Great-Toothed Devourer of Skin-sore’s Tale

Overview

The old woman inhabits a hut in a settlement initially described as containing only women. Its residents warn Skin-sore that she eats people and has finished the males. Their later explanation adds an important distinction: surviving men have been living in thickets, receiving food there, while male newborns are consumed and girls are left alone. The devourer invites the newly arrived boy inside as her grandson. His dog’s choices guide him through successive meals: sometimes it leaves the porridge, sometimes the vegetable, and Skin-sore follows it.

The dog also interrupts two nighttime attacks. Next the woman creates a pit by the doorway; the dog takes the window and its owner follows. A further pit beneath the window leaves neither entrance acceptable to the dog, and Skin-sore declines the meal. The woman then persuades him to leave the animal behind when gathering firewood. At a pond she directs him into a dead tree standing in the water. Once he has climbed, she announces her intention to kill him and begins cutting the trunk with her great tooth.

Skin-sore calls the dog, which arrives as the tree starts to fall and attacks the woman. He descends and kills her. Her child, the immense bird Jirimapimbiro, attempts revenge and is defeated in turn. The residents acknowledge Skin-sore as chief because he has ended the devourer’s attacks. The full tale proceeds to his sister’s retrieval and reunion; it does not revive the woman or identify her as an ordinary historical inhabitant.

Her represented appearance is that of an old woman with a tooth capable of cutting a substantial tree, while her child has a bird’s body. The narration does not explain that relationship by a transformation or give her a proper name. This role title identifies the figure in Kidd’s particular translated Gazaland tale, not a general label for women or a catalogue of real cannibals. Douglas Wood supplied the translation material; Kidd’s introduction states that the published wording was edited for intelligibility.

Origins & earliest records

Kidd’s chapter VII attributes these nursery tales to Tshindao-speaking Gazaland contributors collectively. Preface p. x credits Douglas Wood with their literal translations; no individual teller is named for this episode. Colonial child-development theories are not adopted as community description.

Records & interpretation

Chapter VII, Surprise Stories, I, How Skin-sore Killed a Cannibal, complete pp. 224–230; female devourer and dog’s protection pp. 225–227, great tooth and Jirimapimbiro p. 228, chief recognition and sister’s reunion pp. 228–230. Translation mediation explicitly credited to Douglas Wood in preface p. x; editing explained pp. 223–224.

Selected bibliography

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

1. 01

   Savage Childhood: A Study of Kafir Children

   Dudley Kidd, compiler and editor; Douglas Wood, credited translation intermediary · 1906

   Chapter VII, Surprise Stories, I, How Skin-sore Killed a Cannibal, complete pp. 224–230; female devourer and dog’s protection pp. 225–227, great tooth and Jirimapimbiro p. 228, chief recognition and sister’s reunion pp. 228–230. Translation mediation explicitly credited to Douglas Wood in preface p. x; editing explained pp. 223–224.

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. Historical collected tale, mediated translation and editorial accountKidd1906 — complete Gazaland tale and editorial framingResearch access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

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