Rain Queen, noun phrase

Also with small initials. a. The hereditary queen of the Lobedu people, believed to have special medicinal skills and power over the elements, especially the ability to bring rain; Modjadji sense 2. Also attributive. b. Occasionally used as a title, with the queen’s name. See also Lobedu.
1933 J. Juta Look Out for Ostriches 97The dark mysterious Rain Queen...Mujaji is her name, and she is probably the last of the direct line of Rain Queens.
1937 B.H. Dicke Bush Speaks 40The indunas living under the Rain-Queen did not hang back. They..acknowledged Schiel as their chief...That was too much for ‘Her Who Must Be Obeyed.’
1943 E.J. & J.D. Krige (title)The Realm of a Rain-Queen.
1955 T.V. Bulpin Storm over Tvl 85All these people..lived in some awe of Mujaji, the renowned Rain Queen who lived with the loBedu people thirty miles north-east of Wolkberg, in a tribal home of magnificent splendour.
1959 L.G. Green These Wonders 33For centuries the rain queen was expected, in her old age, to pass on her secrets to a daughter or younger woman, and then to commit ritual suicide by taking poison. Mujaji was prevailed upon by missionaries to break this savage tradition, and she died of old age.
1972 Caravan May 61A special visit was arranged to the kraal of Mojaji, the Rain Queen.
1979 P. Miller Myths & Legends 204Modjadji: The Rain Queen...In a land where rain is the harbinger of life and lack of it means death, the ability to control it by supernatural means is the most valuable of a magician’s skills...It is doubtful whether anyone other than the queen herself is in possession of her secrets.
1983 S. Afr. Panorama May 37The mystique of the Land of the Silver Mist well serves the Rain Queen with her sacred grove of Modjadji palms, prehistoric cycad survivals from the age of giant reptiles.
1987 Star 2 Sept. 12Molototsi Valley — the home of Modjadji, the legendary ‘rain queen’.
1988 E. Makwela in Pace May 59The amazing resident of Mothomeng Village, in the Lebowa area of Rain Queen Modjadji, still has a complete set of teeth at the age of 128.
The hereditary queen of the Lobedu people, believed to have special medicinal skills and power over the elements, especially the ability to bring rain; Modjadji sense 2. Also attributive.
Occasionally used as a title, with the queen’s name.
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19331988

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