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Inan’s Coin
The Yoruba language symbolizes the maji’s connection to their gods and their history, as well as that connection’s precarious state. After the Raid, King Saran criminalized the language, which is what maji and divîners use to cast spells and pray. This effectively kept many of Zélie’s peers from learning the language much or at all—something they must remedy if they wish to be able to both understand their history and overthrow the monarchy. The Yoruba language itself, then, becomes both the connecting force between the maji and their gods—and between the maji and victory.
Yoruba Quotes in Children of Virtue and Vengeance
The Children of Virtue and Vengeance quotes below all refer to the symbol of Yoruba. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter One
Quotes
The moment magic breathes under my skin, I can’t find my voice. The purple light of my ashê glows around my hands, the divine power that fuels our sacred gifts. I haven’t felt its heat since the ritual that brought magic back to Orïsha. Since Baba’s spirit tore through my veins.
I stumble back as magic bubbles inside me. My legs go numb. Magic shackles me to my past, dragging me under despite how hard I pull—
“No!” The shout echoes against the ritual walls [...]
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Chapter Twenty-Four
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“Yoruba is sacred to our people. It’s not just something you can learn.”
“This is bigger than that,” I wave my hand. “For skies’ sake, we’re at war—”
“Our magic isn’t about the war!” Zélie shouts. “Our incantations are the history of our people. They’re the very thing your father tried to destroy!” Her chest heaves up and down and she shakes her head. “Titans have already stolen our magic. You can’t steal this, too.”
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Chapter Twenty-Five
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Do you accept these people as your own?
Will you use your strength to protect them at all cost?
The burden of her questions expands in my chest as I look to the Reapers gathered around Mâzeli. Bimpe watches with fingers pressed to her lips. Màri frantically waves her hand, almost immune to the gravity of the moment. Though I’ve only known them for a few hours, they already feel like blood. Like home. Being around them feels more right than anything has felt in years.
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Chapter Thirty-Four
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“After the Raid, practicing these incantations was the only part of him I had left.”
My heart sinks in the echo of his words. In my mind, Kâmarū still whispers these incantations, but without the father he loves. Without the magic that was meant to run through his veins.
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As we walk, I think of the other elders and maji, what their lives might’ve been like before the Raid. Mâzeli’s already told me how the monarchy took both his parents away. How his sister Arunima perished from grief.
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Chapter Thirty-Eight
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“Everyone, fill the bags with as many scrolls as you can. Kenyon, burn the rest.”
“Amari, you can’t!” I whip around, blinking as the ringing sensation in my ears grows louder. [...]
“These are sacred incantations,” I explain. “Histories of our people that will be lost to time!”
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Get the entire Children of Virtue and Vengeance LitChart as a printable PDF.
Yoruba Symbol Timeline in Children of Virtue and Vengeance
The timeline below shows where the symbol Yoruba appears in Children of Virtue and Vengeance. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter One
...shakes and she spills some of the burial oil as she begins to recite the Yoruba incantation. Zélie feels her ashê for the first time in weeks and stumbles as she...
(full context)
Chapter Six
...under her, everyone will have what they need. People shout, “long live the Queen” in Yoruba. Queen Nehanda enters and hatefully shouts, “Lies!”
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Chapter Fifteen
...remembers what happened, and then she notices a young maji touching her and chanting in Yoruba. Two more maji yell to the Healer, Safiyah, to hurry. Zélie’s ribs knit together painfully...
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Chapter Eighteen
...what’s up ahead. He discovers two young maji, clearly killed by majacite. Zélie recites the Yoruba incantation to lay their souls to rest. She pushes down painful memories of Baba’s death....
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...to defend her group, but her magic flares back into her face. Zélie recites the Yoruba incantation and spirits rise from the earth. However, a gangly soldier repeats the incantation, but...
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Chapter Twenty-Four
...insists that she can gain control by using an incantation, but Zélie tersely insists that Yoruba is sacred to the maji and not something Amari can just learn. When Amari insists...
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Chapter Twenty-Five
...wants to challenge or concede. He concedes as Zélie enters the circle and kneels. In Yoruba, Mama Agba asks if Zélie accepts her clan as her own and promises to protect...
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Chapter Twenty-Nine
Amari strikes first with a Yoruba incantation, but Ramaya dodges a ball of ashê and sends her own ashê into Amari’s...
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Chapter Thirty
...who taught Amari an incantation. She reminds Amari that Amari promised to not use the Yoruba against the maji, but Amari insists she had no choice. Zélie spits that Amari always...
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Chapter Thirty-Six
...feet. Amari slams Zélie’s hand onto the door and Zélie asks Lekan for help in Yoruba. As Jahi struggles to maintain his wind and Nehanda’s tîtáns arrive, Zélie discovers the right...
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Chapter Forty-Five
...None of her Connectors acknowledge her. She closes the temple and struggles to pronounce the Yoruba that is supposed to create a dreamscape. Amari knows she can use it to reach...
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Chapter Sixty
...open to this until Amari stands and says this is their chance to win. In Yoruba, she shouts that they should take back what’s theirs. The maji join her chant.
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Chapter Seventy-Three
...and Roën. Zélie prays to Oya and her tattoos glow violet as she recites the Yoruba incantation. She can hear Roën’s heart connected to her own.
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Chapter Eighty
...and others. Kâmarū extends his hand, and Khani puts hers out too. Zélie whispers the Yoruba incantation and hears five pulses thundering. Tzain, Khani, and Kâmarū rise off the ground and...
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Chapter Eighty-One
...much has changed despite Saran being dead. A villager shouts, “Down with the monarchy” in Yoruba. Zélie says that the maji are Orïsha’s future. The chant grows among the villagers, but...
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Chapter Eighty-Four
...ahead. Zélie slices Mama Agba’s palm, puts it on her own chest, and whispers the Yoruba incantation. Bright white light spreads and Zélie listens to the ten heartbeats. They all rise...
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