Ogres

Dodo

Variations: Kadindi, Kaddodi, Kadda, Swallower-of-Men

Dodo

The Dodo is a monstrous humanoid creature from the folklore of the Hausa people. He can be found lurking in the deep forests and swamps of sub-Saharan West Africa, with a range including Sudan, Ghana, Nigeria, and the Côte d’Ivoire. The dodo has nothing in common with the extinct flightless bird of the same name, and probably was derived from tales of giant snakes.

Not much is known about a dodo’s appearance. He – for the dodo is always male – is the King of Beasts, and can just as easily be the lion, the python, the elephant, or the rhinoceros. A dodo is humanoid in appearance and large in size, as he has to stoop to get through doors. He has long, shaggy black hair. He has a keen sense of smell, and can detect meat from far away. He has some degree of magic powers, but cannot cross running water (paradoxically, dodos also live in ponds and streams). Most importantly, the dodo has a vast mouth glowing red from the inside, a seemingly infinite stomach capacity, and a taste for human flesh. As one of the African “swallowing monsters”, a dodo can easily engulf an entire village.

A dodo is often a self-invited guest, eating more and more until there is nothing left. This is not always a bad thing. Once a miser and his son were preparing to butcher a freshly-slaughtered ox in the forest, far from prying eyes. They decided to cook it in a nearby fire – a fire which turned out to be a dodo’s glowing, cavernous mouth.

“Well well”, said the dodo. “Who has invited me?” The miser, hoping to placate him, said “I did!” and gave him a leg of beef, which the dodo put away in his bag. “Does a man invite a friend to a feast for such a small morsel?” said the dodo. In response, the miser gave him another leg. “Does a man invite a friend to a feast for such a small morsel?” The next two legs followed, then half the bull, then the remainder of the bull. “Does a man invite a friend to a feast for such a small morsel?” “But there is nothing left!” protested the man. “You are also meat”, came the response. Terrified, the miser shoved his son forward, and the dodo tossed him into his bag. Finally, he grabbed the miser himself. “What about you?” he said, throwing him into his bag as well. The dodo went to collect firewood, but in the meantime the father and son managed to cut their way out of the bag and made their escape. The dodo returned, shrugged, and got a meal of roast beef. The miser vowed he would never be greedy again, and devoted the rest of his life to sharing his food and wealth with others.

While dodos readily eat meat, they are also fond of taking human women as their wives, sometimes fathering repulsive half-dodo children with them. Dodos like to strike bargains with prospective spouses, promising to help them for the price of marriage; sometimes those “bargains” are more straightforward, consisting of “Would you like me to eat you or marry you?” Such unions are never happy, and the wife will always try to escape her captor.

One dodo story tells of a young woman, pregnant with her first child, drawing water from a stream. Another woman, jealous of her companion and looking to get her scolded, threw dirt in her pot before leaving. But as the pregnant woman tried to carry her water pot, a dodo came out of the water and helped her with her load. Before she could protest, he stated “If you give birth to a boy, he will be my friend. If your child is a girl, she will be my wife”. And with that, he disappeared back into the water.

The mother soon gave birth, and her jealous rival was prompt to report the news to the dodo. “She gave birth to a girl”, she announced, and the dodo was immensely pleased. He was content to wait over the years, until the girl had become a woman as beautiful as her mother. On the day of the girl’s wedding, the jealous woman once more reported the news to the dodo, and he decided to show up uninvited.

“Kadindi has arrived”, he boomed, as everyone stared at him. “I have come to collect the payment I am due”. The daughter was obviously unhappy about marrying the monster, so instead her father gave the dodo a horse, part of the bride’s dowry. “Here is the payment for your debt”, he said, and the dodo swallowed the horse. But that was not enough. Next he ate all of the cattle, all of the wedding feast, all of the guests, and finally the father and mother. There was only the daughter left, and in desperation she prayed to the heavens. “Dodo has come to demand payment”, she implored. In response to her prayer, a knife fell out of the sky, and it was promptly swallowed as well – killing the dodo, cutting open his belly, and causing all the livestock, food, guests, and parents to come out unharmed. The wedding went on as planned.

References

Tremearne, A. J. N. (1913) Hausa Superstitions and Customs. J. Bale and Sons and Danielsson, Ltd., London.

Baxbakwalanuxsiwae

Variations: Baxbaxwalanuksiwe, Baxbakualanuxsi’wae, Baqbakualanusi’uae, Baqbakualanosi’uae, Baqbakualanuqsi’uae, Baqbakua’latle, Cannibal-at-the-North-End-of-the-World, He-Who-First-Ate-Man-at-the-Mouth-of-the-River, He-Who-First-Ate-Humans-on-the-Water, Ever-More-Perfect-Manifestation-of-the-Essence-of-Humanity, Man-Eater

Baxbaxwalanuksiwe

Baxbakwalanuxsiwae is the greatest and most terrifying of beings in Kwakwaka’wakw folklore. His name is alternately translated as “Cannibal-at-the-North-End-of-the-World” and “He-Who-First-Ate-Man-at-the-Mouth-of-the-River”; “Ever-More-Perfect-Manifestation-of-the-Essence-of-Humanity” is a more sanitized and euphemistic version. “Man-Eater” succinctly describes him. He is the central figure of the enigmatic Hamatsa, or “Cannibal” ceremony.

The appearance of Baxbakwalanuxsiwae is horrifying. He is anthropomorphic or bearlike in appearance. His entire body is covered in gaping, snapping, bloody mouths, and his call is “hap, hap, hap” (“eat, eat, eat”). His house is covered in red cedar bark, with blood-red smoke pouring out of the chimney.

He is attended by a number of equally vile creatures. His wife Qominaga, wearing red and white cedar bark, and his slave Kinqalalala, bring him his human meals. Qoaxqoaxualanuxsiwae, the “Raven-at-the-North-End-of-the-World”, pecks out his victims’ eyes. Hoxhogwaxtewae, “Hoxhok-of-the-Sky”, a giant crane, cracks skulls with its very long beak and devours the brains. Gelogudzayae (“Crooked-Beak-of-the-Sky”) and Nenstalit (“Grizzly-Bear-of-the-Door”) stand guard. These monstrous bird-ogres are all an extension of Baxbakwalanuxsiwae himself; they are his eyes and ears, and nothing can hide from them.

A wise shaman once encountered Baxbakwalanuxsiwae while hunting in the mountains. He was captured by Qominaga, who shouted to Baxbakwalanuxsiwae “come and devour him!” The man managed to squirm out of Qominaga’s grip, losing all his hair in the process, and was chased by Baxbakwalanuxsiwae through forests and caves. Eventually he tricked Baxbakwalanuxsiwae, luring him into a pit trap. The ogre and his wife fell into the pit and were incinerated; the shaman blew into the ashes, and they became the bloodthirsty mosquitoes of the Earth.

The Hamatsa ceremony itself tells the tale of Baxbakwalanuxsiwae possessing the young initiate, making him go into a frenzy where he gnashes, bites, and shouts “hap, hap, hap”. He is then symbolically exorcised, tamed, and inducted into the society. Baxbakwalanuxsiwae and his attendants are represented with spectacular, ornately carved masks worn by the Hamatsa dancers.

References

Boas, F. (1897) The Social Organization and the Secret Societies of the Kwakiutl Indians. Government Printing Office, Washington.

Bouchard, R. and Kennedy, D.; Bertz, D. trans. (2002) Indian Myths and Legends from the North Pacific Coast of America. Talonbooks.

Hays, H. R. (1975) Children of the Raven: The Seven Indian Nations of the Northwest Coast. McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York.

McDowell, J. (1997) Hamatsa: The Enigma of Cannibalism on the Pacific Northwest Coast. Ronsdale Press.

Kayeri

Variations: Kayéri, Cayeri

Kayeri

When it rains, the Kayeri are sure to appear. These creatures from the folklore of the Cuiva of Colombia and Venezuela are seasonal beings, seen in the rainy season and especially after a recent rainfall. In drier seasons they remain underground or underneath the roots of a tree, and use the holes made by ants to reach the surface. The presence of anthills in the rainy season is a sure sign of kayeri presence.

The appearance of a kayeri is nebulous at best. He is clearly humanoid in shape, and acts as such; he also has a yellow or blue-green hat. All the mushrooms of the forest are kayeri. The agouti, the broad-leaved unkuaju plant, and the Ficus vine are also kayeri, and dragonflies can become Kayeri. The coyoweri fruit is their invention. The only word in their vocabulary is “mu” or “mü“.

Kayeri are strong and run fast. They feed exclusively on cows, and they can easily pick up a cow and run away with it. When they eat a cow, they devour flesh, entrails, horn, hoof, and bone in one sitting, leaving nothing behind. The virile kayeri are bigamous by nature, and have two wives each, but they are fond of human females as well, whom they entrance and bewitch into coming to them. In addition to decimating herds of cattle, they rob, murder, kidnap, rape, and cause all sorts of evil.

The best way to kill a kayeri is to shoot it in the kidneys with a bone-tipped arrow, as they are quite invulnerable elsewhere. Once dead, the kayeri turns into a harmless stone.

One story is told of a hunter whose two daughters were abducted by a kayeri. The father managed to catch up with him and shoot him with a bone-tipped arrow before he could harm the daughters, and the kayeri fell into the river and became a pebble. As the family made for safety they could hear the ominous “mu, mu, mu” of kayeri beating trees with sticks, as they do when they are upset. “He fell out of his hammock and broke his back!” yelled the father, and they reached home without further trouble.

References

Arcand, B.; Coppens, W.; Kerr, I.; and Gómez, F. O.; Wilbert, J. and Simoneau, K. eds. (1991) Folk Literature of the Cuiva Indians. UCLA Latin American Center Publications, University of California, Los Angeles.

Munuanë

Variations: Munuane, Munuani

Munuane

Munuanë is either a single entity or an entire species of ogres native to the Guahibo people of Colombia and Venezuela. Many stories end with him being outsmarted and killed, which would be slightly inconvenient if he was one person.

Munuanë plies the waterways of the jungle on a makeshift raft. He is tall and powerful, with long grey hair, but his mouth is as toothless as a turtle’s. He loves eating human flesh, but his lack of teeth forces him to prepare his meals before eating them. Munuanë lacks eyes in his head, instead having them in his knees. Those eyes are his weak spot, as he is invulnerable everywhere but his knees. His wife is called Matasoropapénayo, or “Little-bone-of-the-crown”, and they live together in a hut in the deepest part of the jungle.

He is the “grandfather of fish”, and claims ownership over all the fish in the river. Fishermen are advised to bring in their catch as quickly as possible and not fish more than they need, as Munuanë hates greed, and mesmerizes overfishers into walking off ravines. Other times he shoots offenders with his arrow – Munuanë always carries around only one arrow, as he never misses his target. He is also an insatiable sexual predator, and his victims turn into termites.

It is said that a man once met Munuanë while out fishing, and did not manage to escape in time. Fortunately, Munuanë is not particularly bright, and accidentally shot the man’s reflection in the water instead of the man himself. By the time Munuanë had retrieved the arrow, his quarry had managed to swim away. Munuanë chased after the man and followed him to his village, where he ran rampant. But the man realized what Munuanë’s weakness was, shot him in the eye, and killed him instantly.

Such are the tales of Munuanë. Sometimes he is outsmarted by a powerful shaman. At other times a friendly spirit – Banajuli or Banaxuruni – is there to reveal his weak spot. Sometimes he is transformed into a rotten tree stump when he dies, with the arrow that killed him still embedded in the trunk. The entire forest cries out upon his death; he may be an ogre, but he also cares for the jungle and the fish of the river.

References

Kondo, R. L. W.; Kondo, V. F.; Maltoni, R.; Gómez, F. O.; Queixalós, F.; and Vargas, E.; Wilbert, J. and Simoneau, K. eds. (1992) Folk Literature of the Sikuani Indians. UCLA Latin American Center Publications, University of California, Los Angeles.