Bestiary.us

The Eloko or Biloko (which means something like "bogeymen") are the archenemies of the Nkundo people in Central Zaire (Democratic Republic of the Congo). They occur frequently in the epic of Lianja (see J.Knappert's "Myths and Legends of the Congo", the section on the "Nkundo"), were the Biloko appear on almost every page. They are described as dwarfs, but whether there is any association with the pygmy peoples who still live in the Congo forests, is doubtful. The pygmies are good hunters and are often regarded as mysterious beings with magic powers, but relations between them and the Bantu are not known to be more deeply hostile than those with some of the 'big-men' tribes. It seems more likely that the dwarfs, like ghosts and giants, are part of the mythology of the Mongo-Nkundo peoples of Central Zaire; whether a nation conceives of these categories of monsters in order to frighten its children, or whether the monsters are the visualization of inner angst without object, is a question we can here leave aside. Two certain lessons are implied in the story: (1) A man should not leave his wife behind, alone in the middle of the forest, and (2) A woman should resist every form of temptation from outside.

The Eloko dwarfs possess the art of bewitching human beings by means of bells. The bell is the chief attribute of Ilela, the god of Death, the father of Lianja ("Myths and Legends of the Congo", section "Nkundo"). The mysterious bell is a representation of the universe as it contains, in the form of secret symbols, all the mortal creatures of the earth. By means of this bell, the owner can put a spell on whomever he wishes to die. The dwarf may thus be one of Death's servants, a minor god who represents one of the many mysterious diseases that assail people in the Congo forests, perhaps some gangrene that "eats away" human flesh. The liver is the part of the body that is believed to contain the spirit of life of a living being, human or animal. When a person's liver is eaten, he is as good as dead. It is possible that (in the context of the story) the wife was right when she said that her husband was not a man. It is probable that he was a hero or at least a magician, someone in possession of superior powers, for only heroes and sorcerers are stronger than Biloko (1497: p.142-143).