Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
K47B — The dog becomes handsome.
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
OverviewA woman marries a man who originally had the appearance of a dog. The birth of children from a dog is not essential to the plot.
Berezkin category: Adventures: Acts of heroes
This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part of group 9, Identification of protagonists of the stories with particular animals or persons with particular qualities.
K47 has 3 other sub-motifs
RelatedK47a. A woman mates with a dog. Her children grow up to be humans and usually become the ancestors of certain ethnic groups.
K47b. A woman marries a man who originally had the appearance of a dog. The birth of children from a dog is not essential to the plot.
K47c. The marriage of a woman and a dog gave rise to dogs â friends and helpers of humans.
K47d. A girl gives herself to a dog because it fulfils the condition of marriage set by her or her father for her future husband. See motif K47A.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| A23B | 99.28% | Two characters argue about who will be the first to see the rising sun. The winner is the one who first notices not the sun itself, but its reflection or the trees and mountains illuminated by its first rays. |
| E9I1 | 98.87% | Before meeting the hero, his beloved (wife, helper) takes the form of a swan. |
| K89D | 97.88% | Left alone in the house or finding herself in a stranger's house, a girl (less often a male character) hides by turning into a needle (a pin) or another tool for sewing or spinning. |
| A23A | 97.83% | Arguing about superiority or seniority, the characters agree to decide in favour of the one who first sees the rising sun (the beginning of the year). The winner is the one whose victory seemed unlikely. (In Uther 2004(1), No. 120: 87, the definition of the motif includes the detail that the winner looks not to the east but to the west and sees the tops of trees illuminated by rays of light. In Europe, in most cases (except for the Scots) that have been verified, this detail is indeed present. However, it is absent in American and some Asian traditions). |
| H6C1 | 97.69% | To obtain the desired object, the character grabs the young or the female bird (snake, crab) and promises to release them if the father (mother, male) bird delivers the desired object. |
| M38D | 97.59% | Two or more characters, which are small objects or small animals, live or travel together and die one by one while committing protozoa actions. |
| I38 | 97.56% | There are creatures that combine the characteristics of dogs and humans (usually people with dog faces or heads). |
| B3C | 96.94% | When the creator, having created the land, lies down to rest, the antagonist tries to drown him, dragging him to the edge of the earth. As a result, the earth expands, and the antagonist is unable to reach its edge. |
| M109 | 96.81% | A zoomorphic character sits down, lowering his tail (penis) so that something edible will stick to it, but as a result he is left without a tail (penis) or dies. Cf. motifs M109A, M109C. |
| L72A | 96.68% | Fleeing for his life, the character throws behind him a comb (brush), which turns into an obstacle (almost always thickets) in the path of his pursuer. (In South America, this motif is most likely of European origin). See Andreev 1929, No. 313.I. |
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
34 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 34 traditions: Arabs of Libya, Northern Munda of Kharwar branch: Birhor, Ho, Mundari, Kol, Asur (including Agaria, Kol, Birjhia), Bhumij, Himachali-Pahari (Western Pahari), Ireland, Scotland, Scots, Picts, Scotti, Scottish, Czech, Czechs, Latvians, Estonians, Setu, Karelians, Western Sami, Eastern Sami (including Skolts), Swedes, Danes, Danish, Rutul, Tsakhur, Tats, Kazan (Middle Volga) Tatars, Komi (Zyrians and Permyaks), Eastern Khanty (Ostyaks), Northern Altai: Chelkan, Kumanda, Tubalar, Altaians, Nenets, Nanai, Reindeer Koryak, Maritime Koryak (Alyutor), Forest (Upper Kolyma) Yukaghir, Chukchi, Tanana, Lkungen (Straits; including Samish, Songish, Sooke, Lummi), Klallam, Central Tibetans (Yu Tsang, incl. Sikkim Tibetans, Tichurong of NW Nepal), Mustang, Icelanders, Italians: Central (Toscana, Umbria, Marche, Lazio), Itelmen, Russian Federation
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