Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
I75 — Previous worlds.
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
OverviewBefore the emergence of the present world or present humans, there were others (at least two worlds or races).
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.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| B14 | 95.57% | In order to regulate the flow of the river in a certain way, the character creates rapids and waterfalls. |
| A22C | 95.26% | In order for the sun to rise, move to the right distance from the earth, or follow its heavenly path, a human being must be sacrificed. |
| F94 | 95.00% | A man ascends to the upper world, where he can choose a wife associated with either life or death. |
| A23 | 94.72% | The first ancestors come together to choose who will become the sun, to raise the sun to the sky, to see the sun rise for the first time, and to name the sun correctly. See motif A22. |
| C22 | 94.48% | During a severe drought or global fire, birds and animals are sent to the thunder gods living at the edge of the world to bring rain. The last of those sent achieves the goal. The toad plays an important role in the action. |
| G2 | 94.04% | A character embodying fertility and life, who first disappears and then (periodically) returns. |
| B28E | 93.92% | The Moon (alone or together with the Sun) transforms the original "incorrect" world into the one in which people now live. |
| D4A1 | 93.92% | A certain character possesses fire or steals it. His attention is attracted or distracted by singing, music, dancing, unusual gifts, indecent or strange behaviour, offers of sex, food and/or alcohol. |
| J33 | 92.97% | A boy, a young man, or two children live in the house of an older character. In order to elicit a certain reaction from him, they kill a person or a large animal, stuff the scarecrow with insects, worms, ashes, grass, or inflate it. |
| D4G | 92.85% | Hummingbird steals, finds or spreads fire. See motif D4A. |
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
30 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 30 traditions: Indian literary tradition (Vedic, Brahman, Purana, Indian Buddhism, Hinduism, Ramayana, Mahabharata, Panchtantra, Jatakas); iconography of Hindu temples, Ancient Greece, Western Ukrainians, Karachays, Balkar, Ossetians, Teton (incl Oglala), Flathead, Pomo, Wintu, Patwin, Nomlaki, Sierra Miwok, Lake Miwok, Plains Miwok, Coastal Miwok, Navajo, Hopi, Zuni, 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), Pima, Aztec; Aztec and Teotihuacan iconography, Quiche, Achí, Cakchiquel, Pocomchi, Pocomam, Tzotzil, Yucatec, Itza, Cuna; XVI century data on Eastern Panama, Chimila (Ette), Yanomamo (Yanoama): Yanomam, Yanomami, Barasana, Taibano, Macuna, Kechua-speaking communities of Apurimac, Cuzco, Arequipa, Puno departments; Spanish sources of XVI-XVII centuries; Callawaya (Kechua with Pukina substratum), Eastern Ukrainians, Northern Ukrainians
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