The Grootslang - South Africa's Diamond-Cursed Serpent | The Monster That Was Never an Elephant
About this episode
This episode explores the legend of the Grootslang, a mythical serpent in South Africa associated with diamonds and local folklore.
Deep in the Richtersveld, where the Orange River cuts through some of the oldest, driest land on Earth, there is a cave the locals call the Bottomless Pit. They say it runs sixty feet straight down before it opens into the dark — and that it is the source of every diamond South Africa has ever surrendered. They also say something guards it. Something forty feet long, with diamonds set in its eye sockets, that leaves a trail three feet wide in the river mud and never, ever leaves the print of a foot. This is the Grootslang — the "great snake" — and tonight we're separating the legend from the legend. Because the elephant-serpent monster you've seen online, the one the gods supposedly split apart at the dawn of creation, isn't the real story. The truth is older, quieter, and far more frightening: a creature that prospectors tried to dynamite out of the rock, that the Khoekhoe and the settlers both feared, and that may have swallowed a real man whole in 1917 — at least, that's who the desert decided to blame. Pour something strong. Mind the water's edge. #FreakyFolklore #Grootslang #SouthAfricanFolklore #Cryptid #Cryptozoology #Folklore #Mythology #Richtersveld #Monster…
More episodes of Freaky Folklore
- A-Mi-Kuk - The Alaskan Monster That Swims Through Land
- Why Did Parents Invent Jenny Greenteeth?
- TOYOL– The Stolen Infant Spirit of Malay Folklore
- GULON – The Ravenous Wolverine Monster of Norse Legend
- El-Naddaha - The Woman Who Calls You to the Water of the Nile
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Freaky Folklore podcast page.