View source for Erinlẹ

{{Short description|Deity in the Yoruba religion}}
{{for|the surname|Erinle (surname)}}
{{refimprove|date=January 2017}}
{{Infobox deity
| type         = Yoruba
| other_names  = Erinle
| member_of    = [[Orisha]]
| venerated_in = [[Yoruba religion]], [[Umbanda]], [[Candomble]], [[Santeria]], [[Haitian Vodou]], [[Folk Catholicism]]
| image        =
| caption      =
| deity_of     = Earth, Natural force of Universe, Hunting
| color        =
| region       = [[Nigeria]], [[Benin]], [[Latin America]]
| ethnic_group = [[Yoruba people|Yoruba]]
| symbol       =
| spouse       =
}}
In the [[Yoruba people|Yoruba]] tradition, '''Erinlẹ''' was a great hunter who became an ''[[orisha]]''.
He is said to have conducted the first Olobu of Ilobu to the site of the town of [[Ilobu]], and to have protected the people of the town from [[Fula people|Fulani]] invasions.{{sfn|Drewal|Pemberton|Abiodun|Wardwell|1989|p=167}}
He is usually described as a hunter but sometimes as a herbalist or a farmer. It is said that one day he sank into the earth near Ilobu and became a river.
He is known all over [[Yorùbáland]].{{sfn|Witte|1982|p=161}}
The cult of Erinlẹ is found in towns throughout the former [[Oyo Empire]].
His shrines contain smooth, round stones from the Erinlẹ River.{{sfn|Drewal|Pemberton|Abiodun|Wardwell|1989|p=167}}
The name may be derived from ''erin'' (elephant) and ''ilẹ'' (earth), or from ''erin'' and ''ile'' (house).{{sfn|Witte|1982|p=161}}
He is known as '''[[Inle (Santería)|Inle]]''' by the Lukumi in Cuba and as Ode Inle, and sometimes as Oxossi Ibualamo in Brazilian Candomblé. The [[Erinle River|Erinlẹ River]], a tributary of the [[Osun River]], takes his name.
==Notes==
{{portal|Traditional African religion}}
{{Reflist}}
==References==
*{{cite book|title= Yoruba: nine centuries of African art and thought |first1= Henry John |last1= Drewal |first2= John |last2= Pemberton |first3= Rowland |last3= Abiodun |first4= Allen |last4= Wardwell |publisher= Center for African Art |date= 1989 |url=https://www.amherst.edu/system/files/media/1627/Reduced%2520Yoruba_9_Centuries_Chap_6_part_2.pdf
|ISBN=978-0-8109-1794-1}}
*{{cite book|last=Witte|first=H.|title=Commemorative Figures
|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uC8VAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA161|access-date=2014-08-21
|year=1982|publisher=Brill Archive|isbn=978-90-04-06779-0|chapter=Mud-fish symbolism in Yoruba iconography}}
{{Orisa-Ifá}}
[[Category:Afro-American religion]]
[[Category:Religion in Cuba]]
[[Category:Caribbean mythology]]
[[Category:Earth gods]]
[[Category:Health gods]]
[[Category:Yoruba gods]]
[[da:Santeria]]
[[de:Santería]]
[[el:Σαντερία]]
[[es:Santería]]
[[fr:Santeria]]
[[it:Santeria]]
[[nl:Santería]]
[[ja:サンテリア]]
[[pl:Santeria]]
[[fi:Santeria]]
{{Afro-American-religion-stub}}
{{Traditional-African-religions-stub}}
{{deity-stub}}