Miscellaneous Myths: Epic Of Mwindo
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- Опубліковано 29 чер 2017
- All right everybody! We've finally made it to a continent that isn't North America, Europe or Asia! Score one for branching out!
Today we're discussing the classic Nyanga epic of Mwindo, the abandoned-baby-turned-king-turned-dragonslayer-which-maybe-wasn't-actually-so-great-after-all. A true hero for the ages!
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So, he's taking care of his mom while still in the womb, makes a less painful entry into the world, and when he does can already walk, talk, and is indestructible?
Best. Baby. Ever.
Technically he's only indestructible AFTER he gets rescued by his aunt, but yeah.
@@kendallonian9753 that baby dug himself up from a grave, he may not have been born completely indestructible but it was pretty close already
If you have to give birth that's the way to do it.
Badass Baby Boy
I mean, let’s be real, the best baby ever is whatever baby your friends are sharing cute pics of on social media RN. All the sweetness, none of the upkeep!
Greek Sun God: Cool guy.
Egyptian Sun God: Old man.
African Sun God: *AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH*
*congolese
egypt is in africa...
@Fatima Zafar yeah ig, a majority of Egypt is in Africa, so if I had to put it in only one continent, Egypt would be it :/
Japanese Sun God: Waifu
@@KazorLOD I'm sorry WHAT?
I was taken aback that the story was so clean cut (no one permanently dies, theres a happy ever after, and nice simple morals) then I realized that since it was oral, and probably watered down for kids, it makes sense. I blame the Greeks and Shakespeare for my immediate assumption "Whoo boy, this is NOT going to end well"
Actually from my research so far most of the African deities are ambivalent, kind, caring. The lessons are good, kind, teaching patience, respect, humility, and duty. I really love their whole perspectives.
@@dieselblazehaze-desireiona6910 yes. I have a running theory that a culture's mythology and folklore tend to reflect their relationship to the natural world. If a culture tends to see their relationship with nature as positive, then their gods and folkheros will reflect that. And vice versa.
Well The Iliad and Odyssey and all Greek myths were also passed down orally for centuries. I wouldn’t exactly call them kid friendly…
@@teslaromans1023 But in the end the version we know is the one written 2500 years ago, from people we can't really understand anymore. Maybe there were lighter versions.
You've probably heard this but most African myths and lore are life lessons.
I was totally shocked when the story ended with him actually keeping his promise and living happily ever after.
Yes, right? You would expect him keeping his promise for 50 years, then accidentally killing a fly in his 70's and getting mauled by the gods, and later have an extremely sad funeral with all the village. Most myths works like this
@@KurtAngle89 African myths, mostly have happy endings. I guess it's because the stories were meant to impart and a happy ending makes it sound pretty appealing
@@Nzosaba_Matenge damn, That's pretty wholesome.
@@KurtAngle89 did this actually happen or are you just being sarcastic?
@@Nzosaba_Matenge I think the reason so many people always assume that myths have tragic endings is because of Greek mythology
"So he sends them to get him a boar. Unfortunately they accidentally disturb a dragon"
Well that escalated quickly.
DM: Random encounter time!
DM: oh man, that’s a high roll... Um, you meet a dragon.
*completely expected Total Party Kill*
Shit went from 0 to 100 real fuckin quick
Man I hate when that happens...
That boar was a straight up genius. "Ah, crap. The hunters are after me again... Wait, isn't that the lightning god's dragon friend?..."
Sounds like normal D&D stuff. Get sent on a stupidly simple task? Run into a dragon or something. Going to do something epic, like slaying a dragon? End up doing something stupid and mundane that derailed everything like helping a farmer find a lost pig.
Love how the sun just screams at mwindo
*metal*
He's going super saiyan
What did you expect? A cute boy that will turn his boyfriends/girlfriends into local fauna?
@GameWizard21st M E T A L
Mwindo: ...
The sun: aaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA *Stops amd starts huffing and puffing*
Mwindo: ... Are you oka--
The sun: *inhale* AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Mwindo's family: Where'd you disappear to after that dragon incedent?
Mwindo: I got four life-changing lectured from varies deities. Rain told me to chill, Moon told me to be humble, Star told me murder isn't always the best solution, and Sun just sorta screamed at me. He was a true orator.
I’m imagining an Afro futurist retelling/reimagining of this story where his cousins turn him into cyborg lol
Bro this would be an amazing fanfic story
The “Mark Wind-Zero” cybernetic armored shell. Shorthand: the M-Wind-0.
@@pwnorbepwned Dope. I love it.
@@pwnorbepwned Please somebody make this, I would read the hell out of it. Bonus points for the flyswatter being like a tiny drone with laser eyes or something
Maybe a Steampunk/ Cattlepunk (wild west steampunk) version where he becomes a steam powered cyborg?
Mwindo: The epic-level hero who cleans up after himself.
Seriously, I think this might just be my favorite myth ever.
Same. I also think mwindo is the only or among the only heroes that clean up the messes they make on their own.
Same, it's really quite wholesome!
Omg,a hero with conscience.
Mwindo: “Yay! I WON AND KILLED EVERYONE- Oh, wait, everyone’s dead. Oh crap. That sucks.
And Auntie’s sad. Oh no, better fix this right now.”
It's also the most humble as the hero learns that tough as he may be, the gods are stronger and that he must hold responsibility for his actions. Meanwhile Zeus gets away with being a misogynistic creep and mosts heroes in europe are violent, greedy glory hounds.
Mwindo: *accidentally steps on a bug*
Mwindo: oh shi-
Mwindo: *remembers he has a magic flyswatter and un-swats the bug*
Ah, but it wasn't intentional, and like Ajehy says, he could just quickly unswat it and apologise.
not murder, mansalughter
@@flightlesslord2688 dragon slaughter?
@@griffintattongeyer2949 aye, that too
West African here: I think I know what forging is. It's more like a ritual where traditionalist spells are cast on you to make you stronger/impervious. Sort of like buffing or enchanting in an mmo.
Edit: just came back to this comment after 6 months. Was not expecting this many likes (Thanks!!) so i decided to expand on this a little.
I've heard various stories from my village about a tribe that gave "medicine" (that's what they called it) to newborn male infants, providing them with resistance/immunity to fire. Unsurprisingly, the tribe was renowned for it's blacksmiths. From what i gather, the "medicine" was a mixture of special herbs being applied directly on the body and several rituals and chants being cast on the baby, usually by the local "medicine" man (wizard?? shaman??). There's even a genetic component to it, in that through this "medicine" being applied over generations, it has forged people from that tribe, both men and women, allowing them to hold hot items like metal without getting burnt. For how long, i have no clue. I have people swearing they knew someone, some descendant, usually elderly, from that tribe who never got burnt by anything. The idea though is that the magic has weakened as a result of the rituals being forgotten and not conducted anymore.
Obviously, i have no way of proving these claims but i like to believe these "magics" existed up until civilization and technological advancement was brought on by the "Empire" to wipe out all that did not conform.
I find stories like this fascinating so if anyone has interesting myths similar to this from their culture, they should share. Thanks for all the replies already!
Intriguing to think of spells as being cast in a forge, as though they are like metal, pushed into specific shapes under great pressure.
Stephen Gillie kind of makes a lot of sense though. Smith work must have seemed like magic back In the past. There’s even a theory that Hephaestus might have been lame in mythology as a reflection of a practice where Smiths might have been deliberately crippled to keep them from ever leaving a community. Their magic was seen as that valuable.
In Brazil, the African religions usually have a pratice to supercharge spells and amulets to some people, which at the end the receiver is said to have a corpo fechado (closed body), protected from almost all ill will and misfortune
@@chiefjudgefish4193 From what I could find smiths got mad respect in western and central african cultures. Smithing skills were closely guarded secrets passed down from master to carefully selected apprentice. So yeah, the metalworking and magic connection fits.
Crafting,right?
I would love to see a movie with Mwindo, the Monkey King, and Krishna together.
throw in Cu Cuchulain and take my money
And Gilgamesh
I want this so bad it hurts
The League of Criminally Overlooked Mythologies
Me too!
I wonder if Nyanga parents ever used this story to guilt their kids into doing their chores.
"Our culture's greatest hero did his chores while he was still in the womb, the least you can do is help with the dishes!"
Maple Samurai 😂
Why would they have dishes if they have nothing to eat?
Katzu Miyamoto because África isnt a giant charity drive as media likes to portray it.
Katzu Miyamoto You do know that Africa's a continent, right? Y'know, continents? Those giant masses of land made out of several very different countries, each of which at different levels of development and prosperity with anything from dozens to hundreds of unique cultures, that don't all conform to the narrow stereotypes projected onto them by ignorant outsiders who can't be bothered to learn anything about them outside of said stereotypes? Just like how individual parts of Europe look nothing each other? And that acting like Egypt and Morocco and Uganda are all exactly alike just because they fall under some nebulous concept of "Africa" is just ridiculous? Like, no one makes those kinds of generalisations about Europe even though they're both equally diverse places.
Do you know the thing where you intentionally make fun of certain stereotypes even tho you are fully aware that said stereotypes are completely removed from reality? I'm not blaming you for thinking that someone on the internet is narrow minded. I know that africa is a culturally diverse place. Saying things like that is just part of my humor and i don't expect anyone to find it funny. It's sometimes quite hilarious to see the reaction of people who are genuinly offended by such pointless comments. Anyway, thank you for your answer. I realize that a lot of people on the internet say things like seriously, so it's good if someone points out the flaws in their logic to them. With that said, good day.
This was a refreshingly positive, silly, yet fun story. The bad guy learns his lesson, the good guy learns from his mistakes without dying horribly, and everything more or less works out okay without any horrible consequences. Also, the magic fly swatter is one of the most hilariously OP magic artifacts I've heard of in mythology. Even Sun Wukong has nothing on casual murder and instant resurrection.
IKR
I was thinking the same thing. Lol the fly swatter is so OP it actually makes it boring. Shit happens... let me guess fly swatter.
Someone make a story about getting Mwindo's fly swatter.
"What's so great about this treasure? It's literally just a fly swatter."
"You've never heard about Mwindo, have you?"
Clearly, you have never been swatted with an African horsehair flyswatter. They hurt!
Now I want to see a battle again Wukong and Miwindo. All in favor?
"No child deserves to be rejected by their family, regardless of disability or gender"
Amazing that sub-Saharan African oral tradition has a moral that many modern people are lacking
Kenyan. I honestly shouldn't be this excited to hear stories from the other side of the continent but we know so little of our own history across the board that this is honestly like finding gold. She's right tho. We have like no stories written down from my end and I haven't seen any performances like the ones she talks about except a few visiting ones when I was like seven which obviously I don't remember.
Also. Magic all purpose deus ex flyswatter. Yes
Also also, hero being taken up to the sky and being told by a bunch of sky gods that no matter how badass you are we can each individually annihilate you with barely a thought and would have done so were u not so worthy of our respect.
Damn.
ALSO also also: I told this story to my roomate back when school was still a thing and all he took away was Shemwindo's name. Maybe I'm not as good a storyteller as Red. or as good at drawing. Crap
Somalia here, I understand ya whenever I hear anything African that isn't about Egypt I go absolutely nuts! That's how little the West ever covers us
@@noddlefoodle5691Them covering us isn't even what bothers me.
What I hate is how they made us forget our own stories so all we have it's theirs
That's how they killed cultures. They didn't kill us all, they just killed our stories
Kenyan no 2. My people wrote a lot of shit but in a writing no one can read now so yeah we just have pelts, stones and some how Chinese paper plus some spears and sabers with inscriptions laying around with shit no one can read, for some reason the writing was not used cause people started using Arabic, Persian and Amharic instead, I think its because we like moving a lot my dad's grandfather was taken from Eqypt by the British after he stole a buffalo dont ask how to fight in current Oman were he found some of our people living there and then he was brought to Kenya were he found more of our people living here and decide to start a new life here and then after that he was arrested by the British cause he killed a lion that was going to kill them, we are a Nilotic people from Egypt and our traditional main god is the Sun just like most African groups Asis and other minor gods, and yes we may be related to the Egyptian god Isis but I dont know cause no one can read that language now
But on the other hand they did some good things such as child marriage and the legal age to marry those are the things I can think of on the top of my head
@@brindhaanand598 I dont get you dude
"So Mwyndo does his magic thing, uses his flyswatter, and summons all the food from around to fly and help him out."
Mwyndo: the original Disney princess
Flyswatter OP plz nerf.
Mwindo*
*Mwindo
lowkey like the original Miraculous Ladybug, especially seeing as that fly swatter magically puts everything back to good in the end (even death wow)
@@jjspooner6290 why doesn't ladybug just uses the yo-yo to reset everything?
I love that Mwindo's father, a guy who hates Mwindo, is literally named "Mwindo's Dad."
Also, "As the only responsible adult in your life I am obliged to inform you that this is dumb."
The sky gods teach Mwindo to Be More Chill.
I feel like it's a possibility that the original version simply called him "Mwindo's Father" and didn't bother giving him the name. He was then given the name Shemwindo either for Western Audiences or because the storytellers got tired of such an important character not being named.
I could be wrong, of course, but those are just my thoughts.
TAKE YOUR HANDS OUT OF YOUR POCKETS
ARCH YOUR BACK PUFF OUT YOUR CHEST
*it’s from japaaaaaan*
It's weird but this works in some African cultures. We are often introduced as "daughter of" "Father of." My cousin's mom is known as "Mother of
It's common in African countries when you have kids people tend to start referring to you using your child's name, typically your first child's name.
So you're basically referred to as "Father of so and so" "Mother of so and so" so they may call you She Mwindo, Mmaagwe Mwindo(which means Mwindo's mother in Setswana) or Rraagwe Mwindo(Mwindo's Father), Unina KuMwindo (Mwindo's mother in Xhosa) etc.
This is a very small example however as many African countries and countries in other continents have multiple official languages, an example is Zambia which has like 72 indigenous languages. So yeah that's a lot but you get the gist of it and may explain why the character is called She Mwyndo.
As a NYANGA woman, Fly Swatter is still a really important thing for a Nyanga chief to posess.
May you elaborate as to why?
White guy speculation: the flyswatter seems similar to a scepter as a symbol of authority, but also useful. Makes a lot more sense than some shiny thing needing a guard. 😊
What's this? A hero that actually cleans up after himself? Forgiving the villain and the villain accepting defeat honorably? Gods actually explaining things to mortals instead of acting like highschool teenagers?
those morals were actually good morals and we should listen to them
In TV Tropes terms:
tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped
Tiffany Michels I once heard someone say “This is a good lesson. I hope we learn it someday.” That applies to this.
I do find it kinda funny how through most of the story it seemed like the protagonist was overpowered to the point of making the story pointless, but it's still unusual in ending with a moral about not being as powerful as you think you are.
In modern times we have the idea that stories are about the stakes and the villains. Ancient tales had different purposes. Such as keeping children entertained while you slyly sneak moral lessons into their brains.
Andrew Johnson You clearly don’t have children, and haven’t encountered any recent children’s media (e.g. within the last 60 years). Also, I pity you for sharing a name with an awful president.
@@stormcloudsabound what was wrong with Andrew Jonson
@@bugdracula1662 There was an Andrew Johnson?
@@stormcloudsabound that's Andrew _Jackson_ you're thinking of
Norse mythology : we use axe and Hammer for Lightning shows
African mythology : Thanks you we'll take that fly-swatter
Considering that tsetse flies transmit deadly diseases to humans, it makes sense that Africans would see fly-swatters as very important objects.
Omega Deadpool remember flies carried malaria and the sleeping sickness. That fly swatted would have been way more helpful than any lighting hammer my dude.
Shango is basically african thor and he uses axes
@@yaji4827 Ye good chance he was first tho
*congolese
These, are the most respectful and chill gods I have ever encountered. If this was Zeus, or Thor, no doubt they would've been turned into a tree, or it would've been hammertime.
African deities tend to be helpful compared to others. There is a God of Iron Ogun, who is also a God of war, but he's not evil like how Ares is. He likes people.
chill. it's technically fiction.
Thor: Heyyyy, buddy. Whatcha doin' with those godly powers?
Random protagonist: Oh, y'know. Hero stuff. I'm considering becoming a god. That cool with you?
Thor, absentmindedly swinging his hammer: That's jussst fine.
Three days later, the protagonist is found with his skull caved in after being struck by lightning.
Because they actually act like gods.
To be fair. Happy endings are not fun.
Wow I didn't know African stories worked so well as anime material.
James Verner From my experience, most myths and old stories are anime material
I've decided I'm going to make an comic about African mythologies
@@ronjayrose9706 I'd buy your first copy let me know how and when.
He sounds like he would be a dope Fate character
DarkEmerald Sapphire Especially the Indian and Irish myths.
The Star God/Goddess is gorgeous. I hope to see more of them later.
I love how Red drew his speech indicator ending with a little star. That was a really cute touch!
Persephone after hearing the underworld part of the story: he likely missed out on a great romance!
Mwindo: I have a magical flyswatter that can channel the power of the gods; your argument is invalid!
Hey an African here. I love this and we don't all know this as this is a good story which I've never heard of. There is one called the sosolongo(likely spelt it wrong) and it's very interesting.
I know this is a late comment but a Google search for "sosolongo" didn't return anything. Since you said that might have been misspelled, do you remember the names of any of the characters so I could look those up instead? Thanks!
Devin Ward it’s most likely an oral story that has not yet been translated and written down yet
Okay, I can't help myself.... is it a so, so long story, or did it take place so, so long ago? 😁
Eric Brune Are you mocking someone for their english? Not everyone is a privileged as you are. Stop acting like a spoiled child.
@@k8tieisjusthere123 No Katie, you nitwit... I'm making light of how the story's African name ("sosolongo") looks and probably sounds in English.
It's like when someone says the Japanese words for "1, 2"... to an English speaker, "Ichi, Ni" sounds like "Itchy Knee".
It has nothing to do with David's English (which is fine... he could do with a little punctuation, but that's common with almost everyone on the internet). It has to do with how words sound... a common trope in comedy.
But, since you're a leftist (an assumption easily made because you called out my theoretical privilege without knowing anything about me)... you most likely don't know anything about comedy.
So if you ever wanted to describe this myth to someone
"Basically African Herucles."
"With instakill abilities"
And much, MUCH less tragedy.
And with the sense to clean up his mess
Maybe more like African Perseus?
Except he doesn't kill his wife
And pretty much everyone involved is far more emotionally mature than their Greek counterparts.
This reminded me a LOT of a French animated film I love called "Kirikou and the Sorceress", especially the circumstances of Mwindo's birth and the "I'm so great" song Mwindo and Kirikou sing. I went to looked it up and the film IS based on several West African tales, so the story of Mwindo probably was a big influence. :D NEAT!
I thought immediately of Kirikou too
Also, big spoiler:
No one is actually dead at the end.
_I smell a lot of recurring tropes/themes_
Me too.
Yes the birth by just casually walking out of mom or whatever reminded me of that film too. Plus the “I am so great “ type song too.
Also, some stories have the moral that the villain was not so bad after all. Spoiler: in Kirikou at the end of the film the villainess becomes nice after having a painful thorn removed from her back.
Yeah ! Some parts of the story also made me think of "Les contes de la nuit" or "Princes et princesses" (I never know wich is wich), by the same dude that made Kirikou and also heavily inspired by african myths
I like how it seems like a traditional revenge tale with Mwindo tracking his father even into the underworld, but doesn't kill him or even really punish him. He just scolds him and makes him admit to being a bad parent. Maybe it's more of an actual punishment in the story but here it seems pretty laid back for this kind of story.
This is a rather interesting in that it's pretty much exact opposite of many European traditions and tropes while still being an epic. I don't think I've ever heard a story featuring a noble _wanting_ daughters, despite the tradition of dowry being both African and European (practiced in most of Asia too, I believe). I don't think I've heard an epic where the hero was rather chill with the bad guy (at least one that the hero knew the villain was trying to kill them rather than being all sneaky like), and a story where the bad guy learns humility in the end without dying!
Hey cultural differences, I'm am right. It shows that every culture has an enjoy of epics
Actually, in most non African societies, the bride was sent with a portion of her family's wealth. The bride's family got political connections and alliances, but they had to pay the groom's family.
James A Clouder yeah. I was pretty surprised when I found out its the brides family that pays in European culture. The traditional wedding in and of itself is a rather long negotiation process, I don't think I've been able to stay awake for a full one before.
Yeah, a lot of the regular "classics" are actually really weird and (in my opinion) bad, while all the other ones like this one are actually really good where people are noble, and they actually learn something in the end.
Hm, I could have sworn it was the other way around, that one "sells off" their daughter.
The fact the Mwindo usually just kills people, then resurrects them later is my favorite part too, especially because with that power he could of easily kill people in painful ways then resurrect them again and so on, forever torturing them. (EDIT:) But he doesn't, making him a good person. (END EDIT.) Great video by the way!
**Applauds** Brilliant idea Evergreen Fox! Bravo!
Yeah it sounds like a perfect dark comedy anime set up.
What would happen if you cut someone in half and resurrected each half separately, would you get 1 person or 2?
Or if he cuts out a person's brain and resurrect them will the person have no brain or will the brain grow like a plant.
Mwindo has come to bargain
Hmm...I will say, this is probably the most creative magical artifact I've heard of in a while-
Oh, yeah? Tehuelche (South American Native Americans) mythology has a bow and arrow that creates islands.
@@LuckyBird551 Ehhh-
Sounds sort of like your standard divine weaponry.
What about the cornucopia? You can shoot your enemies with flying roasted chickens or projectile muffins. Best. Weapon. Ever.
I love this video so much. You were able to draw recognizably Black characters without having them devolve into caricatures. It's clear a lot of care and passion went into these drawings and it is appreciated.
Well, this was surprisingly egalitarian and modern. This could easily be adapted for modern Western audiences without changing really any of the morals. Also he killed the God of Death twice while resurrecting himself twice. Are we sure he isn't like a God himself?
The lack of explanation for the origin of his power is a bit puzzling. I have to wonder whether the other gods in this myth were also born out of the blue with powers as well.
Edward Nigma Well myths of ancient cultures I have noticed tend to be quite full of logical holes that our modern eyes are keen to catch. I imagine that during the times that these stories were told that they were just covered with common sense. The real question is what were the characteristics of gods in this and what of those the hero was missing.
yeah lots of ancient tales follow the rule of cool with unexplained badassery happening everywhere.
Well there likely was not much at all in the way of explanations of things in the natural world/day-to-day lives of extremely ancient peoples, so it likely didn't occur naturally to most story tellers to really supply explanation due to there not being exposed to much or having that audience expectation to meet. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
How is it possible that the story ends with:
"Swear you never kill again"
-Mkay
The end
I was expecting him to break that promise because of some bs emergency or something and now he is watching us all from above. But none of that
Yeah its a general African trend, I wouldn't say strictly Sub-Saharan. I suppose there's a reason it's called "Mama Africa", forgiveness and understanding is more the order of the day.
remember that the Greek "Epics" are more like histories in the minds of their authors than Legends, so when they wrote shit down they had to have the ending happen the way it did historically, hence why Thebes gets assfucked repeatedly.
HyPearlll
I suppose that's why Eroupe is the birthplace of liberal republics. People who where cynical about human nature create institutions to try and hold corrupt human nature back form making everything worse.
Edit. Or maybe that's just a compleat coincidence.
Well, when Lightning, Sun, Moon, Stars etc all tell you "cut it out or you're not going home, and we're powerful enough to do it, buddy boy -- Lightning over there is the one who's allowing you to chuck bolts in the FIRST place."
I love the artwork on the gods in this one, especially the fact that the sun is going Super Saiyan (Super Nova?) and Mwindo's reaction to a celestial being screaming at him as everything ignites... classic.
Hopefully not supernova as that would mean the sun is dying lol
Dragon Ball fans: Death means nothing in this story, does it?
Mwindo: Hold my flyswatter.
"Actually don't hold it, I kinda need that"
Their sun God is the definition of super sayin
Wait
Couldn’t he have brought back the dragon too?
How does it feel being a modern day Bard?
Lol but thanks for teaching us these myths and entertaining us with your music
I can imagine Red going to a tavern and singing and telling tales for the goers. Then leaving and going to the next tavern or public place.
Let's see, plays guitar, knows myths and stories, tells us about said myths and stories in a way that is interesting... yeah, Red is a real life bard
btw what song is that at the end?
@@Verne105 Cat Stevens- father and son. Also damn that was like a lullaby and reminds me of when my grandparents use to sing to me.
Sooo is she a part of the Lore College then?
Apparently a fly swatter is the strongest weapon.
Flyswatter ok plz nerf
The "fly swatter" is mightier than the sword!
@@tenhirankei well I can't stab a fly so I have to agree
Plot twist: everyone’s a fly
I'm just imagining a modern reinterpretation where he just runs around with one of those plastic store-bought flyswatters.
This story is so nice somehow. Like everyone were ressurected, mwindo got a learning experience, he didnt just straight up murder his dad and just took him to a public judging...
"Hiding in a cave with Ntumba, who I'm pretty sure is a god of aardvarks, it's unclear." ... Sounds pretty par for the course with mythology
Not gonna lie the one hero story with 4 Supremely useful Morals in one Go!
Africa Got stuff done!
With child mortality being a risk for everything in the past in all cultures Gotta hit them bases faster then the sickness hits the kid.
"With no sources, obviously, because pintrest is awful."
Yes.
Mwindo: the only guy who can make a flyswatter badass.
straight-up killing someone to get them out of your way and then reviving them later after you've completed the task you needed to get rid of them for is the ULTIMATE problem solving method
I want a magic flyswatter to bring to a wizard's duel.
Well, it's a physical flyswatter but...magic
To quote the Doctor, "Just this once, everybody lives!" (well except the dragon). No but seriously, not only are all the dead people resurrected, but the evil father is put on trial and exiled instead of just killed by the hero. How rare is that, even in modern stories?
“Congo Great Lakes Region”
Me in America and Canada’s Great Lakes Region: We are not so different you and I.
Oh yes, how true. XD
**hears father and son by cat stevens**
**remembers guardians of the galaxy vol. 2**
**lies down**
**tries not to cry**
**cries alot**
trashhdez RIGHT?! Between the last time I watched this video and this time, I watched GOTG and I got so hyped to hear this playing in the end! Gave me goosebumps!
Same❤️
"As the only responsible adult in your life I am obliged to inform you that this is dumb."
Mwindo is too OP. Must nerf. This is like Sun Wukong levels of OP.
I WANT A BATTLE BETWEEN THE TWOOO
yes, but he isn't quintuple immortal.
Nobody is near Sun Wukong in terms of OP-ness. None.
Jacob Pedersen
"OP-ness" LOL
Isagail He would have to battle Gilgamesh, that would be great seeing them fight
I just imagine Liam Neeson saying "There's always a bigger fish" LOL
this is old, and I am by no means African, but let me say it was so refreshing to see how your art style positively and respectfully reflected African/black standards of beauty and dress. no long flowing hair or delicate waif features. Just strong, African smiles. I love it
You know, I really don't know much African folktales, so this was really interesting to see!
Geek With A Camera even as an African, because I don't have many older people around I have forgotten quite a bit of our myths myself. And that's just counting my own tribes myths
So, uh, fun fact. A friend of mine in writing class about seven years ago was told, point blank, that all Fantasy was european because only Europe had dragons, princes and knights in armor.
You're doing good work, OSP.
I remember reading somewhere that dragons is actually found in a lot of cultures from around the world (this was a long time ago so I don't have references), therefore some people believe dragons roamed the earth with humans for a time until they were exterminated by humans. But science would disagree. I think its a cool theory though.
I could have sworn dragons were a major park of East Asian folk lure, but I guess that's just me. Geeze. You have to wonder where people get this stuff from.
There's no way dragons really existed, but reptiles live a very long time and sometimes have strange abilities like running on water or various venoms. "Fire breathing" may come from the burning sensation caused by spat venom causing a burning sensation. Fossilized footprints and bones have always been around since what they belonged to. Reptiles may have been discovered by travellers, reptiles like pythons, crocodiles, and Komodo Dragons, that inspire dragonlike descriptions.
appropinpinquo I know it isn't dragons per se but the same type of creature is depicted as these really large creatures. Now I know there are really big reptiles, and crocodiles can get scary big but even so, these different cultures all depicted reptile like creatures being really really big, and a lot of the time as gods.
Lol did your friend hit back with "Uhh, what about the Chinese year of the Dragon, dumbass?" Because that would have been my response.
I love the idea of a superhero who does Mwindo's kill-but-bring-back thing
"You killed him!"
"Yep."
"That's-that's not something we're supposed to do!"
*Sends over his magic flyswatter* "He got better."
Holy crap.... That myth was awesome! The lessons, the personalities of everyone, just so beautiful!
Huh, that was cool. It's pretty rare to see African culture and folklore talked about. So this was a neat story. I like the designs, and I love the effort you put into making sure they aren't stereotypical. Seriously, finding non-stereotypical clothes for a lesser known culture is REALLY difficult, especially is said culture is flanderized frequently to the point where it all seems the same.
Revvy Frostina well that's because a lot of the "stereotypical stuff" aren't realistic and are just a bastardization of cultural attire or, worse, something completely made up. Search up Congolese traditional clothing. You'll get varying results based on the different cultures there, but a lot of it's quite similar to what she drew here. This one's a much less worn type, but still nice: i.pinimg.com/236x/36/e0/93/36e0933b1148ee9cce58b3c83824f13e--republic-of-the-congo-court-dresses.jpg
Faith this not for the whole region 😑 only Kuba people wear those NOT every other ethnic group
In a parallel universe theres a congoid child mistaking all Caucasoid ethnics groups as the same.
"I LOVE CAUCASOID MYTHOLOGY. I LOVE IT WHEN KARNA KILLS ARJUNA ON A SNOWY MOUNTAIN. I HEARD THAT HE SANG THE HITLER SONG TOO. THE MIDDLE EASTERN REGION OF THAT CONTINENT IS SO COOL."
African mythology in general is almost always full of Aesops and good lessons.
Take Kigbo,the stubborn farmer. That idiot nearly got himself and his family dead for farming in a spirit infested forest.Like,Kigbo literally means "stubborn boy" but this guy nearly got Dolapo(wife) and his usually unnamed baby dead after slapping Dolapo and shaking his baby in front of the spirits who tell him "This is our land;We shall do what you do",basically asking to get his family abused for his idiocy.This story has three ends,but all of them basically have the lesson "DON'T BE OBSTINATE,IT WILL GET YOU KILLED":
-Kigbo,Dolapo and their baby all survive and Kigbo gets his head out of his rectum.
-Kigbo dies after hitting himself for being an idiot and subsequently being beaten up by the spirits,letting Dolapo and their kid to escape.
-They all die in the forest,all brutally by the hands of mimicking spirits(I want to bet these are the spirits of monkeys).
Bitter by Empathy woah
Bitter by Empathy I like that the names have relevant translations XD
A lot of African names have relevant translations.
Tsui'Goab,meaning "Injured Knee",was a guy who became a rain God after beating Death in one-on-one combat but getting his kneecap busted during the fight.
This is one of the coolest story set up ever.
Saitama must have trained under Tsui'Goab, cause that's bad mother@#$er!!
Yo, why is African mythology so WHOLESOME compared to most other mythos?
Here here. This is almost exactly what I was thinking! Although, being fair, I mostly know only Greek, Roman, Norse, and a few Asian myths, so maybe the question for me is more: Why is West African mythology so much more wholesome and moral than my culture's historical myths? Maybe there are other wholesome myths out there that I just don't know about. I w9nder if it ties into colonialism and imperialism in any way, like, if your culture is imperialistic, your myths probably are contentious.
I love how absolutely op the main character is but still is taught humility in a significant and organic way.
That's one hell of a flyswatter.
This is really good. I next to never hear about African culture, and this was really interesting. I was wondering, when's the next part of Journey to the West? It's my favourite of your series.
Yeah, this was an interesting video. Much like Hawaiian culture, it's pretty rare to see African myth referenced. The only bit of folklore I read in the past regarding Africa was in the form of a children's book- "Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears", which is about how the mosquito nearly messed up the entire world by simply spreading rumors.
If you're interested, crash course recently did a video on yoruba mythology so that might be worth checking out.
Revvy Frostina Anansi also gets a lot of attention.
I remember in elementary school doing a school play of Anansi the spider, but that was more of a fable than a myth
Yeah, me neither. Though, piece of advice: it's not African Culture, it's African CULTURES, plural. It's the second largest continent in the world with an equally large number of individuals. It's a common assumption these days that Africa is apparently just one big country, which it's not. Just FYI. Not your fault, it's society's.
Hmm...I now have a deep respect for African culture and myths/legends, I'm genuinely surprised that there's a god-like hero story that's capable of teaching more than one or two morals at a time. XD
And almost none of them are...wait a second...aren't all of these technically just an expanded and reskinned versions of the "pride will cause downfall" moral?...
Dammit-
Well, at least it's got variety, and it's not a true mythological story unless at least one, or several people all letting their egos get out of hand and paying for it-
Also, all the African gods shown in this seem surprisingly chill...you know, except for the sun, which-
Fair enough, it is Africa and Africa is fucking hot-
@DejaVoodooDoll Yeah I know that, but still, if you look close enough everyone who has something bad happen to them in this story (if I remember right, it's been almost a month), can be taken as having pride cause downfall, from Mwindo's father, to Mwindo himself, albeit everyone having varying degrees of "punishments", as Mwindo basically got a slap on the wrist from the gods.
And it’s a Congolese tale.
Yeah. They have some really fun stories. And a lot more relatable than the Greek ones. Which is kinda interesting. I mean, my preference for Norse and Celtic myths over Greek makes sense on a certain level since I *am* Norse and Celtic, but African? Well, I guess they're just that good at telling stories. And, as a small child, I watched Song of the South and thought the dark-skinned man with the funny accent was the best storyteller (next to my dad) and just super nice. I hope people get over the idea that it's somehow 'racist' and can be brought back.
@@brigidtheirish Well, Song of the South (from what I've heard, which may not be completely accurate) portrayed SLAVERY in a positive light, so...
@@cedartheyeah.justyeah.3967 It's set *after* the Civil War, during the Reconstruction era. Uncle Remus wouldn't have been able to just leave at the end if he was a slave. Heck, Uncle Remus stories the movie is based on are all set well after the Civil War and the author was a racial reconciliation activist. Most of the blacks in the film are sharecroppers.
There is some idyllic aspects, but people who say that it's *entirely* idyllic apparently skipped the scene where a couple of black women chew out and slap the little black boy who'd been charged with watching the plantation owner's grandson, partially out of fear that *all* of them would be punished for the boy's mistake. They also apparently didn't understand why Uncle Remus left at the end, or simply didn't finish the movie.
This raises the question, why not just resurrect the dragon? Seriously they've got their people back and time is evidently not an issue, just have lightening bro help you drag it far away from the village and bonk it on the head, problem solved.
Ah this is late but I'm guessing the point is that u just can't go around killing people willy nilly even if you are being brought back to life it's still kinda rude that someone killed you yknow
this is very late, but mwindo ordered the dragon to be totally eaten, including the bones. there was nothing left to bonk
So. This might be a weird thing to say, especially since a lot of the myths I know about come from watching your videos, but honestly, you're the kind of person that I wanna just have an unreasonably long conversation with about myths and their impact on culture and their unknowing similarities and such. I hope you take it as a compliment, you just seem like a cool person to talk to and you know a lot about this. So yea.
me: Well I should sleep its 1:00 am....
*sees this video*
hmmm.... well... WHO NEEDS SLEEP! this is gonna be my bed time story!!
Are you Australian, because it's just morning where I live in America.
King Keegster dun dun duuuuuun I guess you guessed it
....
*i guess you guessed it* ... well
You're never gonna get it...Who needs sleep? Tell me whats that for?
I guess you need to go to sleep...
but who needs sleep anyway?!
That doesn't sound like a line from Barenaked Ladies' song about insomnia/biolar...
Red: "I'm pretty sure this is the only hero story I know about where the hero actually learns a modicum of humility in the end"
Me: ...girl, you know about Gilgamesh, and that's basically the whole climax of his story.
Can't help but appreciate seeing this comment 3 years after the fact, and mere days after Red made a video about Gilgamesh. If you haven't watched it yet, I highly recommend it!
@@catinglasses I did. As a Fate fan, her comment on Fate makes me feel awkward.
Yes, Gilgamesh and Iskandar's designs aren't "historically accurate". Neither is Fate. It literally makes just _so many men_ into waifus just for the sake of having more waifus. IT TURNED EDISON INTO LION ALL MIGHT!
"This underworld works on persephone rules" XD
I didn't no dragons were in Africa mythology. This was so cool
@arnold jayeola Yeah, seemingly everywhere except modern Eart- OH GODS WHAT WAS THAT ROAR
It's a truth universally acknowledged that giant reptiles are, like, super rad.
Dragons throughout Mythology are the ultimate representations of greed and avirice. In that they are immensley powerful forces which have no other concerns but fulfillment of selfish desires, and hoarding resources they have no use for, i.e. gold, ancient magical artifacts and women.
@@MantraMan2077 and what is with chinese dragons?
@EroEquus Fool, that's where Ghidorah slumbers.
Boy, the similarities between this and other myths in some of the details (baby boy floating down the river, food trapping you in the Underworld from whence the living seldom return) are kind of surprising. And yet no death by hubris or unspeakable tragedy? What gives?!
their society isn't Stoic. Greek Roman, and most western European societies are. Hubris is also a historically rooted concept generally applied to Human Characters. Mwindo on the other hand is basically a God.
Perhaps... it's because... IT'S QLL TRUE
They are similar because all of the stories are based off of archetypes, and archetypes represent the indispensable aspects of human life. This is why they are shared among many cultures.
Jack Rackam
Jack Rackam I
I like how every time someone tries to kill him, something goes horribly wrong for them. I also like how the story leads you to believe that he's either a flawless hero who breezes through everything or one who's pride leads to his down fall, only to find the gods that have been helping him taking him aside and telling him "Yeah, you should quit while you're ahead" and he actually LISTENS.
You always put such great little details into your art. I love how the speech "bubbles" for the gods were all based on their theme.
This was my first "Overly Sarcastic Productions" video.
It will definitely not be my last.
Great artwork, great humor, nice song (Cat Stevens) at the end, ... Just terrific all the way around. (The one misspelling in the text can be forgiven. The glory of being human is not perfection, but excellence.)
Private i Welcome to the community, Blue and Red are glad you’re here!
**gasp** AN UPLOAD. WATCH IT QUICK! ABSORB THAT MYTHY GOODNESS.
**snorts myth**
Isagail **injects the myths** HEY KIDS! WANT SOME MYTHS?! 0-o
"This is your brain. This is your brain on myth."
*rolls up with into toke* IMA SMOKE THIS MYTH!!! *smokes mythical toke* Yaaaaa Knowledge!!
Isagail Omg my comment was all about how this video is great and who needs cocaine.
let's have some mythamphetamine.
Loved this. It takes an epic hero to visit the underworld, but it takes Mwindo to do it while choking death to death.
It seems kind of like the six daughters would more than pay for a son getting married, but OK
The true moral is murder is okay if and only if you have magical resurrection powers.
I mean, the resurrection part nulls the murder, right?
Do you remember the story of Prometheus? Not the Alien Prequel, the Greco/Roman legend. His pennance for tricking the Gods was to be chained to a great boulder and have his liver pecked out by a great bird every day, only to have grow back imediately afterwards so the punishment could continue endlessly.
Do you think he felt as though that nullified the whole liver-eating thing just because it kept growing back?
Poirot's Mustache I dunno, I think he may be a little biased on the subject.
The way you use if and only if hurts my soul
The moral sin would be reduced to however painful it is to be murdered by magic flyswat-thing, i guess?
Can you cover Biag ni Lam-Ang? (The Life of Lam-Ang in Ilokano) It's an Ilokano epic poem that, like the Odyssey and the Iliad, was originally orally passed down until a guy named Pedro Bucaneg wrote it down on 1620, he was also ironically blind.
Edit: I just learned that Homer was also blind. What a giant coincidence. (or is it?)
May gash, if only they could see this hahaha. A bit confused by the story because we weren't able to finish it in time.
"Only the dead belong in the Underworld." This implies that Mwindo's father trapped himself in the Underworld. Unless that was his intention, seems like he's still losing in the end
9:15 Yeah, always filter out Pinterest when searching for visual references, that place is like artistic credit laundering.
Red is spoiling us yet again
holy cow where do i get one of these magical fly swatters
Walmart has everything in existence, go check there.
You'd have to ask your mother, and honestly, I'd be veeeeeery careful in wording the question.
Can't youbjust gotta be born with it
A mythology story where the hero is actually a good person who genuinely learns and improves? Ancient Greece could frankly never.
The song alone makes it my favorite video. I could listen to Red singing for a while and still be just as happy.
Hope you do more African stuff. This right here has pretty much doubled my knowledge of African mythology. (The sum of it half an hour ago was basically a handful of the stories surrounding Anansi, a.k.a That One African Myth Cycle People Outside Africa Have Occasionally Heard Of.)
The morals were beautiful. And racists act like non-european countries are "backwards" because their customs are different from ours. That was hella progressive and still had the drama and silliness of a good myth
@Harry Paul Hey dumbass, backwards shitholes exist on all continents. Africa is LARGE. You know nothing of its immense diversity of culture.
Harry Paul It’s Wakanda, dumbass. Learn to spell. Also, there are numerous African nations ranked higher on Human Development Index than South Africa.
@RihannalsIluminati There are a LOT more backward shitholes in Africa and they're WAYYYYY more backward and shithole-y. The fact that how long white people ran the place is inversely correlated with how bad it is makes it seem like it's not the "legacy of colonialism" either.
It was mainly Greece and Rome and their masive we're better than everyone else because we said so and since Rome did so well for almost 1000 years everyone and their Uncle in Europe likes to think they were the sucessors to the Romans and that it will be they who create the next great empire that conqured most of the known world yet sadly nobody learned that it was that ego and size that destroyed Rome in the first place-_- So basicly yeah all those European Empires and American Manfest Destiny that colonized half the planet and fucked everyone over alot was a small group of People trying to become the next Julius Caesar because they have a romantized vew of a long dead failure of an empire. They didn't give a shit about these other cultures as they lacked the luxurious glory and pride of the romantized version of rome created by playrights and old myths. The logic was in these dumbasses brains if you aren't trying to be like the great and mighty Rome you're not civilized. That's right once again crazed fans ruin everything!
@Harry Paul Please, don't ever, unironically use these arguments you're shitting out again. Ever. The lack of self-awareness of a white guy in UA-cam that's so narcissistic like you shatters all the respect I've had for America, and I so desperately can't accept you as an actual person worthy of respect.
I just love the ending song and guitar- Red singing is so pretty and relaxing, I actually played some of her singing to help my son get to sleep (allergies made my throat FUBAR, breathing treatments out the wall) after a bad dream.
I think my favorite part about this is thinking of Mwindo going on trial for murder and everyone saying, “he killed me....but I got better”
YESSS I LOVE THIS SO MUCHHH
Frenchie The Fry SAAAAAAME
Frenchie The Fry SAAAMMMMMEEEEEE
SSSAAAMMMEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Frenchie The Fry who doesn't?
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Flyswatter too op. 8/10.
08:11: Bigger fish? Chill out? Dude, that dragon ate his homies!!
8:41 A LITTLE LOUDER FOR THE FOLKS IN THE BACK
7:37 man, from all the stories I've heard, in most 'dude/beast-slaughtering-army/crowd' there's always that *one guy* left to get away and tell the story
Though, surprisingly, this was a nice story with great moral lessons and a rather peaceful ending and it even has the 'hero-went-down-to-the-underworld-to-something-something' cliché
So did the Lightning God get Mwindo to resurrect the dragon?
veggiedragon1000 that's what I was wondering!
Oh interesting
This is one of the most wholesome myths I've ever heard.
Person shows up at the underworld.
God of the underworld: How did you die?
Person: Got killed by Mwindo.
God of the Underworld: The waiting room is over there. You'll be going back shortly.
YES RED I MISSED YOU
Lol same