Faran Maka the Fisher-Giant

Hero/culture-hero tier entered as demigod: son of a mortal fisherman (Nisile Bote) and a river-spirit (Maka). 'Bote' = fisherman. The sorko priest-bards trace their line to him. Principal scholarship: Stoller (1989); Rouch (1960/1989).

Domains

• fishing river mastery
• magic sorcery

Powers

• to overpower river-spirits with greater magic
• to harpoon hippopotamus in the great river
• wield the strength of a giant
• win mastery of the Niger by defeating Zinkibaru

Relations

• enemy: Lord of the River-Spirits
• student: Thunder

Sources

• Paul Stoller, Fusion of the Worlds: An Ethnography of Possession among the Songhay of Niger (1989), esp. ch. 4 on sorko descended from Faran Maka Bote
• Jean Rouch, La religion et la magie songhay (1960/1989)