Nada the Lily

Nada the Lily
Nada the Lily  
Author(s) H. Rider Haggard
Country England England
Language English
Genre(s) Historical
Publisher Cassell & Company
Publication date 1882
Pages 256

Nada the Lily is an historical novel by English writer H. Rider Haggard, written in 1892. It is said to be inspired by Haggard's time in South Africa (1875–1882).

The novel tells the tale of the hero Umslopogaas, the illegitimate son of the great Zulu king and general Chaka, and his love for "the most beautiful of Zulu women", Nada the Lily. Nada the Lily is unusual for a Victorian novel in that its entire cast of characters is South African and black.

Contents

Plot outline

Nada the Lily is set at the time of Chaka, the Zulu king, around whom much of the action turns, but essentially the book is the story of Umslopogaas, and of "his love for Nada, the most beautiful of Zulu women." They have been brought up as brother and sister but Umslopogaas is really Chaka's son. It is narrated by Mopo the father of Nada and doctor to Chaka, who has a claim on Chaka because he saved the life of Chaka and his mother when they were outcast wanderers.

During the course of the novel Umslopogaas teams up with Galazi the Wolf, who lives on Ghost Mountain and has power over the resident wolf pack. The story ends tragically when Nada, fleeing the wrath of Dingaan following the assassination of Chaka, takes refuge in a cave on the mountain. Galazi dies in her defence but the cave proves her tomb as she is unable to open the stone door she has closed behind her. (Umslopogaas appears again in Haggard's She and Allan and in Allan Quatermain he is an old man and dies heroically.)

Parts of the story are closely based on actual historical events and on folktales recorded by Bishop Henry Callaway and others. 'Mopo' is based in part on a man called Mbopa who was involved in the assassination of Shaka. But Umslopogaas, Galazi and Nada are wholly invented.

Cultural influence

The name "nada"is an Arabic word for the dew drops in the morning and, as such, a poetic metaphor for the concept of generosity, another possible translation of the same word.[1]

It's also probable that the name is a reference to the Portuguese word meaning "nothing" because Haggard was introduced to that idiom while living in South Africa.[2] After a final scramble we ended up sitting on her head while Mdluli told me what he knew of the mountain, its history & the Zulu meaning of Tshaneni. "But why Nada the Lily?" he asked me. "Nada is not a Zulu name." No it's not. It's Portuguese. Nada's grandfather was a white man, "a Portuguese from the coast."

References

External links



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