Kabungulu
Lega · mortal · Lega traditional religion; continuing · mortal
Kabungulu is the senior wife of the epic hero Mubila and the effective co-protagonist of the Lega heroic narrative sung by the bard Kambara Mubila and recorded by Daniel Biebuyck in 1953. Repeatedly, when Mubila is checked or overwhelmed, she intervenes decisively: she vanquishes enemies with a sweep of her loincloth, enters hostile villages in the guise of a runaway woman to undo warriors such as Bungoe, Kyugukige, and Kamembe, and twice brings the slain Mubila back to life with an eye-philter. She is the mother of the hero's only son, Zakeuti. Recent scholarship emphasizes that the boastful hero would not prevail without her, reading the epic as a meditation on complementary male and female power among the Lega.
Domains
- heroism
- magic
Powers
- to vanquish enemies with a mere sweep of her loincloth
- to bring the slain back to life with a medicinal eye-philter
- to undo enemy strongholds by entering them disguised as a runaway woman
Relations
- spouse: Mubila
Sources
- Biebuyck, Brunhilde. "A Boastful Man Borne by a Brave Woman: The Mubila Epic of the Lega (Democratic Republic of the Congo)." AOQU (Achilles Orlando Quixote Ulysses): Rivista di epica 4, no. 2 (2023): 135–148. DOI 10.54103/2724-3346/22203
- Biebuyck, Daniel P. "Mubila Epic (Lega, DRC): English Synopsis and Comments." Manuscript published at danielbiebuyck.com, 2016 (fieldwork recording 1953)