TOKOLOSHE

The Malevolent Dwarf / Tikoloshe

The Tokoloshe, also written Tikoloshe or Thikoloshe, is a malevolent creature of the beliefs of the Nguni peoples of southern Africa, in particular the Zulu and the Xhosa. It is most often described as a dwarfish, hairy being, bound to water, able to make itself invisible by swallowing a pebble or a mouthful of water. In Zulu thought it rarely acts alone: it is a familiar sent by a sorcerer, umthakathi, to torment a victim, and it is blamed for illnesses, nightmares, night-time assaults and misfortunes. The custom of raising beds on bricks, still widespread in South Africa, is traditionally explained as a protection against its visits. The Zulu religious system to which it belongs was documented as early as the nineteenth century by the missionary Henry Callaway, and the figure of the witchcraft familiar was later analysed by twentieth-century anthropologists, notably Axel-Ivar Berglund and David Hammond-Tooke. Unlike the gods of ancient Egypt, the Tokoloshe belongs to a living belief: in South Africa and neighbouring countries, people still consult healers and diviners — sangomas and inyangas — for protection against it, and it holds a lasting place in South African press, music and popular culture.