Kinòly

Overview

Kinòly is a human revenant whose emergence follows decay of the intestines and abdominal skin. Relatives are said to open the tomb so that it can leave. The remaining body resembles a person, but its eyes are red and its nails long. The account gives it a thieving appetite for prepared food and unhusked rice. One observer watches a male and female try to carry stolen grain: the shoulder burden hurts the male and the head burden hurts the female, emphasizing weakness alongside their disturbing appearance.

Another encounter turns a conversation about visible traits into an attack. Asked about its red eyes, the revenant answers that God passed by them; asked about its long nails, it announces their use for tearing out the questioner’s liver or interior and proceeds to tear him. The notice places such claims in Betsileo and records becoming a Kinòly as a misfortune for the person and relatives. It does not make every Malagasy corpse a revenant, and the narrator’s explanation of bodily decay is a recorded belief rather than an established process of resurrection.

Ferrand’s later notice, collected at Fianarantsoa and labelled Betsileo, describes a thin, toothless figure with very long nails and a nasal voice. A challenger is gripped by those claws, and the revenant frightens the opponent away by claiming that ten thousand of its kind are present. Its cave dwelling has silk bedding, and the account attributes accumulated silk to nightly theft. A mother who has become kinoly visits her children and asks for food, beans and maize seed. After roasting the beans and maize she leaves permanently: the notice connects her absence with the roasted seed’s inability to germinate. It also describes flies as a sign of the revenant’s passage and associates it with sunshine and foul-smelling places.

This version records disagreement within the attributed community about how the transformation happens and whether the accounts are authentic. Ferrand’s editorial footnote nevertheless asserts a belief in transformation through walking on a kinoly’s grave. That is a disagreement between the main notice and collector’s annotation, rather than a rule accepted by every teller. A further quotation from de la Vaissière supplies several incompatible bodily examples, including toothed forms, unlike the main notice’s toothless description. Those quoted comparative figures are not silently combined with the red-eyed, bowelless revenant of the earlier Sibree witness.

Origins & earliest records

Sibree translates the marvellous-creature notices in Dahle’s Malagasy collection, identifying their heading as accounts from the Betsileo district. Missionary collection and English translation mediate unnamed contributors; quoted named witnesses are preserved only where supplied.

Records & interpretation

The Folk-Lore Journal volume 1 printed pp 169–174, selected notice Kinòly. Proofread page transcription with linked scans. Claims of encounters and transformations remain attributed narrative testimony; no present-day community consensus or biological identity inferred. Ferrand’s complete XXVIII and its notes supply a separately collected Fianarantsoa witness; its disagreement and comparative quotations remain distinguished.

Selected bibliography

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

1. 01

   On the Oratory, Songs, Legends, and Folk-tales of the Malagasy — Marvellous Creatures

   James Sibree Jr., translator, drawing on Lars Dahle’s collection · 1883

   Printed pages 172–172; numbered fabulous-creature notice.

2. 02

   Contes populaires malgaches

   Gabriel Ferrand, collector, translator and annotator · 1893

   XXVIII, Les Kinoly, pp. 86–88, including locality and comparative annotations; preface XI identifies collected rather than translated-from-Dahle item.

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. Primary collected narrative translation, proofread transcriptionFolk-Lore Journal 1883 — printed p 172Research access: 2026-10-05
2. Historical collected French noticeFerrand 1893, Les KinolyResearch access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

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