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Prince Of Macrobia
06-25-2014, 10:15 PM
ARAWEELO (SOMALI QUEEN)
The folk tale of Araweelo fascinates Somali imagination more than any other orally transmitted story. It is normally told to girls, not to boys. Still, Somali poets present her as a beautiful and strong minded woman who was self confident and fully determined to realize whatever she wanted. This following is a brief account of the legend. 1. How Araweelo came to power
Once upon a time there was a legendary queen called Araweelo who ruled somewhere in Somalia. Her father was the previous king who had her as a daughter without any sons. Therefore she became his successor when he died. Her idea was to consolidate her reign by subduing men and increasing the power of all women in her kingdom.

2. Women are superior to men According to another version Araweelo was a woman who was dissatisfied with the division of labour between men and women consisting in the rulership of men and the subordinate housework of women. Having decided to change this situation unfair to all females she went to the women and told them that since they were giving birth to children they were better qualified to rule than men. She said: “We are more accommodating, more peaceful and more practical then men”.

3. Elimination of men One day all men were busy with their work. Therefore the women led by Araweelo seized all the weapons, rounded up the men and castrated most of them. Very few men were saved from being eunuchs, because they were needed for procreation. Whenever the women of her kingdoms delivered a baby-girl the newborn was accepted, if it was a baby-boy it was usually castrated except for those spared for the survival of mankind. Thus Araweelo could reign in all security for a long time.

4. Araweelo’s daughter fell in love Only one elder man called Oday Biiq (‘the wise coward’) could not stand to be imprisoned. He succeeded to escape and managed to survive in the wilderness. When Araweelo’s daughter had grown up she happened to met Oday Biiq in his solitude. She liked his kindness and his good sense and fell in love with him. Hence force she continued to see him in his hiding place.

5. Araweelo’s daughter gave birth to a boy In due time Araweelo’s daughter became pregnant and when she gave birth the newborn was a baby-boy. Araweelo wanted to castrate her grandchild but her daughter convinced her to delay this decision until he was an adolescent. But when this time came the young man took the initiative and killed his grandmother. Before dying Araweelo made a statement in form of a legacy for all women: “Never have confidence in any man”.

Commentary:
It is supposed that the grave of Araweelo is somewhere in Sanaag. People say that men throw stones on it while women put green leaves on it for the respect for her memory.

Frequent uses of the name of Araweelo:

If a girl is overconfident in herself she is jokingly compared with the legendary Araweelo. Some parents name their daughter Araweelo, because they simply admire this heroic Somali woman and they hope that their girl will be strong like her. Sometimes fathers make fun of their daughter, by calling her Araweelo, while in fact they want to encourage her to be strong minded. Somali women say ironically of themselves that they have a touch of Araweelo, when they feel that they were too rough to others.

http://i62.tinypic.com/16i8nfc.png
ARAWELO

SOURCE: http://www.farahmohamud.com/

templumForasticus
06-26-2014, 12:03 AM
ARAWEELO (SOMALI QUEEN)
The folk tale of Araweelo fascinates Somali imagination more than any other orally transmitted story. It is normally told to girls, not to boys. Still, Somali poets present her as a beautiful and strong minded woman who was self confident and fully determined to realize whatever she wanted. This following is a brief account of the legend. 1. How Araweelo came to power
Once upon a time there was a legendary queen called Araweelo who ruled somewhere in Somalia. Her father was the previous king who had her as a daughter without any sons. Therefore she became his successor when he died. Her idea was to consolidate her reign by subduing men and increasing the power of all women in her kingdom.

2. Women are superior to men According to another version Araweelo was a woman who was dissatisfied with the division of labour between men and women consisting in the rulership of men and the subordinate housework of women. Having decided to change this situation unfair to all females she went to the women and told them that since they were giving birth to children they were better qualified to rule than men. She said: “We are more accommodating, more peaceful and more practical then men”.

3. Elimination of men One day all men were busy with their work. Therefore the women led by Araweelo seized all the weapons, rounded up the men and castrated most of them. Very few men were saved from being eunuchs, because they were needed for procreation. Whenever the women of her kingdoms delivered a baby-girl the newborn was accepted, if it was a baby-boy it was usually castrated except for those spared for the survival of mankind. Thus Araweelo could reign in all security for a long time.

4. Araweelo’s daughter fell in love Only one elder man called Oday Biiq (‘the wise coward’) could not stand to be imprisoned. He succeeded to escape and managed to survive in the wilderness. When Araweelo’s daughter had grown up she happened to met Oday Biiq in his solitude. She liked his kindness and his good sense and fell in love with him. Hence force she continued to see him in his hiding place.

5. Araweelo’s daughter gave birth to a boy In due time Araweelo’s daughter became pregnant and when she gave birth the newborn was a baby-boy. Araweelo wanted to castrate her grandchild but her daughter convinced her to delay this decision until he was an adolescent. But when this time came the young man took the initiative and killed his grandmother. Before dying Araweelo made a statement in form of a legacy for all women: “Never have confidence in any man”.

Commentary:
It is supposed that the grave of Araweelo is somewhere in Sanaag. People say that men throw stones on it while women put green leaves on it for the respect for her memory.

Frequent uses of the name of Araweelo:

If a girl is overconfident in herself she is jokingly compared with the legendary Araweelo. Some parents name their daughter Araweelo, because they simply admire this heroic Somali woman and they hope that their girl will be strong like her. Sometimes fathers make fun of their daughter, by calling her Araweelo, while in fact they want to encourage her to be strong minded. Somali women say ironically of themselves that they have a touch of Araweelo, when they feel that they were too rough to others.

http://i62.tinypic.com/16i8nfc.png
ARAWELO

SOURCE: http://www.farahmohamud.com/


http://i.imgur.com/0DjYDEB.gif