The Alur (with closely related ethnic groups such as the Acholi, Lango, Adhola, and Luo proper) belong to the southern branch of the Luo meta ethnicity, itself falling under the broader Nilotic family. The homeland of the Alur spans an area from the northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo into northwestern Uganda on the shores of Lake Albert. The Alur like most Nilotic cultures are largely pastoral farmers for whom cattle is life, in common with myriad cultures throughout eastern as well as southern Africa. The Alur society was traditionally ruled by kings believed to have power over the lifegiving rains. Alur kings owned the miraculous rain stones which were the key to successfully calling down precipitation. The Acholi also structed their society around monarchs based on control of weather.
In colonial Uganda the British empire largely focused on developing the more advanced southern Bantu states such as Buganda at the expense of the poorer north. For this reason Luo groups (particularly the Acholi) were used to supply manual labor and soldiers. Racialist theories at the time deemed the Acholi a "Martial Race" who were suitable only for warfare, like the Gurkhas of the Raj. The Acholi made up a disproportionate number of soldiers in the King's African Rifles. This combination of political-economic disenfranchisement in conjunction with excessive military influence would later spell disaster throughout northern Uganda from horrific guerilla wars waged against the government as well as between rebel groups such as the Uganda National Liberation Front who attempted to overthrow the tyrannical regime of dictator Idi Amin, or more recently the Lord's Resistance Army led by the infamous Joseph Kony believed by his followers to have magical powers.
The Alur and their kindred ethnicities hold a belief in the supreme deity Jok, whom they distinguish from lesser spirits collectively referred to as Jok. Jok has largely been identified with the Christian god in recent years. Some Jok are simply the ghosts of the dead, other Jok are thought to be more like Genius Loci that were never human. Though mostly Christian now, the Alur and related peoples almost freely blend beliefs from the traditional faith to the new faith.
Tropes from Alur mythology include:
- Beneath the Earth: There once was a man who borrowed his brother's axe, promising not to break or lose it. On cutting a tree, the blade immediately broke off and fell down a hole. The man checked the depth with his eyes, then his leg, then he finally got the courage to jump into the abyss. He landed in a strange land and followed the road to a city in the world below. He met the king's vizier and was received hospitably before explaining the situation. The king below the earth had intense eyes like burning stars, but his vizier told the man not to fear him. The visitor was sent back to earth with four goats, a cow, and the repaired axe. He had been warned he would die if he told anyone about his journey, and so he happily brought his secret to the grave with him.
- Cain and Abel: Gipir and Labongo split the tribe in the wake of Labongo killing his own child on Gipir's urging. Gipir traveled west of the Nile while Labongo traveled east of the Nile toward Acholiland. Before going their seprate ways they planted a tobacco plant and struck the ground with an axe saying "May this be the sign that our lands are forever divided.".
- Divine Date: In the land of Pwalo there was a king named Mblukwa. He was seen one evening by a heavenly princess named Niachero who came down on a cloud and asked to marry him.
- Flying on a Cloud: How the tribe of the heavens travel to earth and back.
- In Vino Veritas: Anguza eventually wanted to visit his village again and asked Jokanim to let him visit the surface. Jokanim warned him that if he told anyone about the secrets of the lake he would die. Anguza hid his pearls and tried to remain silent about where he'd been. But he went to a drinking party and boasted about the great things he found in Jokanim's country. Anguza immediately fell dead, and the local diviner learned the cause of death as Jokanim spoke through him.
- Offing the Offspring: Labongo and Gipir's children were playing when Labongo's child swallowed Gipir's pearl which his own child had brought along. Gipir insisted Labongo do the honorable thing like he had done and recover his property. Labongo was forced to kill his child and retrieve the pearl that way.
- Our Dwarves Are All the Same: Subverted. The Abira of legend were said to have tails like cattle and lived in caves across the western hills. They preferred to come out at night and lived on what they could find in the earth. The Alur king Ojanga-Mbele lured them from their lairs with bits of beef and salt presented on long spears. The Abira enjoyed these gifts so much they traded their daughters and sisters for cattle and joined the Alur as their servants.
- Perplexing Pearl Production:
- One day the fisherman Anguza was sailing far into the center of the lake in search of fish. As he stroked he noticed beautiful pearls dripping down from his oar. Shocked, Anguza struck against the water again and pearls splashed everywhere. Unable to believe his luck, Anguza began shoveling pearls into his boat.
- An old woman who had helped Gipir gave him a beautiful pearl as royal regalia.
- Schmuck Bait: Princess Niachero explicitly told her mortal entourage not to open any of the pots in her home during the journey to her family in the heavens. They became curious and opened then only to be enveloped by a swarm of locusts.
- The Swarm: The six servants sent to guard Princess Niachero were almost killed by a pot of ravenous locusts up in heaven before the celestial tribe saved them.
- Tower of Babel: It was thought that the Lendu are very stupid people. Their king built a tower in order to reach heaven. They believed the stars were fires kept lit by wealthy people so prosperous they could afford to keep them burning all night. The great bamboo tower began to rot nine months in and his minister named Ledza tried to warn the king. But the arrogant king refused to listen and demanded more storeys be added to the wobbly structure. Eventually the base collapsed and everyone but Ledza died.
- Underwater City: More like country. Anguza noticed great white fish swimming on the lake before realizing they were goats that could miraculously swim under water. Anguza dived after them and entered the realm of the great lake god Jokinam. Jokanim made Anguza his goat herder and he lived happily for a long time, with plenty of meat and milk.
- Wicked Witch: One of whom sat on a rock inhabited by Jokichana, the rock spirit. The spirit was angry she did not offer him any of the porridge she was eating, and so made her baby impossible to lift off the rock. The witch didn't particularly care for her baby and abandoned it, taking instead her basket of millet with her. The baby's father spoke to a diviner who told him to sacrifice to Jokichana in order to recover his missing baby. The rock burst open, and there they rescued the crying baby.
