MF #32; The Grootslang [African Mythology]

Hello and welcome back everyone. Today, we're exploring the legend of a monstrous creature from African mythology, the mighty Grootslang. In the legends and folk beliefs of West and South Africa, there's word of a frightful creature that dwells in dark caverns, rivers and swamps. They call it the Grootslang, basically meaning big snake in Afrikaans and Dutch. European travelers in Congo reported hearing tales of the mythical creature. It described the massive beast as some kind of chimera. It had a huge elephant head with a long snake tail attached to it. If we believe the legends at the origins of the Grootslang, it all began when the gods started creating the world and the creatures that would live inside. The gods being new to creation, put a lot of qualities and attributes into a single being. The Grootslang was oozing with power, strength, cunning and intellect and the beast grew in size and might. The gods quickly realized that they made a mistake by mixing too many creatures and attributes into a single being and thus, decided to divide them. That separation created the first elephants and the first snakes on earth. However, one of the original Grootslang remained and it is believed that to this day, the Grootslang survives in the deepest and darkest unexplored parts of Africa. In South Africa, they believe that the creature dwells in a very deep cave hidden somewhere in the richersveld landscape. They call it the bottomless pit. The people from Benin also believe that the creature protects a treasure of gems, which is very similar to the legend we usually hear about western dragons. The only difference being that the Grootslang vastly preferred diamonds more than any other type of gems. Usually, due to their ferocious nature and cruelty, there is no escape from one of these creatures. But it is said that there might be a way to bargain someone's freedom by offering a gem, preferably a diamond to the beast. To this day, the legend of the Grootslang is still very well known among most people in western and southern Africa and its legend remains a staple in African mythology. That's all for today's video, thanks everyone for watching, I really appreciate it. Please share the video and subscribe to the channel to help it grow and on this, I'll see you all next time for the next video.