Ryangombe

Half-divine son of Babinga (king of the imandwa-spirits) by Kalimulore (mortal-with-shapeshifter-powers, later renamed Nyiraryang'ombe "Mother of Ryang'ombe"). Prominent hunter-and-warrior whose social-norm-transgression (hunting-gambling-sexual-preoccupation, neglect of cultural-obligations) is both his power-source and his eventual undoing. Killed by a buffalo arranged by an unwed mother per the eponymous Werner tale-title. Apotheosized as king of the imandwa on Mount Muhavura (the Rwanda-Uganda border volcano) and Mount Karisimbi. Foundational figure of the Kubandwa cult of imandwa-veneration — the central Banyaruanda polytheistic religious system. The Burundi equivalent figure is Kiranga; the cult-pair (Ryangombe in Rwanda, Kiranga in Burundi) constitutes one of the major East-African demigod-deity-traditions.

Parentage

• Babinga
• Kalimulore

Children

• Binego

Domains

• founder of the kubandwa possession cult

Powers

• Found the salvific cult while dying
• Possess initiates in trance

Epithets

• Ryangombe

Relations

• father of: Binego

Sources

• A. C. Werner Myths and Legends of the Bantu (1933) ch. VIII (the foundational ethnographic compilation); Banyaruanda Kubandwa-cult initiatic narratives; Hutsebaut Kubandwa cult studies; J. J. Maquet 1954 ethnographic study; David Graeber HAU 2011 (comparative reference)
• Werner 1933 ch. VIII
• Werner 1933; Kubandwa-cult tradition