A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.
Overview
The threatening bird is explicitly described as quite small, despite its ability to seize the people of a large town and detach their jaws. It returns when the sun is overhead, perches on a tree and sings of the jaws it takes. Ananse answers with an insulting refrain about its ancestors, provoking it to enter the street and then pursue him into his house. The townspeople flee and leave him alone. He withdraws behind doorway matting and finally into an eating calabash, lowering his voice as the bird searches for him.
When the pursuer is about to uncover the vessel, Ananse cuts off its head. Half of the bird flies to the place translated as Edge-of-the-sea-country, while the severed head and the stolen jaws remain behind. A sensible child verifies the evidence because the villagers initially distrust Ananse’s claim of victory. They then retrieve and reattach their jaws; the narrative associates toothache with taking someone else’s jaw by mistake. Finally, the remaining bird portion is fetched, cut into small pieces and scattered, producing the many birds of the world represented by the tale. The episode combines a bodily predator, animated severed remains and a bird-origin transformation.
Origins & earliest records
An unnamed bird antagonist in Rattray’s collected Akan narrative How Toothache and Birds Came into the Tribe. The descriptive profile name identifies this story case and is not presented as a recorded vernacular proper name.
Records & interpretation
Complete selected English narrative, printed pp 177–182, inspected alongside facing Akan text. Its small size and severed portion’s flight are explicit; no species, giant stature or extra heads are supplied.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
Akan-Ashanti folk-tales
How Toothache and Birds Came into the Tribe; printed pp 177–182. Public scan is a lithographic reprint.
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.
- Primary collected narrative translationRattray — Jaw-taking birdResearch access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.
