Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
H24A — Bag of stars.
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
OverviewOpening the bag, the character releases stars that rush chaotically into the sky.
Berezkin category: Paradise Lost
This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part of group 1, Sun and Moon.
H24 has 7 other sub-motifs
RelatedH24. A vessel or other small container with valuables or living beings (creatures) is opened (prematurely). Its contents get out of control or disappear.
H24a. Opening the bag, the character releases stars that rush chaotically into the sky.
H24b. The character must open the vessel containing the soul of the deceased when he reaches the place or after a certain time has passed; if he opens it before the time is up, the soul flies away. See motif H24.
H24c. People open a vessel (a bundle, a basket, etc.) containing death (or old age, illness), and therefore they are mortal.
H24d. An animal character who released the contents (darkness, insects, reptiles) from a vessel is still trying to gather everything back (etiology of the behaviour of a certain species of animal).
H24e. Having brought the seeds of humanity into our world, the character drops or prematurely opens what he has brought. (Sometimes this explains the inequality of people and disorder in society).
H24f. The character has the ability to put a large amount of meat or fish into a bag or container that is easy to carry.
H24g. A woman returned from the other world or obtained there disappears when a man opens the vessel in which she is kept prematurely.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| K1H | 98.65% | The character finds himself inside a tree trunk or inside a rock; someone frees him by making a hole from the outside. |
| J34 | 98.08% | After killing a dangerous enemy, the heroes make a scarecrow out of him to frighten the household. |
| B44D | 97.85% | Night and day alternate because the slain beast was black and white, spotted. |
| I37E | 97.85% | Tree mushrooms cry out like people. |
| K27V | 97.85% | The character must hit the bird with an arrow or a stone. (Cf. motif K27M, where it is not the accuracy of the archer that is important, but the unusual appearance of the creature that needs to be caught). |
| L1C | 97.85% | Those fleeing from the monstrous bear ascend to the sky and turn into stars. |
| M29D | 97.85% | See the motives in square brackets. |
| J39 | 97.78% | The antagonist makes the woman his slave. Other characters secretly come to her and kill a small animal or bird for her. The antagonist suspects that the woman could not have caught the game herself, but she insists that she did. |
| I105 | 97.62% | One of the constellations is associated with the hand (with five marked fingers). |
| L1B | 97.39% | A young woman turns into a monstrous bear and kills most people except her younger sister (Ojibwa: the younger sister of her former husband). Their brothers (or one brother) return from hunting and kill the bear, or she dies while chasing them. Cf. motif L65D. |
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
8 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 8 traditions: Western Ojibwa (Chippewa), Shasta; Chimariko, Maidu, Nisenan, Konkov, Navajo, Hopi, Western Keres (Acoma, Laguna), Eastern Keres (Cochiti, Sia, San Felipe, Santo Domingo, Santa Ana, Paguate, Seama), Tewa (San Juan, Santa Clara, San Ildefonso, Tesuque, Nambe; Hano), Tiwa (Taos, Picuris; Sandia, Isleta), Towa (Jemez)
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