Togolese folktales

Parchment-style illustration of Esinam meeting the Serpent Mother, a river spirit from Togolese folklore, in a sacred forest.

The Daughter of the Serpent Mother

In the old days, when the forests of Togo grew thick and wild and the rivers sang their ancient songs with voices like distant thunder, there lived a poor girl named Esinam. She walked through life as solitary as a single bird in an endless sky, with no brothers or sisters to share her joys and sorrows, no family to

Parchment-style illustration of Kokou learning from a wise elder under a tree in a Togolese folktale

African Folktales·Togolese Folktales

Kokou the Scholar

Long ago in the ancient land of Tado, where the rivers wound like silver ribbons through verdant hills and the morning mist clung to towering palm trees, there lived a boy named Kokou whose story would echo through generations like the rhythm of ceremonial drums. His family dwelt in a