Malagasy mythology

Malagasy mythology is rooted in oral history and has been transmitted by storytelling (angano, "story"), notably the
Andriambahoaka epic, including the Ibonia cycle. At least 52-59% of the country is an adherent of the religion, which is
known as Fomba Gasy. Adherence to Fomba Gasy is high amongst the Sakalava people (up to 80%), as they are
reluctant to convert to faiths of foreign origin.[1]

Traditional mythology in Madagascar tells of a creator deity referred to as Zanahary, and the division of Heaven and
Earth between Zanahary and his son, Andrianerinerina, a rebellious hero and frequent theme of their worship as the son
of God,[2] or between Zanahary and earth deities such as Ratovantany which crafted human bodies from clay; in these
myths Zanahary gave life to humans, and their souls return to him on the sky or on the sun while their bodies return to
the earth deities.[3] In contrast to Andrianerinerina, the word Andriamanitra (the Merina term for "Fragrant Lord") is
used to refer to revered ancestors.[4] Malagasy cultures were generally polytheistic, and worshiped a variety of entities
that straddled the line between god and revered ancestor.[5][6]

Contents
Role of ancestors
Fady (cultural taboos)
Vazimba veneration
List of mythological figures
See also
References
Selected literature
External links

Role of ancestors
Ancestors are generally viewed as a benevolent force in the life of the living, but
among some Malagasy it is believed that the spirits of ancestors may become
angatra (ghosts of the dead) if they are ignored or abused.[7] Angatra are
believed to haunt their own graves and bring disease and misfortune to those
living who offended them. A particular type of angatra is the kinoly: beings
which look like people but have red eyes and long fingernails and disembowel
living people.[7]

Rituals such as the famadihana—rewrapping the bodies of the dead every 5–10
years in fresh lamba (handmade cloth)—are believed by some to prevent kinoly
due to the traditional association of the lamba with hasina, the mystical and
sacred life force.[7] Beliefs relating to the powers and activities of the ancestors
vary greatly from community to community within Madagascar.

Fady (cultural taboos)

The declarations or actions of ancestors are often the source of fady (taboos) that
In traditional Malagasy culture, the
shape the social life of Malagasy communities. Across Madagascar, lemurs are
famadihana burial tradition plays an
often revered and protected by fady. In all of the origin myths of the Indri (in
integral role in spiritual life.
Betsimisaraka dialect: Babakoto), there is some connection of the lemur with humanity, usually through common
ancestry. There are numerous accounts of the origin of the Indri in particular, but all characterize lemurs as sacred, and
not to be hunted or harmed.

Vazimba veneration
Malagasy mythology portrays a pygmy-like people called the Vazimba as the original inhabitants. Some Malagasy
believe that these original inhabitants still live in the deepest recesses of the forest. In certain communities (and
particularly in the Highlands), the practice of veneration of the dead can extend back to veneration of the Vazimba as the
most ancient of ancestors. The kings of some Malagasy tribes claim a blood kinship to the Vazimba, including the
Merina dynasty that eventually ruled over all of Madagascar. The Merina claim Vazimba ancestry through the royal
line's founder, King Andriamanelo, whose mother, Queen Rafohy, was of the Vazimba.

List of mythological figures

Zanahary: The creator sky deity and generally most revered deity. Breathed life into beings, and their
essence returns to him to the heavens upon death.[3]
Andrianerinerina: The son of Zanahary, folk hero and ancestor of the royal line.
Andriambahomanana: The first man,[8] and a lunar deity.
Mahaka and Kotofetsy: A pair of trickster deities.[5]
Ratovantany: Creator earth god. Shaped the physical bodies of beings, and claims their remains upon
death.[3]
Rapeto: An earth deity/mythical hero credited with shaping the land.[9]

See also
Hainteny

References
1. "The Possessed and the Dispossessed" (https://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view?docId=ft6t1nb
4hz&chunk.id=s3.3.11&toc.id=s2.3.7&toc.depth=1&brand=ucpress&anchor.id=d0e1989).
publishing.cdlib.org. Retrieved 2020-06-26.
2. Ottino, Paul (1983). "Ancient Malagasy Dynastic Succession; The Merina Example". History in Africa.
10: 247–292. doi:10.2307/3171698 (https://doi.org/10.2307%2F3171698). JSTOR 3171698 (https://ww
w.jstor.org/stable/3171698).
3. https://www.scilt.org.uk/portals/24/passeport2/educationscotland/Images/MadagascarCreationMyth_tcm4-
730169.pdf
4. "Malagasy Dictionary and Madagascar Encyclopedia : Andriamanitra" (http://malagasyword.org/bins/ten
y2/Andriamanitra).
5. Lee Haring (2007). Stars and Keys: Folktales and Creolization in the Indian Ocean, Indiana University
Press.
6. Virginia Thompson, Richard Adloff (1965). The Malagasy Republic: Madagascar Today, Stanford
University Press.
7. Littleton, C. Scott (2005). Gods, goddesses, and mythology (https://books.google.com/books?id=LerKCv
syE6EC&q=malagasy+mythology&pg=PA74). Marshall Cavendish. p. 74. ISBN 9780761475590.
Retrieved 2010-06-19.
8. Cotterell, Arthur (1979). A Dictionary of World Mythology.
9. Zoë Crossland (2014). Ancestral Encounters in Highland Madagascar: Material Signs and Traces of the
Dead, Cambridge University Press.

Selected literature
Bonnefoy, Yves;, Doniger, Wendy (1993). Asian Mythologies. University Of Chicago Press. pp. 187–
201. ISBN 978-0-226-06456-7.
Dandouau, A. (1922). Contes Populaires Des Sakalava Et Des Tsimihety.
Ferrand, Gabriel. Contes populaires malgaches. Paris: Ernest Leroux, 1893.
Haring, Lee (1980). "The Classification of Malagasy Narrative". Research in African Literatures. 11 (3):
342–355. JSTOR 3818280 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/3818280).
Haring, Lee (1994). Ibonia: Epic of Madagascar. Bucknell University Press. ISBN 978-0-8387-5284-5.
Haring, Lee (2009). "Verbal Charms in Malagasy Folktales". Charms, Charmers and Charming.
pp. 246–259. doi:10.1057/9780230583535_17 (https://doi.org/10.1057%2F9780230583535_17).
ISBN 978-1-349-36250-9.
Junior, James Sibree (1883). "The Oratory, Songs, Legends, and Folk-Tales of the Malagasy". The Folk-
Lore Journal. 1 (1): 1–15. JSTOR 1252493 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/1252493).
Junior, James Sibree (1883). "The Oratory, Songs, Legends, and Folk-Tales of the Malagasy
[Continued]". The Folk-Lore Journal. 1 (2): 33–40. JSTOR 1252581 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/125258
1).
Junior, James Sibree (1883). "The Oratory, Songs, Legends, and Folk-Tales of the Malagasy
[Continued]". The Folk-Lore Journal. 1 (3): 65–77. JSTOR 1252576 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/125257
6).
Junior, James Sibree (1883). "The Oratory, Songs, Legends, and Folk-Tales of the Malagasy
[Continued]". The Folk-Lore Journal. 1 (4): 97–106. JSTOR 1252714 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/12527
14).
Junior, James Sibree (1883). "The Oratory, Songs, Legends, and Folk-Tales of the Malagasy.
[Continued]". The Folk-Lore Journal. 1 (6): 169–174. JSTOR 1252670 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/1252
670).
Junior, James Sibree; Pickersgill, W. C. (1883). "The Oratory, Songs, Legends, and Folk-Tales of the
Malagasy [Continued]". The Folk-Lore Journal. 1 (7): 201–211. JSTOR 1252662 (https://www.jstor.org/st
able/1252662).
Junior, James Sibree (1883). "The Oratory, Songs, Legends, and Folk-Tales of the Malagasy
[Continued]". The Folk-Lore Journal. 1 (8): 233–243. JSTOR 1252626 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/1252
626).
Junior, James Sibree (1883). "The Oratory, Songs, Legends, and Folk-Tales of the Malagasy
[Continued]". The Folk-Lore Journal. 1 (9): 273–279. JSTOR 1252792 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/1252
792).
Junior, James Sibree (1883). "The Oratory, Songs, Legends, and Folk-Tales of the Malagasy
[Continued]". The Folk-Lore Journal. 1 (10): 305–316. JSTOR 1252772 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/125
2772).
Junior, James Sibree (1883). "The Oratory, Songs, Legends, and Folk-Tales of the Malagasy.
[Concluded]". The Folk-Lore Journal. 1 (11): 337–343. JSTOR 1252722 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/125
2722).
De Longchamps, Jeanne. Conte Malgaches. Paris: Editions Erasme. 1955.
McElroy, Colleen J. (1999). Over the Lip of the World: Among the Storytellers of Madagascar. ISBN 978-
0-295-97824-6.
Ottino, Paul (1982). "Myth and History: The Malagasy Andriambahoaka and the Indonesian Legacy".
History in Africa. 9: 221–250. doi:10.2307/3171607 (https://doi.org/10.2307%2F3171607).
JSTOR 3171607 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/3171607).
Randriamanantena, Didier. Le Roi et Ifara (graphic novel retelling the legend of Razafimbolamena, the
prodigal son).
Renel, Charles. Contes de Madagascar. Paris: Ernest Leroux, 1910.
Renel, Charles. Contes de Madagascar. Paris: Ernest Leroux, 1930.
 Tyson, Peter (2000). The Eighth Continent: Life, Death and Discovery in the Lost World of Madagascar.
ISBN 978-0-380-97577-8.

External links
Ibonia (https://web.archive.org/web/20110605051817/http://xroads.virginia.edu/~Public/Ibonia/text.html)

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Malagasy_mythology&oldid=1114387277"

This page was last edited on 6 October 2022, at 07:14 (UTC).

Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0; additional terms may apply. By using this site,
you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-
profit organization.