Up the White Nile

One of the most fascinating characteristics of the Nile is how it is often spoken of as one river but the location and lore surrounding each section of the river makes it seem, at times, to be different rivers. There is the bounteous silt-laden Egyptian Nile spreading its palm out at its Mediterranean delta. There is Abay, the Blue Nile, all 900 miles or 1,450 kilometers of it, rumbling only one name: Ethiopia, as it rushes down the mountains from Lake Tana. Then there is the White Nile of the Sudans, a meandering gift from Uganda’s Nnalubaale or Lake Victoria.

In this week’s episode of the Mythological Africans podcast, we continue our journey upstream through South Sudan, into Uganda. We start with river lore from the Shilluk and Dinka of South Sudan, and end with folk beliefs about Bujagali Falls in Uganda where the White Nile spills from Lake Victoria.

Bujagali Falls, the “Source of the White Nile”

References

• Bassekalowooleza ne Bannakalowooleza ba Buganda abedda - Buganda Thinkers of the Past

• Austin, Herbert Henry. “Survey of the Sobat region.” The Geographical Journal 17.5 (1901): 495-512.

• Sahlins, Marshall, and David Graeber. On kings. HAU books, 2017. p83

• Nde, Helen. The Watkins Book of African Folklore. United Kingdom, Watkins Media, 2025. p 39 - 41

• Ness, Patrick. “From the White Nile to Ruanda.” The Geographical Journal 72.1 (1928): 1-16.

• Willis, C. A. “THE CULT OF DENG.” Sudan Notes and Records, vol. 11, 1928, pp. 195–208. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41715952.

• Oestigaard, Terje. “Dammed divinities: the water powers at Bujagali Falls, Uganda.” Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, 2015.

Meanwhile…

The Watkins Book of African Folklore (…or The Mythological Africans Book) is out!

The Watkins Book of African Folklore contains 50 stories, curated from North, South, East, West and Central Africa. The stories are grouped into three sections:

• Creation myths and foundation legends (including the Shilluk Foundation Legend)

• Stories about human relationships and the cultural institutions they created

• Animal tales (with a twist…the folktales are about some of the most unlikely animals!)

I thoroughly enjoyed digging into the historical and cultural context out of which the stories, their themes, and protagonists emerge. There is something for everybody!