Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
A36A — Sun and immortality.
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 contrasted with humans as immortal to mortals; responsible for the mortal nature of humans.
Berezkin category: The Sun and Moon
This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part of group 1, Sun and Moon.
A36 has 1 other sub-motifs
RelatedA36. The moon (month) is contrasted with humans as immortal to mortals; it decides whether humans will be mortal; those who live on the moon are immortal. (Cf. Latvians, Dolgans).
A36a. The sun is contrasted with humans as immortal to mortals; responsible for the mortal nature of humans.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| M109C | 95.54% | A character is invisibly tied by the tail and tries to break free (successfully or unsuccessfully). Cf. motif M109. |
| L110A | 95.50% | A character swallows a person or (usually) many people and animals, the hero kills the monster, and while cutting it open, accidentally wounds one of those who were swallowed. Usually, the wounded person is offended and when those who were swallowed come out, they harm or destroy the hero. |
| M102 | 95.18% | The character believes that another has temporarily separated his head or leg from himself, asks to do the same to him, and dies or is maimed. |
| L45 | 95.02% | A strong character traps a weak one and leaves someone to guard the prey. The guard fails to fulfil his duties (usually tricked by the weak one), and the weak one escapes. {African borrowings in America are difficult to distinguish from possible local cases} |
| H36A | 94.89% | The character distorts the message conveyed to him, deliberately lies, brings the wrong thing, loses what he is carrying, delays (and is overtaken by another messenger). As a result, people become mortal (they do not revive after death). |
| I41A | 94.67% | A rainbow rises from an anthill or termite mound. |
| F8 | 94.59% | In the beginning (.55.60.67.73.) women and men lived separately from each other, then came together. Cf. motif F45 (Amazons). |
| H1C | 94.56% | People cease to be reborn (or no longer come to the living) after the deceased is buried in the ground for the first time or someone tramples the earth on a fresh grave, preventing the deceased from rising from the grave. |
| M182 | 94.41% | A character threatens to hit another character and, as a result, gets stuck with all his limbs. Usually, it is a doll covered with something sticky, which the character mistakes for a living creature. |
| M119 | 94.38% | A character repeatedly shows another person the same object or creature; the other person believes that there are as many objects or creatures as the character has shown them. Usually, the character takes care of the other person's young, eats them or they die due to his negligence, or he is hired as a shepherd and eats the other person's livestock. When checked, he shows the parent (the owner of the herd) the same un-eaten young (or the same sheep), and the parent believes that all the young (animals) are safe. In ATU, this is plot 37, but two other plots are included as variants, and the sources are indicated for all three collectively. |
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
16 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 16 traditions: Malagasy, Acoli (Acholi), Lur (Alur, Luri), Lango, Hehe, Pangwa (Upper Rufudji area), Bena, Matumbi, Ngoni, Pogolo, (Ma)konde, Mawiha, Luba (Baluba, Luba-Katanga, Shaba), (Ba)Holoholo, Tumbwe, Bena-Piana, Tabwa, Benabena-Mitumba, Zela, Bene-Marungu, Songe (Kisonge), Bena-Matembo, Kete, Luba-Kasai, Bena (Bene) Lulua; (Bena-)Kanioka, Bushoong: (Ba)kuba, Dengese, Ngongo; Yansi, Luchasi (Ngangela), Chokwe (Konwe); Mbukushu, Aka, Baka (Badjue) and other Western (Bantu speaking) Pygmies, Enenga, Mpongwe, Kuta (Koto), Nkomi, Masango, Mindumu, Mbede, Mitsogo, Bawunga, Ndumu (Ndumbo), Duma, Teke, (B)wende, SW Arunachal Pradesh: Sherdukpen, Tawang (Monpas), Aka (Hrusso), Miji, Lithuanians, Sauk (Sak, Mesquakie), Fox, Kickapoo, Maidu, Nisenan, Konkov, Kamayura, Chamacoco (Ishir)
If you wish to get access to data for projects and research, then please contact us, we do our best to help
How to cite: Fielder-White, J. (2026). The Folklore Database. https://folkloredatabase.com
0009-0006-1672-4451
Where applicable, users should also cite the relevant original sources, catalogues, and classification systems, including Berezkin, ATU, Thompson, and other cited authorities, alongside the page accessed and the last time accessed.
Editorial annotations and database enhancements Š Jonathan Fielder-White licensed under CC BY 4.0. Berezkin-derived narrative and metadata licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. Full rights information can be found here.
All rights are reserved in the database structure, selection, arrangement, metadata, classifications, software, interface design, and original editorial content.
Important: The Folklore Database expressly reserves all rights in relation to text and data mining, automated extraction, scraping, machine learning, dataset creation, and the training, development, validation, or improvement of artificial intelligence technologies or systems. No part of this website or database may be scraped, copied, reproduced, harvested, downloaded in bulk, or otherwise used for AI training or commercial data extraction without prior written permission.
Designed and Developed by Jon Fielder-White.
Š 2024â2026 Crecganford / Jonathan Fielder-White. All rights reserved.