatures.com/2016/11/21/eloko/
      1. ↑ https://www.gateway-africa.com/stories/Weeping_Willows_San.html
      2. ↑ https://rammb.cira.colostate.edu/dev/hillger/pdf/Savuri_and_the_Rain_Bull_legend.pdf
      3. ↑ https://books.google.com/books?id=sj1zcfP1cJgC&pg=PA155#v=onepage&q&f=false
      4. ↑ https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED188993.pdf
      5. ↑ https://www.stcypriansprimaryacademy.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Year-4-Week-9-Day-3-1.pdf
      6. ↑ https://anikefoundation.org/african-folktales/ananse-and-the-pot-of-wisdom
      7. ↑ https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095535192
      8. ↑ https://schoolmanagementbooks.s3.af-south-1.amazonaws.com/school-books/spelling-bee-resources/How-the-ostrich-got-a-long-neck.pdf
      9. ↑ https://www.kidsworldfun.com/short-stories/why-the-hippo-doesnt-eat-fish.php
      10. ↑ https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2017/05/11/527459106/tar-baby-a-folktale-about-food-rights-rooted-in-the-inequalities-of-slavery
      11. ↑ https://paradisevalley.libguides.com/ENH251/african-myths
      12. ↑ https://lithub.com/5-essential-books-for-better-understanding-african-folklore/

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