A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

Overview

Bidda is described through an attack that makes someone’s body rigid. The stated explanation is that he places a piece of iron inside the victim, reaching from the navel to the neck. Tremearne follows this with a tentative diagnostic comparison of his own. The internal iron is therefore retained as the narrated spirit mechanism, while the collector’s medical guess is not treated as an established condition or physical finding.

The representation follows that explanation closely. The human mount lies down and becomes rigid, and a drum, violin and gimbiri are arranged on the body between chest and stomach. Musicians play forcefully until the mount acts as though vomiting. Bidda then leaves and another bori immediately takes his place. The short notice supplies this distinctive sequence but no separate song or origin story; it describes a spirit represented through a performer, not an independently observed iron-bodied creature.

Iron from navel to neckRigid recumbent representationInstruments played on the mount
01

Origins & earliest records

A. J. N. Tremearne combines interviews and descriptions of bori performances with comparative interpretation. These selected notices do not consistently name individual speakers; printed attributes are distinguished from his conjectures.

02

Records & interpretation

Complete selected spirit notice in chapter XXIII, printed pp. 339; full chapter read.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

  1. 01

    The Ban of the Bori: Demons and Demon-Dancing in West and North Africa

    A. J. N. Tremearne, collector and colonial-era interpreter · 1914

    XXIII. Bori—the Black Spirits, printed pp. 339; historical representation and attributed explanation.

Family & connections

A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.

References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

  1. Digitized historical ethnographic accountTremearne — BiddaResearch access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

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