The great mass of Zulu literature is still unwritten. It has been handed down by X word of mouth from generation to generation, and is still preserved by the people —an indestructible possession of story, legend, and song.

There are first of all the great national legends; for instance, the legend of the origin of the race. uMvelingqangi, the first man, came out of the reeds as did Moses, and he had a wife with him. These two were the Father and Mother of the race. It is not unlikely that this tradition originated from the fact that the Bantu came from the north, following the Nile to its source at the great lakes, then down the tributaries of the Zambezi, and finally reached this southern part of Africa. Colour is given to this by the tradition which says, Sehla ngesilulu (‘we came down on rafts’), thus indicating how many crossings they had to make.