Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
B64B — Small bones: war between different 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
OverviewTwo 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.
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 â from stuck arrows), or small bones â 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 |
|---|---|---|
| L17A2 | 97.98% | Instead of a beautiful woman, a man takes a devil with an odd number of eyes. |
| I84 | 96.22% | The Milky Way â ski tracks. |
| M94 | 95.75% | One character invites the other to roll down the mountain to destroy him. Cf. Motive L42C. |
| I56 | 95.00% | Moving between worlds, the same living person is visible to some and invisible to others. |
| M94A1 | 94.89% | By stupidity or negligence, a zoomorphic character rolls down a mountain and as a result dies or suffers damage (attacks the edge, falls into the water, etc.). |
| B64D | 91.95% | Certain bones in the bodies of living creatures (usually birds and fish) are arrows shot into them. |
| E9I4 | 91.77% | Before meeting the hero, his beloved (wife, helper) takes the form of a crane. |
| K63 | 91.25% | A man comes to people who hunt humans or catch fish-people. For them, these are wild animals or fish. |
| I56A | 90.69% | When a person who has entered another world touches the local inhabitants, they become ill or die. |
| B38E | 90.45% | The character kicks a loon or other waterfowl. Since then, it has had a flattened tail and finds it difficult to walk on land. |
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: Komi (Zyrians and Permyaks), Eastern Khanty (Ostyaks), Nenets, Oroch, Nivkh, Reindeer Koryak, Maritime Koryak (Alyutor), Forest (Upper Kolyma) Yukaghir, Tahltan, Bering Strait Inupiat (incl. King Island), North Alaskan Inupiat
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