Inkanyamba

In this week's episode, we're going over to South Africa for an epic Zulu monster, the Inkanyamba! What happens when you look this monster in the eye? Why is it considered a storm-bringer? Find out this week!

Transcript

INTRO:
Hello and welcome to Myth Monsters, my name is Erin and I’ll be your host for these little snack bite size podcasts on folklore and mythical monsters from around the world. 

These podcasts focus on the actual cryptids, folklore and mythic monsters from global mythology, rather than focusing on full stories of heroes and their big adventures.

I’ll also be dropping in some references that they have to recent culture and where you can see these represented in modern day content so you can learn more, and get as obsessed as I am about these absolute legends of the mythological world.

Well I spent my weekend at the British Museum this week, and it’s my second time visiting and I really feel that there aren’t enough British things in it to call it the British Museum. I cry every time I see the Lost Caryatid and seeing the mummies and ancient Mesopotomian items just makes me a little sad shoved in a corner in a museum in a country that stole them. 

DESCRIPTION:

Speaking of the British stealing things, let’s head over to South Africa this week where we’re focusing on a Zulu monster and one that is truly epic from this part of the world. We’re looking at the fearsome Inkanyamba from Zulu mythology in this episode. 

A precursor that I must include in this episode and to be honest, a lot of episodes, is that I speak English and German and the only helpful guide I have for pronunciation is Google and YouTube, so please forgive me if I butcher pronunciations - these aren’t languages I know I’m afraid. 

And don’t leave me shirty comments saying so, if you want to help me get better and you know how to pronounce something, leave me a kind phonetic note and I’ll get it for next time. I’m trying to learn with limited resources sometimes, so please just be kind.

So what is the Inkanyamba? They are typically described as huge eel-like serpents with a horse’s head, with a bladed fin mane and fins. It is sometimes noted that it has stripes like a zebra, or shiny iridescent scales, sometimes it’s got sharp teeth like a barracuda, but the tellings are also quite vague bar the fact it’s a serpent or eel with a horse head. 

They are massive, as I said, but I mean really big. In most interpretations, they are considered to be around 9 meters long, which is about 30 feet and are even mentioned sometimes to have bat-like wings with around the same wingspan. In some legends though, they’re completely invisible - so you may never see this slimy nightmare anyway.

The Inkanyamba is considered a species, not a specific lone monster - there are just a few that are prolific and solo in certain places. They are aquatic, rain monsters, living mostly in waterfalls and lakes, with the most famous and feared of them all living in Howick Falls in South Africa. They are also known to migrate in the summer months, and when they do, they fly over the land and in their path leave storms in their wake. 

Speaking of which they have mystical powers, including the big one which is control over the weather. They can conjure storms, tornadoes, hail, rain and thunder, when the males look for a mate, they are said to cause huge tornadoes and when angered, bitter storms that can cause houses to lift from their foundations and rivers to burst their banks.

As well as this, they can change their size and when they leave their watery home, grow to massive sizes to traverse the landscape through the air, only to shrink back down when comfortably back in the water. It’s common for them to mistake reflective or blue roofs as pools of water, which means the locals tend to paint their roofs black to avoid their attention. 

You also typically want to avoid any attention from this sea snake, it’s said to meet its gaze is an invitation to death or at least, serious misfortune. People are so scared of this monster that they avoid saying its name, so I think I’m invoking an attack any day now. 

The Inkanyamba don’t generally eat people, but they are carnivorous and not fond of us, so they wouldn’t turn down a human snack from time to time if available. However, they usually eat pigs, sheep, cows and goats, which locals will sacrifice to appease their stormy natures too. They are considered malevolent though, so it’s a good idea to stay as far away as possible and avoid attracting them at all costs.

We assume that they are immortal and invulnerable, as there are no tellings of them ever being defeated or killed, and we know there are both male and female versions and they mate, which we assume is in the usual reptilian or fish way with eggs. They’re incredibly territorial though, and some of them have been spotted fighting with each other viciously, whether it’s over terrain or mates, we’re not entirely sure. 

In most legends though, the Inkanyamba is depicted as a spiritual being, between the living and ancestral spirits of the land. They are sometimes seen as a guardian or a conduit for divine justice, capable of both protecting and punishing communities. They also have influence over the fertility of the land and the well-being of those who depend on these natural resources within these communities. 

ORIGIN:

Moving on to etymology, the word Inkanyamba is from the Zulu language meaning Lord of the Waters, however, there are other names for it such as Inkosanyama yamanzi meaning the same or Inkanyamba ye Nkosi yamangozi meaning The Inkanyamba, Lord of Storms. However, it is also referred to as just Nkanyamba or Inkanyezi - which is just another version of the word Inkanyamba. 

For their history, the legend is ancient and we know this because they have been depicted in ancient cave paintings in KwaZulu-Natal with horns, crests along their backs, and water spewing from their mouths. Archaeologists have actually come to refer to them as “rain animals” due to their association with those summer storms too because of these depictions.

They were first officially spotted though in 1962 by a game ranger, and again in 1974 and 1981 by a caretaker. Then in the 1990’s, it became bigger news as in 1995 there was a spotting in Howick Falls and in 1996, a local newspaper offered a reward for anyone who could produce photographic evidence of them. Two photographs were published, but neither of them were great at showing the monster, and were accused of being hoaxes. However, this stirred huge interest in the Inkanyamba and in May of the same year, there was a rumour that the South African government were trying to capture one and take it to a protected area. The local Zulu population were horrified and scared it might cause issues locally with the creature trying to fight back or get revenge for being displaced. 

A year later too, another mythical creature was spotted in these parts - the Mamlambo, a giant crocodilian creature, making KwaZulu-Natal a hot spot for monster hunting. I’ll cover this in another episode down the line for a full investigation into this one. As late as 1998, the local residents blamed violent Inkanyamba for a horrendous storm where literally thousands of people lost their homes and this is linked to the yearly mating migration tornado of the monster. 

So what could this monster be? Well the theory is that this is a species of giant eel, which do exist - eels do get big, especially in hotter climates - however, they definitely cannot control the weather or fly, so that is yet to be explained by local science. However, what we do know is that they are a good hint to respect local wildlife and nature as well as the natural balance. 

They’re also quite impactful in South African identity, especially within the KwaZulu-Natal region, which was dominated by the British back in 1843 where the Brits pushed out the native Zulu and Xhosa people and the rest of South Africa being settled in by the Dutch throughout the 1600’s to establish Asian trading posts as a stopover. So any legends from this part of the country that pre-date these colonialisms are really important and are treasured by the locals, and certainly should be as a flagship of South African and Zulu heritage and history.

Now moving onto mythical comparisons, we don’t have a crazy amount of sea serpents that are malevolent without them becoming godly at some point. Of course, we have the Norse Jormungandr, the world serpent who exists across the world’s oceans and generally doesn’t like people too much - however, technically, they are a god and are sentient so the comparison is just more that they have a snake body.

We also have the Yacumama, the water-snake monster from Amazonian folklore, who also protects the natural world and the waters of her home, as well as being a mega big anaconda-like snake. It’s also said that she controls the weather and is able to shapeshift, so this is probably our closest match.

CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE: 

Now onto modern media, we don’t have anything specific for the Inkanyamba I’m afraid, however, I’ve filled this out with sea serpents because it’s probably the best fit honestly.

For art, have a look at independent work this week as there’s not much going in terms of older portraits or drawings. There are some really cool bits on deviantart and other platforms, so go have a look at what these cool monsters look like.

In movies, we have; The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Dragons: A Fantasy Made Real, The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, Atragon, The Sea Serpent & Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire.

For TV, we have; Mystery Hunters, Touche Turtle and Dum Dum, The X-Files, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Primeval: New World, Babar, The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power, Bozo: The World's Most Famous Clown, Care Bears, Gertie the Dinosaur, The Secret Saturdays, The Greatest American Hero, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Beany and Cecil, Ninjago, Ultraman Dyna, The Life and Times of Juniper Lee, Courage the Cowardly Dog, Porky Pig & Encantadia.

In video games, we have ones such as; Final Fantasy, Dead in Vinland, Hero of Sparta 2, Golden Sun, Age of Mythology, Subnautica, Monster Hunter 4, The Legend of Zelda, The Sims 2, Pokemon, ULTRAKILL, Dragon City, Valheim, Octopath Traveller 2, Dwarf Fortress, Pandora’s Box, The Walking Zombie 2, Disciples, Might and Magic 4, Kingdom Rush: Origins, Horn of the Abyss, Kong: Survivor Instinct, Blood Money, Age of Wonders, Krut: The Mythic Wings, Bug Fables, Demon Hunter: The Return of the Wings, Equestria at War, DragonFable & Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze.

I have a couple of book recommendations this week, including African Mythology by Amadou Sissoko, African Myths by JK Jackson, African and Caribbean Folktales, Myths and Legends by Wendy Shearer & The Watkins Book of African Folklore by Helen Nde for some great looks into the mythology from the beautiful continent of Africa.

DO I THINK THEY EXISTED? 

Now it’s time for, do I think they existed?

Look, you might know what I’m going to say and I stand by that any river or water creatures have plausible deniability. We don’t know enough about the water and what lives in them within any of these environments to make a solid judgment, and hey, Nessie in Scotland is a prime example of one that most of us consider a mythical beast, but there still is a chance and we all do want to believe these creatures exist. 

With all of these, of course we also want to say that if they did exist, we would know by now, but that simply isn’t true - look at the amount of creatures we discover on land every year, let alone in deep sea and river beds across the planet. We’re incredibly lucky to share our world with a lot of creatures we know exist and don’t know exist and I believe any sea, river or lake monster could totally be a part of this and you won’t convince me otherwise. This is my personal opinion though, you might not agree with me here, but this is the hill I will die on.

I will be honest though, I don’t know if I do want a creature that can kill me in a glance or rip my house off the ground to exist. I think they’re super cool, and I think again, they’re a great nod to the South African heritage and folklore, but do I want to be minding my own business when I catch a glimpse of a horse-headed eel looking at me and then I just die? No, and honestly you wouldn’t catch me looking away from such an odd sight either - it’s like a car crash, you just can’t look away. 

But again, I love the idea of this monster and I like that there’s almost a specific tourist spot where you can venture to go and see one, although I would bet that any local wouldn’t take you there on a tour in fear of disrespecting the beast lurking in the water - also go look at this waterfall on Google because it is a gorgeous bit of nature for anything to be living in, but it’s nice to look at too.

But what do you think? Did the Inkanyamba lie in wait ready to bring rain and curse passersby? Let me know on social media!

OUTRO: 

I wasn’t dreading covering this one, but I originally found sources to be quite sparse on this monster and thankfully I managed to find a couple of bits in my massive folklore book collection to help me through this - and I really enjoyed it in the end, so I hope you did too and if I have any South African listeners, I hope I did this monster proud for you.

Next time, we’re heading over to a belief system rather than a place and looking at a creature from Hindu mythology. One of the stunning forms of Lord Shiva, be prepared to gawk in awe of the majestic Sharabha next time on the show.

For now, thank you so much for listening, it’s been an absolute pleasure. If you enjoyed this podcast, please give it a rating on the service you’re listening on - I’ve got loads of social media for any questions, or suggestions on what monsters to cover next and I’d love to hear from you. The social media handles for Tiktok, YouTube and Instagram are mythmonsterspodcast, twitter is mythmonsterspod and BlueSky is mythmonsters. But all of our content can be found at mythmonsters.co.uk, and you can also find us on Goodpods, Buymeacoffee and Patreon if you want to help me fund the podcast too.

Come join the fun though and share this with your pals, they might love me as much as you do.

But for now, stay spooky and I’ll see you later babes.