Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
I85A1 — The North Star – a hole in the sky.
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 North Star – a hole leading to 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.
I85 has 5 other sub-motifs
RelatedI85. Polar Star – stake, nail, hitching post, etc.
I85a. Animals walk around the North Star, or the movement of the stars is compared to the movement of animals around a pole. See motif I85.
I85a1. The North Star – a hole leading to the upper world.
I85b. The North Star – one person.
I85c. The character goes up to the sky and finds vessels containing various (two or more) types of precipitation, weather phenomena, seasons and/or celestial bodies.
I85c1. In the sky there is a vessel, a box or an indescribable container for storing rain (rain clouds).
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| C6C1 | 99.89% | Two or more different birds (in Siberia, often a loon and a duck) successively try to retrieve something from the bottom. Only one succeeds. |
| F65D | 99.73% | The character pretends to be dying and is left at the burial site. However, his wife (mother, aunt) finds out about the deception and provokes the supposed dead man, forcing him to reveal himself. |
| A32J | 98.06% | A shaman with a tambourine ascends to the moon and remains there, visible in the silhouette of the lunar spots. |
| B42M1 | 98.06% | The three main stars of the Big Dipper's handle are associated with people of three different nationalities. |
| B64A | 98.06% | Fish and birds fight (usually by shooting arrows at each other). Since then, fish have had many small bones in their bodies and/or birds' legs have taken on their current form. |
| B72D | 98.06% | A woman makes herself wings (beak, tail) from clothing accessories and turns into a bird or a flying creature. |
| B74A | 98.06% | Red cloths are sewn over the character's eyes (threads, eyelids are painted red) or he does it himself. He sees everything in red or his eyes have turned red forever. |
| D1A1 | 98.06% | Because a woman offended the fire, its mistress takes her child away. |
| E13 | 98.06% | The shamanic tambourine is compared or associated with a lake. |
| E1E | 98.06% | The son of the first human couple initially takes the form of a small plant that has grown from the ground, a stalk. |
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
14 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 14 traditions: Khakas, Central Yakuts (Sakha), Tungus (Evenki): Baikal region, Evenks, Tungus (Evenki) of China (Solon, Birar, Oroqen, Manegir), Evenks, Tungus (Evenki): Russian Far East, Evenks, Western Tungus (Evenki), Western Siberia Tungus (Evenki): Sym River, Ket River, Oroch, Negidal, Chukchi, Blackfoot, Ilimpii Tungus/Evenki, Yerbogachen Tungus/Evenki, Tungus/Evenki of Nercha - Chita area
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