No. SCHWAB1947-002
Vu ni, the devil who roars
Liberia · Central Province · Nimba (Mano country) · West Africa
Restricted
vu ni
Source term: bull-roarer
vu ni (Ge): "bull-roarer, voice of Bush devil" — the name of both the devil and his instrument.
Vu ni is a devil of the Ge Poro, and the bull-roarer he uses bears his own name: vu ni is the devil and his voice at once. When the boys of the Bush walk about at night he talks loudly, so that everyone can hear and get out of the way. The uninitiated never see him, nor do the boys themselves until they are ready to come out. From the weight of his duties, Schwab judged him a devil of very high rank.
Vu ni. This devil "plays" only in the Poro Bush. He talks in a heavy voice. He uses a bull-roarer. His only function is frightfulness.
George Schwab, Tribes of the Liberian Hinterland (Peabody Museum Papers 31, 1947), p. 272.
Particulars
- Object
- Not described.
- Function
- The devil's voice, sounded at night when the Bush pupils walked about, so that everyone could hear and get out of the way.
Source
George Schwab, Tribes of the Liberian Hinterland, ed. George W. Harley, Papers of the Peabody Museum of American Archaeology and Ethnology 31 (Cambridge, Mass., 1947), p. 272 and glossary s.v. vu ni