Elukeluke / Etuoo

The Elukeluke/Etuoo (tortoise) holds diverse symbolic meanings and associations, including with Ogun (god of war), pride, and trickery ( ). The tortoise is one of the rarest animals depicted on the Emwin Arhe (royal treasures); however, it was used by some carvers of the Igbesamwan to decorate the Aken'ni Elao (carved tusks) and some ivory Ẹgogo (gongs). According to Hans Melzian ( ), the Elukeluke has two praise names: “the thing that swaggers proudly” and “the thing that walks like a cripple.” Both praise names, although contradictory, evoke descriptions of Ọba Ohẹn, who was paralysed from the waist down and attempted to deceive the royal court about this fact.

The Elukeluke appears in stories as an “ambitious and cunning” animal ( ) and is often seen as a cautionary figure in Edo oral tradition. Priestess Azaigueni Aghahowa ( ) described the Elukeluke as a “great liar” who, in the form of a human, had attempted to deceive an Ọba. On discovering the deceit, “the Ọba cursed his house, which fell upon the tortoise's back and crushed it, becoming a part of him. From that time forward his deceitful character has been publicly acknowledged, because ‘he hides his body’.”