Zulu Mountain dweller Mythology Archives

The Myth

When Untombinde, the king’s daughter, set out for the sacred pools of the Ilulange River, her parents warned her not to go. She ignored them and traveled there with two hundred maidens as her escort.

At the river they bathed and played in the water. But when they came out, their clothes, jewels, and bracelets were gone. They had been taken by Isiququmadevu.

The monster was a vast, bloated being with an enormous mouth, said to be large enough to swallow whole villages. Terrified, the maidens begged for their possessions back. One by one, as they pleaded, the monster returned their things. At last only Untombinde remained.

The others urged her to beg the creature for mercy, but she refused proudly, saying she would not humble herself before it. At once Isiququmadevu seized her and dragged her into the pool.

When King Usikulumi heard what had happened, he sent his army to kill the monster. But Isiququmadevu rose up and swallowed the entire force in one gulp. She then went to the village and devoured everyone there—men, women, children, and cattle—leaving only one man alive. Among the swallowed were his twin children.

The man armed himself with a spear and went in search of the creature. Along the way he asked the animals he met where she had gone, and each told him, “Forward, forward.”

At last he found Isiququmadevu, swollen from all she had eaten and resting in the forest. When he declared that he had come for his children, the monster again tried to mislead him, saying only, “Forward, forward.” But he attacked her with his spear and killed her.

He cut open her body, and from inside came the army, the villagers, and the cattle, all alive. Untombinde came out last.

Other tales tell how a young woman named Usitungusobenthle once cut open the sleeping monster and freed a village she had swallowed, and how a princess named Uluthlazase escaped her by refusing to release her clothes and fleeing while the creature went to seek help.

Thus Isiququmadevu is remembered as a devouring monster who swallows whole communities, yet can be overcome by courage and determination.

Tradition / Region: Zulu mythology, South African Mythology
Alternate Names: Basket-bearer
Category: Mountain dweller, Hyena

The Myth

Among the Zulu people there was once a feared creature called the Isitwalangcengce—the Basket-bearer.

It was shaped somewhat like a hyena, low and powerful, but its most terrible feature was its head. Its skull was shaped like a woven basket, hollow within, with an opening at the top. Into this living basket it placed its victims.

The Isitwalangcengce was immensely strong. Even the bravest warrior could be overcome by it. It did not attack at random, but chose its moments carefully. On feast days, when meat was freshly butchered and children carried portions from house to house, the monster crept near the village. It hid beside doorways or behind fences, waiting in silence.

When a child passed close enough, the Isitwalangcengce would seize them in an instant and thrust them into the hollow of its basket-head. Then it would run off into the bush before anyone realized what had happened.

The creature did not eat its prey whole. It had a favorite rock somewhere in the wilderness. There it would smash the heads of its captives against the stone and lap up their brains, leaving the rest of the body behind.

Yet for all its strength, the Isitwalangcengce was foolish.

Once, a man was captured and carried away inside the creature’s head. As they passed through thick bush, he reached out quietly and snapped off branches, stuffing them into the hollow around him. When the cavity was filled with twigs and leaves, he grasped a tree and pulled himself free, leaving the basket-head still heavy with branches.

The Isitwalangcengce noticed nothing. It continued on to its rock. Only when it tipped its head to pour out its meal did a heap of branches tumble onto the stone instead of a victim. By then, the man was long gone.

When he returned safely to the village, he told everyone exactly how he had escaped. Word spread quickly. From then on, if anyone was seized, they knew what to do—fill the monster’s head with branches and slip away.

With its trick discovered, the Isitwalangcengce lost much of its terror. Over time it became little more than a warning told to children: behave, or the Basket-bearer will carry you off.

And the children, hearing the tale, smile quietly—because they know the way out.

Gallery

Sources

abookofcreatures.com contributors. (n.d.). Isitwalangcengce. In abookofcreatures.com, from https://abookofcreatures.com/2015/03/23/isitwalangcengce/

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