15 great African legends (and their meaning)

There is much to learn from Africa and its people. It is neither more nor less than the origin of humanity, since it was there that the first hominids emerged. It is currently a continent that is home to multiple countries and tribes.

Although many things unite them, it is also true that the different cultures that come together in this continent make it one with great cultural richness. Tribes keep ancestral knowledge and African legends are a good way to get closer to them.

15 African legends that will teach you about life

Legends are an easy way to pass on teachings. Although it is very useful to explain to the little ones some complex concepts, it is also they themselves become treasures and legacies of a culture.

African culture has a lot to teach the world. His worldview is full of a deep human sense, of the importance of the community and of the connection of the human being with nature. In order to understand a little about these teachings, we have compiled 15 African legends that you will love.

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1. The creation of the world

On the African continent there are many legends about the creation of the world. Because there are multiple tribes, each one has its own version and it is difficult to unify them. This legend about the creation of the world is from the Boshongo tribe.

Legend has it that at first there was only darkness, water and the creator god Bumba. One day the god had a great stomach ache and vomited. That vomited was the sun and with it, the light and heat that in turn generated dry land. Days later Bumba vomited again and the moon and stars appeared. After a third discomfort, the animals, the lightning bolt and the human being appeared.

Bumba's god sons began to finish his father's work, but the lightning began to cause a lot of trouble and Bumba decided to lock him up in the sky. Then they ran out of fire, but Bumba taught them to create fire using wood. Bumba told them that all of this belonged to them now and to never forget that he had been the creator.

2. The legend of the baobab

The legend of the baobab is a story that talks about pride. It is also a way of explaining to children the reason for the shape of these typical trees of the African savannah. The legend begins by explaining that a long time ago, the baobab was the most beautiful tree among all the trees in Africa.

Everyone was captivated by its strong branches, soft bark, and flowers, which were beautiful in color. The gods had also given it longevity, and the baobab took advantage of this to grow more and become stronger. But this caused its branches to cover the sun and the rest of the trees to grow in the dark.

The baobab challenged the gods by telling them that it would grow up to heaven. But then they realized his pride and punished him. From that moment on, this tree grew upside down, with its flowers facing downwards and its roots facing the sky. For that reason the baobab has such a strange shape.

3. The elephant and the rain

This legend about the elephant and the rain is a story to remember how important water is. In addition, it also has a teaching about sharing. It is said that many years ago, an elephant told the rain that she was surely very happy because thanks to the rain, everything was green and flowers appeared.

But after this he challenged her by asking her what would happen if the elephant started uprooting the plants. The rain got upset and warned him that if he did, he would stop sending water to the ground. The elephant did not listen and began to trample the flowers and knock down the trees until nothing was left standing. Then the rain stopped sending water.

One day the elephant began to get very thirsty. He was so thirsty that he spoke to the rooster to ask him to go talk to the rain and ask for water. The rain accepted. He poured water over the elephant's house and a puddle formed, but the elephant did not let any other animals drink water from there. Many thirsty animals arrived, but the rooster, whom the elephant left as guardian, would not let them drink.

The lion did not listen and told him that he would still drink water from the pool. In doing so, the other animals decided to do the same. When the elephant returned, there was almost no water left. But he didn't get mad, and instead he realized how selfish he had been when everyone needed water.

The rain realized this and decided to send water back to the ground, which caused everything to sprout again. Since then everyone knows that water must be cared for and shared.

4. The legend of the lake of Antañavo

The legend of the lake of Antañavo belongs to a tribe of Madagascar. The lake of Antañavo is considered sacred and it is believed that its waters should not be touched with the body. This legend explains how this lake appeared.

It is said that formerly there was a prosperous town where there was a couple with a small baby. One day the baby was crying and his mother tried to comfort him and she decided to go for a walk with the child hoping that this would calm him down. She came to a tree where the women were grinding rice and sitting there the baby calmed down and slept. When the woman tried to go home, the baby cried again, the mother returned to the same tree, and the baby calmed down. This happened many times, until the mother decided that it was better to sleep under the tree.

Suddenly the entire town disappeared, sinking into the waters in front of the mother's eyes. She ran to tell the neighboring towns what happened and since then they considered that place as a sacred place. The crocodiles that currently live in this lake are said to be the souls of the villagers.

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5. The hyena and the hare

This African legend explains why hyenas have scratched skin. Also talks about lies and selfishness. This legend tells that a long time ago there lived a hyena and a hare that were very good friends. The hyena was a liar and deceived the hare, stealing every fish the hare caught.

This was so because the hyena invented games where the prize was the fish that the hare had obtained. But the hyena always cheated, so one day the hare got tired and she told the hyena that that day she would eat the fish alone. But the hyena convinced her not to do it because it was too big a fish for her small stomach.

However, the hare told her that she did not care about her and that she would put it on the coals and then eat it in pieces. The hyena tried to steal the fish while the hare slept, but when she went to take the fish from the embers the hare got up and took the grill, with which she lashed out at the hyena that was howling in pain. The hyena ended up with her body marked with the bars of the grill and since then hyenas have scratched skin.

6. The legend of the tree of history

This legend is about time travel. It is counted in Tanzania, in the Chagga tribe. It is said that once a young man and his friends went to collect herbs, when they found a place where a large number of herbs were seen. One of the girls fell into a muddy area and sank completely.

Her friends tried to get her out of there, but they couldn't do anything. They ran to the village to tell their parents. They asked the rest of the town for help and went together to the place where the young woman had disappeared. An old sage from the village told him to slaughter a sheep and a cow to get some help.

They did so, and they could hear the girl's voice, though farther and farther. Some time later, a very large tree grew in that place. One day two young men climbed the tree, when suddenly they began to shout that they were being taken to the past. They disappeared after these words, giving the tree its title of "tree of history"

7. Crocodile skin

The legend of the crocodile skin talk about being too conceited. This story comes from Namibia and is a way of explaining to children that seeking the admiration of others and being conceited can lead to actions with bad consequences.

This legend tells that many years ago, the skin of crocodiles was smooth and golden. It was also true that they went under water all day and only came out at night. When they came out of the water, the moon reflected on their skin and all the animals were surprised to see their beautiful skin. The crocodiles, proud of their skin, also began to go out during the day for the other animals to observe them.

Because of this, the animals began to go to drink water day and night to see the beautiful crocodiles. But then it happened that the sun began to dry out the crocodile skin, which was getting uglier every day. The other animals stopped admiring their skin and the crocodiles ended up with wrinkled and unpleasant skin, ceasing to cause so much admiration.

8. The origin of death

This legend about the origin of death belongs to the Zulu tribe. It is a story that, unlike others, does not talk about life and creation but about death and destruction., which are also part of life.

This legend says that after the creation of man, he did not know if he was eternal or not. Then Unkulunkulo, the creative deity, gave him immortality. To warn the man that he had this gift, he sent the chameleon Unawabu. But on the way he stopped to eat and for this reason he took longer to get the message across.

Unkulunkulo was waiting to receive the thanks for granting them immortality, but as he did not receive any messages he thought that men were ungrateful and decided that humans they would die. He sent the lizard to give them the message, which without any distraction went to deliver it. For this reason human beings are mortal and our destiny is to die.

9. The fox and the camel

The story of the fox and the camel is great to teach children a lesson. This legend belongs to South Sudan. It is said that Awan, a very intelligent fox, was very fond of lizards. He had eaten all the ones on one side of the river, but he knew there were even more lizards on the other side.

But Awan couldn't go to the other side because he couldn't swim. So he went with his friend Zorol, the camel, and told her that he wanted to take him to a place where there was a lot of barley. Zorol agreed and mounted him on his hump. Awan took Zorol across the river and took him to the barley field while he looked for lizards. After eating a few, he started screaming and running through the barley field.

The owners heard the screams and with sticks and stones they tried to scare the fox away. When they got to the field, they saw Zorol and, thinking that he was the cause of the screams, they beat him up. When Awan came to see him, Zorol said, “Why did you scream like crazy? They hurt me because of you. ”, To which Awan replied,“ I have a habit of running and screaming after eating lizards ”.

Zorol and Awan returned home, Awan again mounted on Zorol, but as he entered the river the camel began to wobble. Awan said, “What are you doing? I can't swim, don't do that. " To which Zorol replied: "I have a habit of dancing after eating barley." Awan fell into the water with a good lesson.

10. The legend of Bamako

The legend of Bamako it is an explanation about the origin of the moon. This story tells that at the beginning of time, the earth was accompanied only by the sun. So when the night came it was all in total darkness and the thugs could do their misdeeds without being seen. One day there was an attack in the village of a young woman named Bamako.

Villagers could not see their attackers and defend themselves, and this situation was constantly repeated as Bamako was saddened without being able to do anything. One day the god N’togini appeared to her in a dream and told her that if she agreed to marry her son, he would take her to heaven and then she could shine light to prevent the attackers from coming.

Bamako accepted. The god told her that she should climb the largest rock that was next to the river to jump off it and that her future husband would be there to support her and raise her to heaven. This is what Bamako did and transformed it into the moon. In this way, the villagers were able to fight the attackers and defeat them.

11. Cheetah spots

The legend of the cheetah explains the origin of the peculiar spots of this feline, in addition to teaching the value of respect. It is said that a mother cheetah was returning from catching prey for her cubs, when a deception by the hunter made her believe that she had captured them, so she released the prey and went to look for them.

She looked for them without success and when she returned she realized that the prey that she had hunted for food was not there either. Then he cried and cried a lot until his tears created stains on his skin. In addition, his cubs still did not appear. Little by little the cubs returned and the hunter was punished by other humans for having done wrong.

From that moment the spots on the cheetah remained as a reminder that the sacred traditions of hunting must prevail and above all be respected. The cheetah became a symbol of love and respect.

12. The legend of Ayana and the spirit of the tree

The legend of Ayana and the spirit of the tree it is a story about love beyond death.

Ayana was a little girl who was orphaned of a mother. Shortly after her her father married again, but her stepmother was not very affectionate towards her. Young Ayana went every day to visit her mother's grave and she watched a tree grow there, which grew into a large tree.

One day, while at her grave, he heard the wind whisper to him that she could eat a fruit from the great tree and that her mother was always with her. When Ayana ate the fruit, she realized that they were really delicious and that it lessened her sorrow. So every day she ate a fruit from this tree, until her stepmother found out about it and she sent her husband to cut it down.

Ayana cried for the loss of the tree and until one day she poked a pumpkin out of the ground. When she opened it she realized that the nectar had a different flavor and that by drinking it she also calmed her pain. Her stepmother found out again and sent her father to cut the pumpkin. Ayana started crying again, then a stream came up and Ayana drank from it.

The stream had the same properties as the pumpkin and the tree, so the stepmother had the river covered. Ayana was at her mother's grave when a passing hunter asked permission to cut wood from the dead tree, as he found her ideal for making a bow and arrows. Ayana accepted and fell in love with him.

When she asked her father for permission to marry the hunter, he told her that she would only allow it if she was able to prove that he was worthy of her, and for that she had to hunt 12 buffalo. The hunter had never been able to hunt one before, but he decided to give it a try. His surprise was that he was able to hunt the buffalo with ease. Thus Ayana was able to marry and leave the home of her father and her horrible stepmother, thanks to the blessing of her mother.

13. The legend of Anansi and the expansion of wisdom

The legend of Anansi explains why wisdom is everywhere.

Father Ananzi, who was a wise old man, existed many years ago. All the people came to him for advice and to learn from him. but one day people behaved incorrectly and Ananzi decided to deprive them of wisdom, and take away what he had already given them, so he put all the wisdom in a large vase and went to hide it so that no one would find it.

When he left his house to hide the vase, his son Kweku noticed that something strange was happening and went after him to try to discover what his father was up to. Then Anansi climbed some very tall palm trees while he held the jug with a rope, tied in front. This prevented him from climbing quickly and he was making it quite difficult to carry out the work.

Then Kweku yelled at him from below that the best way to climb was to hang the vase on his back. Ananzi realized that what his son said was true, and told him that he had believed that he contained all the wisdom in that vase, but now he realized that it was not so.

He realized that his son had been wiser than him and decided to throw the vase with all his might through the air as far as possible.. The vase hit a large stone and broke into many pieces. This is how the wisdom contained in the vase was spilled, spreading throughout all areas of the earth.

14. The origin of man in the hands of Mukulu

The legend about the origin of man in the hands of Mukulu is a way of explaining where the human being comes from. This legend tells that Mukulu, the great god who was also the god of agriculture, after creating the world thought that it needed a species that, in addition to enjoying his work, would take care of it.

Then Mukulu dug two holes in the earth from where the first man and the first woman emerged.. Mukulu taught them to tend and cultivate the fields so that they could feed themselves, but as the days passed, the couple stopped working and taking care of the world. Plants died and fields became deserts.

So Mukulu called a couple of monkeys and taught them the same thing that he had taught humans. Unlike them, the monkeys took care of the field. For that reason the god decided to remove the tails from monkeys and put it on humans, to transform them into apes, while he turned monkeys into humans. It is from these ascended monkeys that the rest of humanity emerged.

15. The legend of Seetetelané

The legend of Seetetelané is a teaching about gratitude and bad vices.

It is said that a man lived very poorly. He had to hunt mice to survive and from fur to make his clothes. He was often hungry and cold, had no family or a partner to accompany him. So he spent his time hunting or getting drunk.

One day she found a huge ostrich egg, took it home, and left it there to eat later. When she came evening and she returned to her hut, she found the table set and prepared with mutton and bread. On one side of the ostrich egg was a beautiful woman named Seetetelané. The woman told him that from now on she would be her wife, with the only condition that he never called her "daughter of the ostrich egg", since she would then leave without ever returning.

The hunter accepted and decided never to drink again so as not to call her that in a delirium of her intoxication. Happy days passed and one day Seetetelané told him that she could make him the head of a tribe. The hunter accepted and Seetetelané granted him all kinds of goods, servants, slaves and riches.

This is how the hunter became the head of his tribe, until one day in a celebration, the man began to drink and behaved Aggressively with Seetetelané, who when trying to calm him received a push from the hunter, who also called her "Daughter of an egg of ostrich".

At that moment everything disappeared and the hunter felt cold and he saw that everything he had had disappeared. But what hurt him the most was the lack of Seetetelané. The man was very sorry for what he had done, but there was no turning back. Days later the man died in poverty and hunger.