Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
J41 — Foxes mock the abandoned.
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 hero leaves for a long time. When he returns, his relative does not immediately believe that it is really him. All this time, someone has been mocking him or her, imitating the voice of the departed, saying that he has returned and/or throwing ashes in his or her face.
Berezkin category: Avenger heroes: The amerinday cycle
This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part of group 10, Adventures.
J41 has 4 other sub-motifs
RelatedJ41. The hero leaves for a long time. When he returns, his relative does not immediately believe that it is really him. All this time, someone has been mocking him or her, imitating the voice of the departed, saying that he has returned and/or throwing ashes in his or her face.
J41a. The son returns and finds his mother, who has been humiliated and tortured in his absence. The son turns his mother (and usually himself as well) into a bird of a certain species.
J41b. The son returns, finds his mother, who was humiliated and tortured in his absence, and burns his tormentor and his men, summoning fire and heat with magic.
J41c. The character goes to fight a dangerous enemy. Along the way, he is given tasks to complete. This is a sign that he will defeat his enemy. Usually, the same tasks were previously given to another character who was unable to complete them and was defeated by the enemy.
J41d. The strongman orders an iron club (sword, etc.) of monstrous size to be made, but breaks it and demands a new one, even heavier (often throwing it into the air and exposing his forehead, etc. â the club breaks).
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| B95 | 99.75% | The appearance of the sphincter or buttocks is explained by the fact that a certain character burned his backside. |
| J12M | 99.75% | A woman or two sisters come to two men and become wives of one of them. The other kills or tries to kill his rival or the women. As a result, the women turn into waterfowl. |
| M65 | 98.71% | trickster bakes meat obtained by trick, deception; immobilized by sticking to a tree, ground, or stone; at this time, another character (fox, wolf, coyote, birds) eats all the meat. See M53 motif. |
| M65B | 98.04% | Having resorted to deception, the character kills the game, but the thieves take the loot. See M53 motif. |
| M65A | 97.99% | The trees are creaking in the wind. Hearing a creak, the character climbs a tree and gets stuck. See M65 motif. |
| K1J | 97.96% | The abandoned one turns into a bird and returns home faster than the one who abandoned him. |
| M66 | 97.91% | After eating certain foods frivolously or rubbing his body with his spine, the character suffers from itching, diarrhea, or an irrepressible eruption of intestinal gases. |
| M29Q | 97.06% | See the motives in square brackets. |
| H53 | 96.83% | The wolf participates in the creation of the earth or is the brother of the creator and/or conqueror of the demons of the underworld. He dies and/or is considered the first to die and/or becomes the lord of the land of the dead. |
| J12J | 95.79% | A girl or sisters end up with a false groom who plays the role of a jester in the chief's house. See motif J12. |
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
13 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 13 traditions: Svans, Kwakiutl (Kwakwaka'wakw), Wawenock, Abenaki, Penobscot, Western Ojibwa (Chippewa), Eastern Ojibwa (Missisauga, Timagami and other groups in eastern Ontario), Northern Ojibwa (=Severn Ojibwa, Sandy Lake Cree), Eastern Cree, Menominee, Five Nations Iroquois (Seneca, Mohawk, Onondaga, Oneida, Cayuga), Plains Cree, Plains Ojibwa, Lushootseed (Puget Sound: Puyallup, Nisqualmi, Snuqualmi, Duwamish, Muckleshoot, Snohomish, Skagit), Lower Chehalis, Upper Chehalis, (Lower) Cowlitz
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