The legend of Liyongo has many similarities to heroes with unprecedented achievements and qualities from other lands. Just like Roland, he was a horn blower whose horn could be heard from a great distance away, and Liyongo was just as great an archer as Robin Hood. Besides, the unusual ways these heroes died is quite similar. Like the Greek hero Achilles, Liyongo was also immortal. That also applied to Chikumbu, a Yao-chief from Malawi. Chikumbu could only be killed with one thing – a splinter of bamboo because he had ‘medicine’ against everything else. Like King Solomon, Liyongo dies with his head and back half straight. Isn’t that special? Strength and vulnerability at the same time. Isn’t that why they continue to live on as heroes?
