Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
J22D — Animals cut in half.
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
OverviewForeigners or animals of two different species emerge from a single person or animal cut in half.
Berezkin category: Avenger heroes: The amerinday cycle
This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part of group 7, Etiology of plants and animals and of their peculiar features, particular animals as protagonists of cosmological stories, metamorphoses, weather and calendar.
J22 has 4 other sub-motifs
RelatedJ22a. Two men or a brother and sister emerge from a single body or embryo cut in half, or the second emerges from a part of the body or from the secretions of the first. Cf. motif M37.
J22b. A woman is cut or torn in half, and two new ones appear.
J22c. There is a demonic character in the form of Siamese twins – two semi-fused women.
J22d. Foreigners or animals of two different species emerge from a single person or animal cut in half.
J22e. The second character emerges from the afterbirth of the first.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| G8C | 99.77% | The first ancestors try to cut down a tree (less often a high rock) to get useful plants hanging on the branches (at the top) or water or fish in the trunk. The damage disappears as soon as the workers are distracted from their work, or periodically. |
| G10 | 99.51% | A tree whose trunk has been cut down remains hanging because it is held up from above. |
| B66 | 98.91% | Characters climb to the sky using a rope or chain of arrows; when it falls to the ground, it turns into forest vines. See motif J47. |
| C15 | 98.91% | A monstrous jaguar (puma) is locked in a cave or tree trunk. |
| C34A | 98.91% | A supernatural character goes with people to catch fish or lives on the sand by the river; he is buried in the sand or thrown into the river, into a swamp, or otherwise persecuted. Usually, he himself or his father sends a flood. |
| H32B | 98.91% | A girl and/or boy, who are the children of a deity, come to live with humans, leading to an abundance of food/resources. Due to the hurt they have caused, the children return to their own world, and human life becomes difficult or meagre. |
| L1D | 98.91% | The jaguar-werewolf kills most people and is killed by the woman who survives. |
| G7 | 98.86% | The first ancestors need to cut down a giant tree or (rarely) a rock. Their axes become blunt or break, and/or they obtain a special axe suitable for such work. If not otherwise: a tree with cultivated plants at the top, see motif G5A. |
| K13B | 98.62% | A man crosses a body of water on the back of a caiman. The caiman bites off his leg. The cripple undergoes a metamorphosis, turning into a constellation or an animal. |
| L1E | 98.57% | A monstrous bird is created from a small amount of human or animal flesh (usually from the heart) or from lumps of manioc starch. |
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
11 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 11 traditions: Toraja (Toradja), To Mori, Baree (=Eastern Toraja), Bribri, Cabecar, Terraba; Chiriqui (AD 800-1500) iconography, Sanema, Siona, Secoya, Coreguaje, Mai Huna (Coto, Orejon), Napo (Quijo), Kanelo (“Jungle Kechua”), Kofan, Letuama, Tanimuca, Ufaina, Yahuna, Witoto, Ocaina, Yagua, Maue (Mawe)
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