Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
B64 — Bony fish.
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
OverviewBones in the bodies of fish are the result of fights, battles, military expeditions; they are arrows stuck in them (gill openings – from stuck arrows), or small bones – fragments of the original large bones.
Berezkin category: The Origins of the Characteristics of the environment
This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part of group 7, Etiology of plants and animals and of their peculiar features, particular animals as protagonists of cosmological stories, metamorphoses, weather and calendar.
B64 has 4 other sub-motifs
RelatedB64. Bones in the bodies of fish are the result of fights, battles, military expeditions; they are arrows stuck in them (gill openings – from stuck arrows), or small bones – fragments of the original large bones.
B64a. 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.
B64b. Two types of fish shoot arrows at each other. Since then, the fish have had many small bones in their bodies, or some of their bones have split in two.
B64c. Fish, together with other earthly creatures, wage war on the inhabitants of the sky. Falling to the ground, they break their bones, which is why fish have many small bones in their bodies. See motif B64.
B64d. Certain bones in the bodies of living creatures (usually birds and fish) are arrows shot into them.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| L38A | 98.42% | The character sticks to an object, usually by successively sticking individual parts of their body to it. The object is either a trap for a demonic creature or is itself a creature of a non-human nature. Cf. motif M182 (tar doll), probably brought to the New World after Columbus from Africa. |
| C27 | 97.24% | The monster breaks the ice on a river or lake. Usually people walk on the ice, see a protruding horn (fin), and try to saw it off. The monster breaks the ice, and many people die. |
| L60 | 95.70% | Several sisters pick up a baby. In their absence, it turns into an adult man, and when they approach, it turns back into a child. Taking on its true form, the demon pursues the sisters. See motif M46a. |
| K8C2 | 94.14% | The mouse is swallowed by a large land animal and comes out by cutting it open from the inside. |
| D13I1 | 94.01% | The characteristics of a character can be determined by his teeth. By laughing and showing his teeth, the character reveals himself. |
| C6C1 | 93.60% | Two or more different birds (in Siberia, often a loon and a duck) successively try to retrieve something from the bottom. Only one succeeds. |
| M60B | 93.46% | The deceiver, promising to cure a wounded or sick person, finishes him off and eats him or offers a remedy that is only worse for him. |
| B42B | 93.37% | In the cosmic hunting plot, the objects of pursuit are hoofed animals (elk, deer, mountain sheep). See motif B42. |
| F66 | 93.27% | In order to commit incest with his daughter, grandmother, sister (brother), father, grandson, brother (sister), the man pretends to be a stranger, or the husband takes on the appearance of his wife's brother so that she treats him as a blood relative. To do this, the character secretly moves to another house for a while, where the object of his desire mistakes him for someone else. |
| I85A1 | 92.88% | The North Star – a hole leading to the upper world. |
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
27 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 27 traditions: Stieng, Chrau, Sre (Koho), Maa, Mnong, Komi (Zyrians and Permyaks), Eastern Khanty (Ostyaks), Tofa (Karagas), Nenets, Kets, Central Yakuts (Sakha), Dolgans, Tungus (Evenki): Baikal region, Evenks, Tungus (Evenki) of China (Solon, Birar, Oroqen, Manegir), Evenks, Tungus (Evenki): Russian Far East, Evenks, Western Tungus (Evenki), Western Siberia Tungus (Evenki): Sym River, Ket River, Oroch, Nivkh, Forest (Upper Kolyma) Yukaghir, Tahltan, Bering Strait Inupiat (incl. King Island), North Alaskan Inupiat, Shuswap, Western Sahaptin (Upper Cowlitz, Klikitat, Tenino, Umatilla, Yakima, Wallawalla), Okanagon, Sanpoil, Kutenai, Tepehua, Totonac, Ilimpii Tungus/Evenki, Yerbogachen Tungus/Evenki, Tungus/Evenki of Nercha - Chita area
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