Encyclopedia > Ga-gorib

  Article Content

Ga-gorib

In Khoikhoi mythology, Ga-gorib is a mythological monster who sat by a deep hole in the ground and dared passers-by to throw rocks at him. The rocks bounced off and killed the passer-by, who then fell into the hole. One time, Heitsi-eibib[?] distracted Ga-gorib and hit it below its ear with a rock; it fell into the pit. In an alternate version, Heitsi-eibib was chased around the hole until he slipped and fell inside. He eventually escaped and pushed Ga-gorib into the pit.

Gorib is 'the spotted one' (meaning leopard, cheetah, or leguaan[?]) in Central Khoisan languages[?], so the Ga-gorib probably has some connection with this formidable species. The element ga- remains to be explained, possibly it is a negative: 'Not-a-leopard', not only on comparative morphological grounds, but also because its adversary himself has many symbolic connotations of the leopard (rain, stars, speckledness)

External Link [1] (http://www.pantheon.org/articles/g/ga-gorib)



All Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License

 
  Search Encyclopedia

Search over one million articles, find something about almost anything!
 
 
  
  Featured Article
Wheatley Heights, New York

... races. 11.67% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race. There are 1,455 households out of which 43.6% have children under the age of 18 living with them, ...

 
 
 
This page was created in 36.9 ms