Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
A2C1 — The Sun refuses to marry.
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
OverviewThe Sun is going to have children. One of the animals warns that if the Sun has children, the world will burn. The Sun has to (refuse marriage and) remain childless.
Berezkin category: The Sun and Moon
This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part of group 1, Sun and Moon.
A2 has 12 other sub-motifs
RelatedA2. There was a time when several, i.e. more than two, suns shone in the sky at the same time.
A2a. The world was or will be (almost) burned when several suns lit up or will light up simultaneously; or destructive heat (or light) once emanated from one sun.
A2a1. At first, the moon was as bright and hot as the sun.
A2b. In addition to the current sun and/or moon, other suns and moons shone in the sky, which were then destroyed. See motif A2A.
A2b1. Two or more suns shine in the sky. When the extra ones are destroyed, there is a danger that the last one will be destroyed along with them and darkness will ensue.
A2c. The extra suns that existed in the past or may appear in the future are the children of the Sun-father. See motif A2A.
A2c1. The Sun is going to have children. One of the animals warns that if the Sun has children, the world will burn. The Sun has to (refuse marriage and) remain childless.
A2c2. The catastrophe threatening the earth is associated with the appearance of not only several suns, but also several moons.
A2c3. In extraordinary circumstances, the moon or sun are not round, but have corners and edges.
A2d. Other suns illuminate other levels of the universe or will shine sequentially in the future.
A2e. The sun and/or moon â severed heads of anthropomorphic beings.
A2F. Suns grow on tree branches.
A2G. At different times throughout the day, different suns shine in the sky.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| L130 | 99.83% | Two or more characters have only one eye between them. |
| E9L | 99.74% | Before meeting the hero, his beloved (wife) has the image of a mouse (rarely: a rat). |
| K35A4 | 99.72% | In order to get rid of the hero and take his place, the deceiver pushes him into the sea or leaves him on a distant island. The hero survives and returns. |
| K128A | 99.54% | Each of the three brothers brings the princess (prince) a gift of fruit (less often fish, etc.) and encounters a character who punishes rudeness and rewards politeness. As a result (after additional trials), the youngest brother enters into the desired marriage. |
| K61C1 | 99.48% | A person will die if they cannot find the answer to the demon's question. A person or their acquaintance accidentally learns the answer by overhearing the demon talking to himself or to another demon. See motif C29. |
| K56A7 | 99.41% | In winter, a girl (rarely a boy) is sent to bring something that is normally only available in summer. She brings it. |
| A32DD | 99.39% | The lunar disc shows the figure or imprint of an anthropomorphic character carrying a bundle of wood or brushwood. |
| K76E | 99.32% | The son (daughter) or foster child of a married couple is a pig. He marries a princess and turns into a handsome man (she marries a handsome man). |
| H54B | 99.14% | The character's gaze brings death (and destruction). |
| K160 | 99.14% | The hero is given the task of bringing back the hair, feathers, scales, etc. of a dangerous character. He does this with the help of the character's wife or mother. |
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
11 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 11 traditions: Soninke, Ancient Italy: Latins, Etruscans, Magna Graecia, Bulgarians, Balkarians, Macedonians, Balkarians, Serbs, Monte Negro, Balkarians, Ancient Greece, Lithuanians, Arabs (literary tradition; incl. One Thousand and One Nights), Early Russian written sources, China, Russian Federation
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