Tradition / Region: Sudanese Mythology
Alternative names: Lioness-Girl Aluel
Category: Lion
The Myth
Aluel was a terrifying lioness-woman from Dinka mythology who lived between the human world and the wilderness. She appeared as a supernatural young woman but possessed the nature and strength of a monstrous lioness. Wild, powerful, and feared, she hunted human beings and moved through the bush with unnatural speed and ferocity. Some stories describe her almost like a spirit of the untamed land itself.
Aluel became obsessed with a girl named Atholong, whose beauty had spread across the cattle camps. Atholong had been raised from birth by a man named Chol, who loved her from the moment she was born and later intended to marry her. When Aluel heard of the girl’s beauty, she secretly came to the cattle-camp and hid nearby, waiting for a chance to seize her.
One night Atholong wandered near the edge of the camp, and Aluel attacked. The lioness seized her and carried her away deep into the wilderness. Aluel was so powerful and wild that she could fly through the air while carrying her victim. Yet after taking Atholong, she found herself unable to kill her. Each time she prepared to devour the girl, she became overwhelmed by her beauty and delayed the act again. Instead, she brought her meat, cared for her, and kept her hidden in the forest.
The two lived together for a long time in the bush. Atholong would sing mournful songs about her disappearance and about Chol, while Aluel answered her from the darkness of the forest. Eventually warriors from the cattle-camp tried to rescue the girl, but all fled in terror when they encountered the lioness. Even Atholong’s former suitor failed to face her. Only Chol continued onward alone, carrying many sharpened spears.
When Chol finally reached the place where Atholong was held, Aluel was preparing a special platform covered with grass so the girl’s skin would not touch dirt when she ate her. Before fighting, the lioness repeatedly transformed herself into a more savage and monstrous form. Her tongue changed color from red to green to nearly black as she became fully wild and supernatural. Only then did Chol attack her with his spear.
Mortally wounded, Aluel accepted death calmly. Before dying, she blessed Atholong’s future marriage and children. She ordered Chol and Atholong to dedicate a calf to her spirit once their first daughter married, promising fertility, health, and prosperity in return. Chol later fulfilled the command, and Atholong gave birth to many children, becoming the ancestor of a vast family.
Sources
Deng, F. M. (1974). Dinka folktales: African stories from the Sudan. New York: Africana Publishing Company.