EKALADERHAN

A Note on the Story

This novel is a work of dramatic fiction drawn from oral traditions concerning Ekaladerhan, the end of the Ogiso era, the western journey, Evian, Ogiamien, Oranmiyan and the beginning of a new royal line in Benin.

These traditions exist in multiple versions. Accounts held in Benin, Ughoton and Ile-Ife differ, including on the question of whether Ekaladerhan and Oduduwa are one man. This novel dramatizes one telling. It does not resolve that question, and it does not ask any tradition to surrender its own account.

Characters, dialogue, procedures, chronologies and events have been dramatized. Consultation concerning Edo history, religion, language and material culture remains subject to attribution and permission.