Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
J41A — Son turns mother into a bird.
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 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.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| B101 | 99.71% | Angry at the birch tree, the character beats or cuts it, leaving stripes on the bark that remain to this day. |
| K32B1 | 98.93% | The man's mother-in-law takes on the appearance of her daughter to take her place. See motif K32. |
| K19E | 98.85% | Returning from the sky to earth, a woman or two sisters encounter a male wolverine who tries to capture them. Usually, the women who have descended first find themselves in a tree. Some animals cannot or will not help them descend to the ground. The wolverine descends to take the sisters as wives; they run away from him. See motif K19B. |
| K67 | 98.64% | At night, one person intends to throw another person's shoes or clothes into the fire, but ends up burning his own shoes or clothes. Usually, the father-in-law throws his son-in-law's shoes into the fire at night in order to freeze him out, but the son-in-law has already switched shoes, so the father-in-law burns his own. |
| B97A | 98.52% | A strip of light or dark feathers (rarely: wool) on the neck of a bird (animal) is its necklace (scarf). |
| B96 | 98.20% | The heroes' enemy turns into a large commercial fish (usually a sturgeon) or (rarely) a commercial aquatic mammal. |
| D4C1 | 98.13% | Animal-people come to steal summer from its owners. One of them, in the guise of an elk or caribou, distracts the owners' attention or floats a log or stump down the river, which the owners of summer mistake for an elk and rush after. |
| K27N3C2 | 98.08% | The hero's father-in-law, the bear, sets him difficult tasks and trials. |
| M190 | 98.08% | The beaver carries the porcupine across a water barrier. Usually, he throws it into the water or leaves it on an island. |
| M53E | 98.08% | A character (always a raven) kills a whale and points others to imaginary signs that whale meat is not suitable for food. People believe and all the meat goes to the deceiver. |
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
10 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 10 traditions: Nenets, Western Ojibwa (Chippewa), Eastern Ojibwa (Missisauga, Timagami and other groups in eastern Ontario), Northern Ojibwa (=Severn Ojibwa, Sandy Lake Cree), Western Woods Cree, Eastern Cree, Montagnais, Plains Cree, Plains Ojibwa, Biloxi
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