Mbombe
Mongo · demigod · Mongo traditional religion; continuing · Recorded classification
Mbombe is one of the great female figures of the Nsong'a Lianja epic, a woman of such strength that she throws every suitor in wrestling until Itonde-Ilele alone defeats and so wins her. Her pregnancy is a marvel: she brings forth in turn insects, birds, animals and entire human communities, and finally the hero Lianja, who emerges fully armed from her shin together with his twin sister Nsongo. Modern criticism reads her as a 'Lady of Wisdom' whose counsel against vengeance after her husband's murder sets the epic's ethic of peace, an ethic her children carry through their migration.
Children
Domains
- strength and wrestling
- wise counsel of peace
Powers
- to overpower any opponent in wrestling
- to bring forth animals, peoples and the hero from her own body
Epithets
- MbombeMukenge, K. (2018). 'L'héroïsme de la femme dans l'épopée africaine... Nsongo'a Lianja: l'épopée nationale des Nkundo.' Literator 39(1). (secondary)
Relations
- spouse: ItondeMbombe marries Itonde-Ilele, the only suitor able to defeat her, and bears him Lianja and Nsongo.Scheub, H. (2000). A Dictionary of African Mythology: The Mythmaker as Storyteller. Oxford: Oxford University Press. (secondary)
Sources
- Mbombe is the mighty wrestling-woman and peace-counselling wife of Itonde-Ilele who gives birth to the hero Lianja from her leg and to his twin Nsongo.: Scheub, H. (2000). A Dictionary of African Mythology: The Mythmaker as Storyteller. Oxford: Oxford University Press. (secondary); Mukenge, K. (2018). 'L'héroïsme de la femme dans l'épopée africaine... Nsongo'a Lianja: l'épopée nationale des Nkundo.' Literator 39(1). (secondary)