Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
A29A — Torn apart by two women.
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
OverviewHeavenly and earthly women (demons) pull a man in different directions. As a result, he (or his half) turns into a heavenly object.
Berezkin category: The Sun and Moon
This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part of group 2, Moon spots, stars, constellations.
A29 has 2 other sub-motifs
RelatedA29. A character associated with the upper world and a character associated with the earth or the lower world each strive to possess a human being and pull him towards themselves. One or both rivals are women. The character of the upper world and/or the one for whom the struggle is being waged is associated with the luminaries â the sun, the moon, Venus.
A29a. Heavenly and earthly women (demons) pull a man in different directions. As a result, he (or his half) turns into a heavenly object.
A29b. A character associated with the upper world and a character associated with the earth or the lower world each seek to possess the hero or heroine who is associated with the Moon.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| M84B2 | 99.65% | The character carefully preserves the bones of migratory birds eaten (not fish or animals) and the birds come to life again. (Episodes of reviving a domestic goose or rooster are not taken into account in everyday tales). |
| B68 | 98.29% | The giant hazel grouse became small â it was usually torn into pieces, which turned into the current hazel grouse. |
| K44B | 98.29% | The hero or heroine returns after a long absence. Seeing (usually from the roof of the house) his or her parents (mother, husband) languishing in poverty, he or she throws food at them, extinguishes the fire, pushes them, etc. At first, they usually do not understand what is going on. |
| B42MN | 97.07% | Only one character (rather than several) chases an animal (elk or bear) across the sky, associated with one of the circumpolar constellations, but not with the Pleiades or Orion. (In the Kalevala tradition, there is no identification with stars). |
| B72C | 96.49% | Children run after their mother, injure themselves, and their blood stains plants, the ground, and the evening sky. |
| M162A | 96.29% | The character pretends to eat his own genitals. Another believes him and castrates himself. |
| I22B1 | 95.15% | Some migratory birds (shamans in the form of birds) die on the border of our world. |
| A32J | 92.85% | A shaman with a tambourine ascends to the moon and remains there, visible in the silhouette of the lunar spots. |
| B42M1 | 92.85% | The three main stars of the Big Dipper's handle are associated with people of three different nationalities. |
| B64A | 92.85% | Fish and birds fight (usually by shooting arrows at each other). Since then, fish have had many small bones in their bodies and/or birds' legs have taken on their current form. |
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: Maka (Makaa), Baya, Kaka, Northern Naga: Konyak, Lungshang, Wancho, Nokte, Moclum, Lunshan, Chang, Maring, Naga of Myanmar, Hungarians, Romanians, Moldavians, Aromanians, Moldovans, Mordvins, Eastern Khanty (Ostyaks), Nenets, Southern Selkups, Kets, Makka
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