Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
G31 — Trees tied with rope.
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
OverviewA character ties trees with rope and effortlessly knocks them all down at once or pretends to do so.
Berezkin category: Fertility and Agriculture
This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part of group 10, Adventures.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| L35 | 99.42% | A shaman or spirit comes at night and, reaching his hand into the hut, steals food or disturbs a woman. A man in the hut cuts off or tears off the hand. |
| F51 | 95.48% | Someone under cover of night/incognito approaches a person of the opposite sex. The marriage partner deliberately (to determine who it is) or accidentally (thereby exposing the visitor) makes a mark on his/her body (clothing). See motif A31. |
| E6 | 95.40% | When a woman of childbearing age (she is menstruating, miscarrying, pregnant, with a child, or simply fat) tries to pass from one world to another, the connection between the worlds is severed forever. |
| C2 | 95.13% | The inhabitants of the middle world (in part) are destroyed (or will be destroyed) once by fire or drought, another time by a flood, or the world is flooded with a stream of fire and boiling water. |
| I24 | 94.69% | A snake (or fish) forms a bridge across a river. |
| F27 | 94.65% | It is dangerous for girls or women to approach water (water creatures drag them away or swallow them; a girl who approaches water dies; she becomes pregnant by a snake; through her fault, a flood or other disaster occurs; water spirits themselves come to a girl who has her first period). |
| L3 | 94.54% | The demon takes on human form and comes to his wife (less often to another woman). Usually, the woman (alone or with a child) runs away and/or kills the monster, either by herself or with someone's help. |
| M5 | 94.10% | Once in a situation where his life depends on the will of a demon or animal, the hero feels like insulting or hitting him. See M1 motif. |
| E7 | 93.55% | The path from one part of the world to another passes through a narrow opening. The character gets stuck in the opening, permanently severing the connection between the worlds. |
| A19B | 93.54% | Moving across the sky, the sun changes its mounts depending on the season â in summer it rides on a slow animal, in winter â on a fast one. Or in winter the sun is carried by a young man, and in summer â by an old man. |
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
34 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 34 traditions: Southern Taiwan: Rukai, Paiwan, Puyuma, Saaroa, Ketangalan, Ireland, Basques, France, Czech, Czechs, Slovakians, Slovaks, Greeks (modern), Balkarians, Croatians, Croats; Italians of Dalmatia (if the motif is absent among other Italians), Romanians, Moldavians, Aromanians, Moldovans, Albanians, Balkarians, Latvians, Karelians, Western Ukrainians, Byelarusians, Belarusians, Tajik, Abaza (Abazins), Abkhaz, Abkhazians, Tats, Armenians, Anatolia Turks, Azeris (Azerbaijanis), Kurds, Kazan (Middle Volga) Tatars, Gulf Nahuatl, Baniwa (incl. Wakuenai), Bare, Piapoco, Curripaco, Siusi, Guarikena , Machiguenga, Nambikwara, Eastern Ukrainians, Northern Ukrainians, Italians: Central (Toscana, Umbria, Marche, Lazio), Transylvanian Saksons, Bosnians, Berbers of Algeria, Russian Federation
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How to cite: Fielder-White, J. (2026). The Folklore Database. https://folkloredatabase.com
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