The Not-I Bird

The Not-I bird appears early on in the play, in a story Elesin tells the Praise-Singer to get him off his back. It seems the Praise-Singer is worried that Elesin might fall down on the job and not be able to sacrifice himself as tradition demands.

In response, Elesin tells a story about a bird who goes flying around on death's behalf, basically telling people that death is coming for them. And every time, the response the bird gets is "Not I"—you know, kind of like when we say "Not it!" to get out of something we don't want to do? Anyway, Elesin explains to the Praise-Singer:

"Not-I became the answering-name
Of the restless bird, that little one
Whom Death found nesting in the leaves
When whisper of his coming ran
Before him on the wind. Not-I
Has long abandoned home. This same dawn
I heard him twitter in the gods' abode." (1.32)

Okay, so Elesin has heard the bird. So it's all good, right? He's totally ready to die. Iyaloja isn't quite convinced, however, and asks whether Elesin is not also afraid to die—hearing the bird isn't the same as accepting its message, after all. But Elesin assures her that he sent the bird away happy:

"I, when that Not-I bird perched
Upon my roof, bade him seek his nest again,
Safe without care or fear. I unrolled
My welcome mat for him to see. Not-I
Flew happily away, you'll hear his voice
No more in this lifetime—You all know
What I am." (1.34)

So, basically, the Not-I bird is a symbol—and a servant—of death, and Elesin uses his welcoming of this bird to prove to the Praise-Singer and Iyaloja (and anyone else who might be wondering) that he's up for sacrificing his life and meeting death head on. However, the Not-I bird, with all the rejection of death associated with him, can also be seen as a bit of foreshadowing that Elesin's death won't pan out according to plan. He may not reject it, but his death is definitely rejected.