Napolo, the Serpent Under the Mountain
In southern Malawi, people say a giant serpent lives under the mountains. When it moves, rivers burst, and the slopes come crashing down.
What was reported
In the folklore of southern Malawi, Napolo is a huge serpent or spirit that lives beneath the mountains and in deep waters. It's said to move from one place to another, especially from the mountains towards the lakes, and when it travels, it brings torrential rain, floods and landslides.
The devastating floods on the Zomba Plateau in 1946, and at Phalombe in 1991, were widely blamed on Napolo moving.
Explanations offered
The belief explains the real danger of sudden floods and landslides, when heavy rain falls on steep, deforested slopes. Napolo also appears in modern Malawian poetry and literature as a symbol of upheaval and change.
- When
- Told for generations; linked to floods in 1946 and 1991
- Where
- Zomba, Malawi
- Witnesses
- Communities of southern Malawi
- Status
- Folklore
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.
More from Malawi