Yumboes : The African Elf

Yumboes

Introduction

The Wolof people of West Africa are known to have supernatural beings known as the Yumboes. They are believed to be spirits that are attached to humans, and they live in the hills known as the Paps. These hills, which are characterized by the shape of a woman’s breast, are located all around the world.

Physical Traits

The two-foot-tall, silvery-white creatures, which are called Yumboes, are said to be the spirits of those who have died. They are attached to humans and are often described as having silver hair.

Family

Thomas Keightley’s book, The Fairy Mythology, contains the only known source material about the legends about the yumboes. He got his information about the creatures from a woman who lived on Goree Island, which is off the coast of Senegal. She said that she heard about them from a Wolof maid. According to Keightley, the creatures look similar to European fairy creatures. They also bear a striking resemblance to African ghosts.

Other names

The word “yomba” is derived from the Wolof word “pumpkin,” and it has a connection with the idea of the yumboes’ desire to steal human food. Keightley claims that this is a link between the good folk of Europe and the Wolof people. heir alternatively used name Bakhna Rakhna literally means good people.

Powers and Abilities

The creatures live in the hills near the Paps, and they usually feast on large tables serviced by servants, who are also invisible except for their feet and hands. Whenever they have an amazing feast, they invite both foreigners and natives to come. Although their dwellings are very luxurious, the Yumboes still eat human food, which they steal from the people which hey then carry it out into calabashes. However, they do catch their own fish.

Modern Day Influence

The African house elves featured in Pottermore were also known as the Senegal national quidditch team’s mascots. In Knightmare, one of the gamebooks, the creatures are described as flesh-eating monsters that can attack players after they light up their island. They also appear in the book Skin of the Sea, which was written by a Nigerian Welsh author.