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

Overview

Ogumefu describes a giant iroko tree inhabited by the spirit of an old man. At night the Iroko-man leaves its shelter and moves through the forest carrying a little torch, frightening travellers. The chapter attributes madness and an early death to seeing him face to face. Those consequences belong to the narrative’s account of the encounter.

The spirit’s connection to wood survives cutting. Woodcutters are tempted by the tree’s broad trunk and branches, but felling it provokes the Iroko-man’s displeasure and misfortune for the cutter’s family. Furniture made from its wood produces groaning and creaking at night because the spirit is imprisoned there and wants to resume its forest wandering. The chapter thus links a human-like nocturnal apparition, a living tree and displaced wood without making the torch or the furniture separate beings.

Old-man formSmall night torchTree dwellingSpirit remains in worked wood
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Origins & earliest records

M. I. Ogumefu’s Yoruba Legends attributes its narratives to Yoruba country in southern Nigeria. The preface says songs are abbreviated; it gives no named storyteller or dated field interview for this episode. Its Christian editorial judgments are distinct from the selected narrative.

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Records & interpretation

Complete selected chapter read in the digitized edition: VIII, The Iroko Tree, p. 11

Selected bibliography

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

  1. 01

    Yoruba Legends

    M. I. Ogumefu · 1929

    VIII, The Iroko Tree, p. 11; preface for collection attribution and abbreviated songs.

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. Collected narrative; digitized historical editionOgumefu — VIII, The Iroko Tree, p. 11Research access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

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