Nada the Lily

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Nada the Lily is a novel by English writer H. Rider Haggard, written in 1892. It is said to be inspired by Haggard's time in South Africa.

The novel tells the tale of the hero Umslopogaas, the illegitimate son of the great Zulu king and military 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 are South African and black.

[edit] Plot outline

Nada the Lily is set at the time of Shaka, the Zulu king, around whom much of the action turns, but essentially the book is the story of Umslopogaas, & "his love for Nada, the most beautiful of Zulu women." During the course of the novel Umslopogaas teams up with Galazi the Wolf, who lives on Ghost Mountain & has power over the resident wolf pack. The story ends tragically when Nada, fleeing the wrath of Dingane following the assassination of Shaka, 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.

[edit] External links

• Nada the Lily, available at Project Gutenberg.

[edit] Cultural Influence

Nada was, probably, the inspiration to the character with the same name, Nada, that appears in the comic-book Sandman writen by Neil Gaiman.

Shaka can be the inspiration to the name given to the father of T'challa, T'Chaka, the superhero Black Panther, of Marvel Comic Books. The comic presents a fictional African country that bears the Lost World's gender conventions created and developed by Rider Haggard.