Rainbow-Serpent that Girdles the World
Ewe · deity · primordial · deity
The rainbow-serpent who girdles and upholds the world, coiled in the sea — the principle of motion and wealth. The descriptive title leads name.primary; the Gbe name Da/Dã, the world-serpent name Aido-Hwedo and the Ewe rainbow-serpent name Anyi-eʋo stand in alt/etymology. Sex recorded 'dual': the serpent-power is paired/androgynous in the tradition (the Fon couple it as Aido-Hwedo and its female counterpart). Pre-existent cosmic serpent, NOT a begotten child of Mawu-Lisa — see SOLITARY flag. Typed deity. Documented for the Ewe by Ellis (1890) and for the cognate Fon by Herskovits (1938); compare the corpus figure fon_dan.
Domains
- cosmic serpent and world support
- the rainbow
- motion water and wealth
Powers
- Carry the creator through the cosmos and shape the contours of the land
- Coil beneath and around the world and uphold it in the sea
- Arch across the sky as the rainbow and draw up the waters
Epithets
- Aido-Hwedo
Relations
- equated with: Dan