Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
J63 — The son saves, the daughter betrays.
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
OverviewEnemies arrive and tie up the husband. The wife agrees to live with the new man, while the former lies bound. One character (usually the daughter) refuses to free him, while another (usually the son) frees him. The husband kills the enemies and usually brutally executes (the daughter and) his wife.
Berezkin category: Avenger heroes: The amerinday cycle
This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part of group 10, Adventures.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| B109 | 99.41% | A man grows fur and becomes a bear (the origin of bears). |
| B52B | 99.06% | The character regurgitates the earth hidden (usually in his mouth), thereby creating mountains, swamps, and other inconveniences. See motif B52. |
| K112 | 98.33% | A man accuses the Sun and other characters responsible for the weather, wild animals, etc. of causing him to lose his property; he punishes his offenders. |
| K73B6 | 97.78% | The wife of a powerful character gives birth to wonderful children. Her jealous sisters conspire to make her husband order her to be disposed of (usually by locking her and the child in a barrel and throwing it into the water). The boy immediately grows up and rescues his mother and himself. He himself (in the form of a bird, animal, insect, or flying in on a miraculous object) or his puppy brother enters his father's lair and, eavesdropping on the conversation, learns of the existence of miraculous objects. Upon returning, he obtains them or already possesses them and demonstrates them to his father when they meet (the objects may include the young man's brothers). |
| K66D | 97.53% | A boy who grew up (was conceived) in a bear's den (lion's cave) becomes a bogatyr. |
| L94A | 97.32% | When a person leans over the water, a demon grabs him by the beard and releases him on the promise that he will fulfil his demand. |
| H48 | 97.25% | Illnesses â female sisters (less often male brothers), usually children of an evil spirit. |
| I98B | 97.17% | The Pleiades â ducks, nest or wild duck egg. |
| B35A | 97.07% | The tree asks not to be cut down and fulfils the man's wishes. When they go beyond what is reasonable, the tree turns the man into a bear. |
| K62A1 | 96.90% | A man saves (spares) and nurses a wounded bird. Having regained its strength, the bird puts him on its back and carries him to a distant land or to the sky. |
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
16 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 16 traditions: Bulgarians, Balkarians, Macedonians, Balkarians, Karelians, Western Sami, Eastern Sami (including Skolts), Byelarusians, Belarusians, Ingush, Kazakh, Bashkirs, Southern Selkups, Northern Selkups, Kets, Forest (Upper Kolyma) Yukaghir, Lkungen (Straits; including Samish, Songish, Sooke, Lummi), Klallam, Chechens, Russian Federation
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How to cite: Fielder-White, J. (2026). The Folklore Database. https://folkloredatabase.com
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