Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
C31B — The wise owl.
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 owl is wiser and more intelligent than other living creatures.
Berezkin category: Disasters
This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part of group 3, Cosmogony, the earth and the sky, etiology of the elements, natural and biological phenomena (fire, water, soil, thunderstorms, dream, etc.), cataclysms and cosmic threats, spirits of nature.
C31 has 3 other sub-motifs
RelatedC31. The hedgehog is wiser or more cunning than all the gods and animals; it possesses knowledge that is vital for human existence.
C31a. The master (mistress) of the underworld receives (should receive) heavenly lights or fire. Due to a trick or accident, they are not given to him or are returned.
C31b. The owl is wiser and more intelligent than other living creatures.
C31c. The bat turns out to be smarter and wiser than other living creatures.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| M198A | 98.36% | Brothers (rarely: one person) determine the characteristics of a domestic animal they have not seen, or of the person who stole the animal, based on subtle clues. {In ATU, plots 655 and 655A are combined; in Aarne, Thompson 1961 and in regional indexes, our motif M198A corresponds to plot 655A} (Type 655A only in Aarne, Thompson 1984. In ATU mixed with 655). |
| M198 | 97.71% | In the house of the khan (judge, king, etc.), three brothers (rarely one person) determine that the food and drink served to them smell of dead flesh, dog, goat, etc., and (or that) the host who receives them is illegitimate or of low birth. After questioning the servants and his mother, the host is convinced that the brothers are right. |
| N24 | 97.70% | You can see a light that resembles a second moon or a second sun. It comes from a pretty girl. |
| K75B | 97.69% | Wanting to show that it is time for them to marry, daughters of different ages send their father fruits of varying degrees of ripeness (bread baked in different ways). |
| M91C3 | 97.65% | A person releases an animal or a bird - supposedly with his wife instructing his wife to cook food, etc. Another does not understand deception and buys an animal. |
| I35B | 97.61% | The sky is considered to be metallic. The process of its creation resembles metal forging. |
| K32G1 | 97.58% | The guilty party is offered a choice of items of utilitarian value (often forty, seven, three, etc. horses or the same number of knives). The person usually does not understand that these are methods of execution. |
| L96C | 97.57% | A young man is learning magic. In order for the sorcerer to let him go, he must pretend that he is incapable of learning. |
| M39A6D | 97.56% | One of the relatives or spouses transfers a text or object to the other through third parties. Only the recipient understands the meaning of the words or the item handed over, saves the sender and/or destroys his enemies. |
| M146 | 97.47% | Knowing that the meat is in a trap or poisoned, or that there is a trap ahead, a zoomorphic character provokes another to try the meat first or to go ahead. |
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: Arabs of Levant (Syria, Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan); Bedouins of Sinai, Berbers of Morocco and adjacent parts of Algeria, Morocco Arabs, Algeria Arabs, Biu-Mandara: Margi, Kilba, Bura, Kera, Karekare (Kerri-Kerri), Bachama, Zulgo, Giziga, Hdi, Kapsiki, Mandara (incl Mukulehe, Matakam), Mofu (Mofu-Gudur), Somrai (Sibine, Shibha), Bulgarians, Balkarians, Macedonians, Balkarians, Albanians, Balkarians, Abaza (Abazins), Cherkassians, Adyghe, Kabardin, Abkhaz, Abkhazians, Karachays, Balkar, Ossetians, Nogai, Tats, Armenians, Kalmyk, Azeris (Azerbaijanis), Talysh, Kazan (Middle Volga) Tatars, Mansi, Buryats: Western (cis Baikal), Mongols (Khalkha), Tuvinians of Tuva, Tuvans, Buryats: Eastern (trans Baikal), i.e. Khori, Bosnians, Montenegro
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