Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
I111 — Reptilian Earth.
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 earth as a whole or a mountain range is the body of a crocodile, dragon, or snake (eel).
Berezkin category: Supernatural objects, objects and creatures
This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part of group 2, Moon spots, stars, constellations.
I11 has 2 other sub-motifs
RelatedI11. The turtle (toad, frog) serves as a support (embodiment) of the earth (sky), or the supports of the sky are made from its body.
I11a. Describes how, in the process of creation, the earth is placed on the back of a turtle or frog, which becomes its support.
I11b. The pillars of the sky are made from the legs of a four-legged animal (usually a turtle).
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| E38B | 97.98% | After a global catastrophe or at the beginning of time, a pumpkin appears on earth, from which the ancestors of humans emerge. |
| G8E | 97.77% | A character unsuccessfully cuts down a tree growing on the moon. |
| B3D | 97.35% | The earth is obtained by a worm; it arises from worm excrement, extracted from the worm. |
| H36G | 97.33% | God sends a messenger to the people to tell them to eat infrequently (once a day, once every three days, etc.). The messenger says that one should eat often â at least two or three times a day. |
| A2 | 97.18% | There was a time when several, i.e. more than two, suns shone in the sky at the same time. |
| M152E | 97.04% | A tiger (lion) and another animal compete to see whose roar is louder. The tiger roars louder, but ultimately loses. |
| H34C | 97.03% | Rice flew (came) from the field to the house. |
| M152D | 96.98% | The elephant and the tiger (lion) engage in combat (usually competing to see who can roar louder). The tiger wins and is about to eat the elephant, but a small animal saves it. |
| C8 | 96.92% | At the beginning of time or as a result of a catastrophe, the only human couple is a brother and sister (less often a mother and son, father and daughters). They marry and give birth to people. |
| K27ZZ2 | 96.80% | Several wives of one man (several sisters) go blind â the older ones in both eyes, and the younger one in one eye. |
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
10 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 10 traditions: Timor: Amarasi, Tetum, Meto, Atoni (incl Mollo), Kedang (Lomblen island), Leti Islands (Leti, Moa, Lakor), Negrito (incl. Mamanwa), Central Taiwan: Bunun (Vonum), La'arua, Tsou, Kanabu, Kanakanabu, Mongols (Khalkha), Udeghe, Oroch, Nivkh, Aztec; Aztec and Teotihuacan iconography, Yucatec, Itza, China
If you wish to get access to data for projects and research, then please contact us, we do our best to help
How to cite: Fielder-White, J. (2026). The Folklore Database. https://folkloredatabase.com
0009-0006-1672-4451
Where applicable, users should also cite the relevant original sources, catalogues, and classification systems, including Berezkin, ATU, Thompson, and other cited authorities, alongside the page accessed and the last time accessed.
Editorial annotations and database enhancements Š Jonathan Fielder-White licensed under CC BY 4.0. Berezkin-derived narrative and metadata licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. Full rights information can be found here.
All rights are reserved in the database structure, selection, arrangement, metadata, classifications, software, interface design, and original editorial content.
Important: The Folklore Database expressly reserves all rights in relation to text and data mining, automated extraction, scraping, machine learning, dataset creation, and the training, development, validation, or improvement of artificial intelligence technologies or systems. No part of this website or database may be scraped, copied, reproduced, harvested, downloaded in bulk, or otherwise used for AI training or commercial data extraction without prior written permission.
Designed and Developed by Jon Fielder-White.
Š 2024â2026 Crecganford / Jonathan Fielder-White. All rights reserved.