Nkuba
Nyanga · deity · Nyanga traditional religion; continuing · Recorded classification
Nkuba, whose name is the Nyanga word for lightning, is the celestial divinity of the thunderbolt and one of the chief supernatural powers of the epic. Answering Mwindo's summons, he descends in seven lightning strokes to destroy the hero's foes and to shatter the fortifications of Tubondo. Yet the relationship is double-edged: the dragon Kirimu is Nkuba's cherished companion, and when Mwindo boastfully kills it, Nkuba seizes the hero and bears him into the sky, where the celestial beings drive him through burning heat and freezing cold until he abandons his arrogance. Nkuba thus embodies both the aid and the discipline that heaven extends to the over-reaching hero.
Domains
- lightning
- sky
Powers
- hurl the thunderbolt
Relations
- ally: MwindoDivine helper who strikes for Mwindo, though later his chastiser.Biebuyck & Mateene, The Mwindo Epic from the Banyanga, 1969. (primary)
- companion: KirimuThe dragon Kirimu is dear to Nkuba.Biebuyck & Mateene, The Mwindo Epic from the Banyanga, 1969. (primary)
Sources
- Nkuba is the lightning- and sky-divinity who intervenes as Mwindo's supernatural ally, but who, angered by the slaying of his friend the dragon Kirimu, carries the hero to the sky for chastisement.: Biebuyck & Mateene, The Mwindo Epic from the Banyanga, 1969. (primary); Scheub, A Dictionary of African Mythology, 2000, s.v. 'Nkuba'. (secondary)