Founder culture-hero of the Nupe, the 'trickster-hero' of the request. A legendary king of semi-divine paternity (Igala royal line) raised above ordinary mortals; classed as demigod and as a culture-hero tier. His cycle carries trickster motifs (the impossible-fruit test).
Domains
kingship
culture founding
Powers
unite the scattered Nupe clans into one kingdom
pluck the unreachable palm-fruit by cunning
Epithets
Etsu Nupe
Sources
S. F. Nadel, A Black Byzantium: The Kingdom of Nupe in Nigeria (Oxford University Press, 1942).