Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif

E1E — Son-stalk.

3 Myths, legends and folktales
3 Unique narratives for motif E1E
2 Cultures & traditions where E1E is told
7 Sub-motifs of motif E1E
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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

Overview

The son of the first human couple initially takes the form of a small plant that has grown from the ground, a stalk.

Berezkin category: The origins of people and culture

This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology 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.

E1 has 7 other sub-motifs

Related

E1.  The first human being was created, made by a certain character, and did not exist initially (on earth, underground, in the sky, in a small container) and did not arise spontaneously. Only variants that specify the material from which humans were created, or that refer separately to the creation of the human figure and its ensoulment, rather than simply to the fact of "creation" itself, are taken into account.
E1a.  The first humans are made of fragile materials (clay, wax, fire, honey, etc.) and prove to be unviable.
E1a1.  A deity or ancestor moulds people from clay. Some of the figures got wet, which is why there are cripples among people.
E1b.  A character made of unsuitable material and turns out to be short-lived or poorly suited to performing his functions.
E1b1.  A man who has married an unusual girl is warned that she must not perform certain tasks or eat certain foods. Other members of his household ensure that the young woman breaks the prohibition, and as a result she dies or disappears.
E1c.  Man made from human excrement or (Inupiat) from carrion.
E1d.  (The first) boat is made of obviously unsuitable material.
E1e.  The son of the first human couple initially takes the form of a small plant that has grown from the ground, a stalk.

🌐 See a combined distribution map for all of E1’s motifs

Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns

Phylogeny
MotifSimilarityMotif summary
A32J100.00%A shaman with a tambourine ascends to the moon and remains there, visible in the silhouette of the lunar spots.
B42M1100.00%The three main stars of the Big Dipper's handle are associated with people of three different nationalities.
B64A100.00%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.
B72D100.00%A woman makes herself wings (beak, tail) from clothing accessories and turns into a bird or a flying creature.
B74A100.00%Red cloths are sewn over the character's eyes (threads, eyelids are painted red) or he does it himself. He sees everything in red or his eyes have turned red forever.
D1A1100.00%Because a woman offended the fire, its mistress takes her child away.
E13100.00%The shamanic tambourine is compared or associated with a lake.
K32H2100.00%A man executes his wife by leaving her to be eaten by ants.
K56A1100.00%The groom, the bringer of prosperity, orders the girl who has come to perform work that she herself is unable to do. The groom's mother performs the work, and the girl is accepted by the groom. See motif K56A. Except for the Ket people: the work is performed by tiny women sitting in or behind the mother-in-law's ear.
L42F100.00%The character intended for consumption slips away unnoticed. The master of the house thinks that his wife has eaten him alone and cuts open her stomach.

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Map of motif dispersal

Distribution

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Traditions

2 recorded

This motif has been recorded in 2 traditions: Mansi, Nganasans

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