Waqwaq
Created | Updated Jan 25, 2013
Also known as Waq al Waq or al-Waqwaq, this semi-mythical country was described by medieval Arab geographers as lying in the southeast of the Indian Ocean, where they (and Ptolemy) believed Africa met Asia - just beyond Sofala in Mozambique and Java in Indonesia. Its name probably comes from middle Chinese Wa-kuok, a name for Japan (meaning "land of dwarves".) In modern times the term has survived in Algerian and Iraqi folk tales featuring strange monsters and customs from this furthest reach of reality... No, really. Read al-Idrisi to confirm that this was on the maps, and find the Internet's only Chawi website to confirm that Chawi folklore still features "Lweqwaq".
In India, apparently, the term survives in the name of a decidedly mythical "Waqwaq tree", whose truck is made of snakes and animal heads, and whose fruit speaks in beautiful voices to answer any questions put to it.
In India, apparently, the term survives in the name of a decidedly mythical "Waqwaq tree", whose truck is made of snakes and animal heads, and whose fruit speaks in beautiful voices to answer any questions put to it.
