Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
I71 — Stars – roots.
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
OverviewStars – roots of plants growing in the upper world.
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.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| B2C | 90.54% | The earth as a whole, elements of the landscape or fertile soil arise from the human body and (or) the earth (islands) are born of a woman. |
| D13I1 | 90.50% | The characteristics of a character can be determined by his teeth. By laughing and showing his teeth, the character reveals himself. |
| L111 | 88.50% | The inhabitants of the sky or shamans catch or want to catch earthly people with a hook, net, noose, etc., dragging them up into the sky (somewhere above) like fishermen pull fish out of the water; the inhabitants of the earth fish with hooks for fish, which in their own world are people or domestic animals. |
| H50 | 87.96% | A pair of deities or first ancestors diverge. The man remains on earth or goes to heaven (remains in heaven), the woman becomes the mistress of the world of the dead, the earth, the underworld, usually associated with disease and poisonous animals. |
| B79A1 | 87.60% | At the beginning of time, a bird flies and drops pieces of solid ground onto the water, from which land or an island emerges. Sometimes the substrate onto which the piece of solid ground falls is not precisely defined. |
| F66 | 86.11% | In order to commit incest with his daughter, grandmother, sister (brother), father, grandson, brother (sister), the man pretends to be a stranger, or the husband takes on the appearance of his wife's brother so that she treats him as a blood relative. To do this, the character secretly moves to another house for a while, where the object of his desire mistakes him for someone else. |
| L60 | 85.11% | Several sisters pick up a baby. In their absence, it turns into an adult man, and when they approach, it turns back into a child. Taking on its true form, the demon pursues the sisters. See motif M46a. |
| H28A | 84.31% | When a character is burned, the smoke and sparks turn into mosquitoes and other blood-sucking insects that scatter throughout the world. |
| K63 | 83.26% | A man comes to people who hunt humans or catch fish-people. For them, these are wild animals or fish. |
| M3 | 83.25% | The character crosses a water or air barrier on the backs of chained animals, birds, or fish. |
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
16 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 16 traditions: Bushmen (all groups), Melanesians of the northern coast New Guinea, nearest off-shore islands and Huon Gulf (Morobe district): Watut, Bilbil (Bilibili), Jabim (incl Kai), Tami, Bukawac, Wogeo, Tumleo, Yakamul, Manam, Sissano, Sio, Kayan, Bahau, Kenja, Aoheng, Punan (Bukat, Basap, Oloh Ot, etc); "Klemantan", Bidayuh (incl. Maloh), Iban (Sea Dayak), Sakarram; Brunei, Bhuiya (now Aryans, originally Munda; Rahman 1955: 203), Baiga, Bhaina, Bhumia (subgroup of Baiga, incl Bharia, formerly Munda, now speak Indo-Aryan languages of neighboring groups), Eastern Khanty (Ostyaks), Southern Selkups, Northern Selkups, Kets, Oroch, Negidal, Thompson (Nlaka'pamux), Lacandon, Hoti, Shuar, Achuar (Shiwiar), Mocovi; Kechua of Santiago del Estero with probable Guaikuruan substratum; Abipon
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