Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
I46A — The Old Woman's Rainbow.
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 rainbow is associated with a woman, usually an elderly one.
Berezkin category: Supernatural objects, objects and creatures
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.
I46 has 5 other sub-motifs
RelatedI46. Rainbow – an ornamented part of clothing, bright fabric, decoration, belt.
I46a. The rainbow is associated with a woman, usually an elderly one.
I46b. The colour of the rainbow can be used to predict the harvest of individual crops.
I46c. The rainbow is a rope to which cattle are tied.
I46d. Rainbow – a hunting loop, a trap.
I46e. Rainbow - sword, cutting weapon.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| I13B | 99.03% | A small snake, the snake has horns on its head. |
| H16B | 98.81% | The narratives (in various contexts) mention a milk pond (river, lake, wave in the sea) existing on earth (but not among the stars). Cf. motifs H16, K33F, N34. |
| K27SS | 98.57% | A strong man must overtake a woman, often an old woman. This is difficult or impossible to achieve. |
| K27F | 98.55% | An authoritative character demands that the hero obtain a woman. |
| B33 | 98.49% | There is a female character who embodies the wind or is considered the mother or mistress of the winds. |
| K32G | 98.47% | The antagonist is executed by being tied to a horse (camel, bull), which drags him along the ground or tears him to pieces. |
| I68 | 98.42% | At a certain moment, a crack or window opens in the sky (rain pours through it, it is possible to see what is happening in heaven, perhaps communication with the celestials). |
| K126 | 98.38% | A predatory beast or demon eats the hero's horse, but in return is forced or voluntarily helps him. |
| L93A | 98.26% | The fox, jackal or coyote, resorting to cunning, helps the hero, heroine or people in general, saving them. |
| I87AA | 98.24% | Describes a giant bull (rarely: horse): head in one field, body in another; a bathhouse on its tail, a lake on its back; people standing at its head and tail have to walk a long way to meet each other; etc. Usually the bull is killed and eaten (by people in Baltic-Finnish traditions and in Olonets antiquity; by birds in most southern traditions). |
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
37 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 37 traditions: Biu-Mandara: Margi, Kilba, Bura, Kera, Karekare (Kerri-Kerri), Bachama, Zulgo, Giziga, Hdi, Kapsiki, Mandara (incl Mukulehe, Matakam), Mofu (Mofu-Gudur), Somrai (Sibine, Shibha), Southern Taiwan: Rukai, Paiwan, Puyuma, Saaroa, Ketangalan, Shan, Ahom, Khampti, Punjabi, Seraiki (Multani), Miao (Hmong) and Yao of Southern China, Wales, Portuguese, Portugal, Basques, Ancient Italy: Latins, Etruscans, Magna Graecia, France, Greeks (modern), Balkarians, Bulgarians, Balkarians, Croatians, Croats; Italians of Dalmatia (if the motif is absent among other Italians), Lithuanians, Livonians, Tajik, Pashto, Karachays, Balkar, Kumyk, Terekemen, Nogai, Crimean Tatars, Karaims, Anatolia Turks, Azeris (Azerbaijanis), Talysh, Kazakh, Turkmen, Mordvins, Mongols (Khalkha), Nenets, Forest (Upper Kolyma) Yukaghir, Menominee, Klamath, Modoc, Hopi, Lima dep: Costa and adjacent Sierra (Spanish, Kechua, and Jacaru-speaking communities, mostly in Pachacamac, Cajatambo, Canta, Huarochirí; Spanish sources of XVI-XVII centuries), Galicians, Russian Federation, Spain
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