Beings and legendary figures
The Kerit is a mythological creature from Kalenjin folklore that has become well known in other parts of the world, mainly through popular culture and fantasy genres. However, there are a number of other saints, legendary figures and mythical creatures that feature in Kalenjin folklore, some of these include;
Cheptalel
Cheptalel [6] [7] (also Cheptaleel) is a heroine found in the folklore of the Kipsigis [8] and Nandi [9] sections of the Kalenjin people of Kenya. She became a folk hero as a result of being offered as a sacrifice (actually or symbolically) to save the Kalenjin sections from a drought that was ravaging their land.
In the legend, there came a time when rain disappeared for many years leading to a severe drought such that the elders held a meeting to decide on what to do. It was decided that a young girl would be offered as, or would go and offer, a sacrifice to the owner of the sky so that he would allow rain to fall. A young virgin girl was thus selected to go to a body of water (usually the home of Ilat) to pray for rain.
Her boyfriend found out about the plan and determined to follow her surreptitiously as she went on her mission. When she arrived at the lake (in some accounts waterfall), she stood at the shore and sang her call to the rain.
As she sang, it began to drizzle and when she sang again it began to pour. When she sang a third time, it began to rain heavily and at the same time Ilat, in the form of lightning, struck but before he could get the girl, her boyfriend jumped out of his hiding place and killed Ilat thus rescuing Cheptalel. [9]
Ilat
Ilat/Ilet (pronounced E-lat) is a figure from Kalenjin mythology who commonly features in Kalenjin folktales. He is associated with thunder and rain and is said to inhabit deep pools and waterfalls [10] and that the rainbow are his discarded garments.
Among the Nandi, Ilet ne-mie and Ilet ne-ya respectively are good and a bad thunder-gods. The crashing of thunder near at hand is said to be Ilet ne-ya trying to come to earth to kill people while the distant rumbling of thunder is Ilet ne-mie protecting man by driving away his name-sake.
Forked lightning is the sword of Ilet ne-ya while sheet lightning is said to be the sword of Ilet ne-mie. [11]
Kerit
The Nandi bear is an unconfirmed animal, reported to live in East Africa. [12] It takes its name from the Nandi people who live in western Kenya, in the area the Nandi bear is reported from. It is also known as Chemisit, [12] Kerit, Koddoelo, [12] Ngoloko, or Duba (which derives from the Arabic words dubb or d.abʕ / d.abuʕ for 'bear' and 'hyena' respectively [13] ). The Samburu "Nkampit" appears also to be a version of this creature.
Descriptions of the Nandi bear are of a ferocious, powerfully built carnivore with high front shoulders (over four feet tall) and a sloping back, somewhat similar to a hyena. Some have speculated that Nandi bears are in fact a misidentified hyena or a surviving Ice Age giant hyena: Karl Shuker states that a surviving short-faced hyaena Pachycrocuta brevirostris , extinct c. 500,000 years before present, would "explain these cases very satisfactorily." [14]
The Nandi people call it "kerit". Local legend holds that it only eats the brain of its victims. Nandi bears were regularly reported in Kenya throughout the 19th century and early 20th century. [15] Bernard Heuvelmans's On the Track of Unknown Animals and Karl Shuker's In Search of Prehistoric Survivors [14] provide the most extensive chronicles of Nandi bear sightings in print.
Chemosit
The Chemosit is often conflated with the Kerit, a creature that is thought to exist by the Kalenjin and surrounding communities. However the Chemosit is the fictitious demonic bogey creature of Kalenjin stories and is not seriously thought of as real by adult Kalenjin. The Chemosit is claimed to be a half-man, half-bird that stands on one leg and has nine buttocks. Its mouth is red and shines brightly at night like a lamp. The Chemosit propels and supports itself with a spear-like stick. [16] There are a number of stories that feature the Chemosit, so much so that the oral literature relating to the Chemosit acquired a specific term among the Nandi, Kapchemosin. [17] This term was also taken to mean fables, [18] stories [19] and legends. [20]
Like the Kerit, people are the Chemosit's food and it is said to prefer children's flesh above all else. However, unlike the Kerit which usually waits for its victims in a tree so as to swipe of their heads as they pass below, the Chemosit entraps its victims by singing sweet songs at night near a place where children are, its open mouth glowing red in the darkness. The children, seeing the light and hearing the song would be attracted to the location thinking it was kambakta, a celebratory dance. They would head off to find the dance and would never be seen again. [21]
Kapchemosin usually follow a similar pattern, the protagonist, often a young person would be warned against a certain action. The performance of said action would usually lead to the Chemosit eating a person or people. However in the end, the protagonist outwits the Chemosit in some manner and cuts off its big toe or thumb thus releasing the people who had previously been eaten. [22] [23]
Among the Tugen and Keiyo, the Chemosit is often portrayed as a shapeshifter, sometimes "wearing" the form of handsome young man and other times that of an old lady who lives in the forest. [24] [25]
Tapkendi
A popular heroine in Nandi folklore who grew up during a time when ancient Kalenjin grazing grounds were occupied by the Maasai. Her cunning and her sons' bravery led to the first victory against the Maasai, eventually leading to the reconquest of the Uasin Gishu plateau.
In the legend, she lived near the border of Nandi and Maasai lands. She one day conceived a plan to retake the traditional lands of the Nandi. She took off her clothes, tied grass round her body, and fastened bells to her arms and legs. She then went to the Maasai kraals and danced like a mad woman.
Everybody in the kraals thinking she was mad, laughed at her. However the warriors on the grazing grounds hearing the bells ran to see what the cause of the commotion was. As soon as the cattle were left unprotected, the woman’s son’s dashed out of their hiding place and drove the animals into the hills where they were joined by friends and the Maasai warriors dared not pursue them.
The woman at the same time slipped off the bells and made good her escape. This was the first check the Maasai received at the hands of the Nandi, who eventually succeeded in driving them out of their lands. [26]
Her two sons would later found the pororiet known as Kapchepkendi. [27]
Kipkeny
Kipkeny was a well known cunning wizard who always managed to escape divination by the wizard-finders. A once popular Nandi proverb goes, "Inge'ngora ke'ngor Kipkeny" or "If I am divined, so is Kipkeny", it was much used by a person who boasted of having done wrong and is equivalent to "They might as well expect to catch Kipkeny as me". [28]
Tapnai & Kingo
A number of accounts state that the founder's of the Kalenjin speaking communities were known as Kingo and his wife, Tapnai. They arrived at Tulwet'ab Kony from a barren, inhospitable land known as Burgei. They settled at Kony where they had a number of sons who in turn gave rise to the various Kalenjin speaking groups.
