Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
A19A — In the morning on an ox, in the evening on a horse.
Source data for narratives and traditions is drawn from Berezkin’s Analytical Catalogue. If you use this data, please acknowledge and link to it: Ю.Е. Березкин, Е.Н. Дувакин. Тематическая классификация и распределение фольклорно-мифологических мотивов по ареалам. Аналитический каталог.
Summary of motif
OverviewMoving daily across the sky, the sun changes its riding animals (usually in the morning it rides on an animal that moves slowly, and in the evening on another that runs faster).
Berezkin category: The Sun and Moon
This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part of group 1, Sun and Moon.
A19 has 6 other sub-motifs
RelatedA19. Anthropomorphic or zoomorphic creatures help the luminary move across the sky (and the underworld). See motif A17: zoomorphic creatures are helmsmen or rowers in the sun boat.
A19a. Moving daily across the sky, the sun changes its riding animals (usually in the morning it rides on an animal that moves slowly, and in the evening on another that runs faster).
A19b. Moving across the sky, the sun changes its mounts depending on the season â in summer it rides on a slow animal, in winter â on a fast one. Or in winter the sun is carried by a young man, and in summer â by an old man.
A19c. The sun is associated with a horseman or rides in a carriage drawn by horses (equidae).
A19c1. The sun or moon travels across the sky in a chariot or sleigh.
A19D. Two characters carry the luminaries across the sky â one carries the sun, the other the moon.
A19E. The summer and winter suns are two different characters.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| L100E | 99.87% | Before entering, the guest notices the mistress with her lover in the house. When the husband arrives, the guest pretends to be clairvoyant and shows the husband where the lover is hiding and where the food prepared for him is. |
| K35A1 | 99.81% | Setting off on a journey, a person (often against the advice of their horse) picks up a precious feather. Upon learning of this, an authoritative character gives them difficult tasks. |
| B103 | 99.64% | The character thinks that since the cornel blooms earlier than other fruit trees, its fruits will ripen earlier than others. The character is mistaken and is left without fruit. |
| N2 | 99.63% | Fabulous and epic texts start from the beginning, which states that animals were performing human social or economic functions at that time. |
| L15D1 | 99.61% | When a character is asked to reveal the location of his soul (death, power), he first gives an incorrect answer, and the questioner usually begins to show signs of attention to the corresponding locus or object. |
| L15E1 | 99.59% | An ageing character and/or one who senses his death approaching instructs his son, a warrior, or his subjects to throw his cold weapon (sword, sabre or axe) into the sea, a lake or a river. Cf. motifs L15E and L15e2. |
| L15E2 | 99.59% | One character instructs another to throw a certain object (usually a sword or sabre) into the water. The messenger claims to have carried out the task, but cannot say what happened as a result, so it becomes clear that he has lied. |
| K67D | 99.34% | The worker (rarely â the husband) annoys the master (wife) so much that he or she decides to run away, taking his or her property with him or her. The worker hides in a sack (chest) with his or her property and ends up back where he or she started. |
| K152A | 99.33% | A man saves a devil (snake, predator) suffering from the proximity of a certain character or object. To reward his saviour, the devil promises to possess a princess and leave her when the man comes to treat her. The devil either breaks his promise or warns the man not to try to cure those whom the devil will later possess. The man informs the devil that the character or object he fears so much is approaching again. The devil flees and never returns. |
| M199L | 99.30% | When the giant blew, sneezed, etc., or let go of the bent tree on which the man was sitting, the man was thrown far away. The man says that he did it of his own free will (to show how he can fly, to repair the roof, etc.). |
See the 100 most similar distributions →
Map of motif dispersal
DistributionDrag the map to pan, use the scroll wheel to zoom — choose a texture or projection below
Traditions
10 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 10 traditions: Bulgarians, Balkarians, Macedonians, Balkarians, Western Sami, Eastern Sami (including Skolts), Armenians, Kazakh, Mordvins, Chuvash, Lkungen (Straits; including Samish, Songish, Sooke, Lummi), Klallam, Russian Federation
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