Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
K52C — Flooding in the home.
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
OverviewDemonstrating his power, a shaman, sorcerer or other character with magical abilities causes the dwelling in which he and other people are located to begin to fill with water. Sometimes it is said that this water is an illusion and that those present also see animals (waterfowl, fish or marine mammals).
Berezkin category: Adventures: Acts of heroes
This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part of group 10, Adventures.
K52 has 4 other sub-motifs
RelatedK52. A woman or young man who approaches the shore is carried away by predatory sea creatures to the bottom of the sea; a character descends to rescue the kidnapped person and brings him or her back with the help of cunning and shamanic powers.
K52a. The hero goes to the bottom of the sea for a woman. The slave pours water into the hearth in the house of the water dwellers. Hiding behind clouds of steam, the hero takes the woman away. See motif K52.
K52b. The hero comes to capture the daughter of a supernatural creature. He sees a slave breaking an axe (adze, wedge). The hero repairs the axe, and the slave helps him in return. See motif K52.
K52c. Demonstrating his power, a shaman, sorcerer or other character with magical abilities causes the dwelling in which he and other people are located to begin to fill with water. Sometimes it is said that this water is an illusion and that those present also see animals (waterfowl, fish or marine mammals).
K52c1. Demonstrating his power, a shaman, sorcerer or other character with magical abilities causes the dwelling in which he and other people are located to begin to fill with water. Sometimes it is said that this water is an illusion. One episode: the magical specialist orders those present to catch the birds or fish that have appeared with the water, or they begin to catch them on their own initiative; when the water disappears, people see that they are holding not caught animals, but their penises or something else.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| H43AA | 98.27% | Having created the human body, the creator leaves. At this time, his opponent spits on the figure, which has not yet come to life, smears it with mud, etc. |
| B120 | 97.31% | There are creatures that sleep in winter, and frozen snot hangs from their noses. (Motif identified by Evgenia Korovina). |
| H27A1 | 97.12% | Reptiles and insects crawl out of holes in the ground, bringing disease. |
| H27A | 96.87% | When creating the earth, a negative character asks a positive character for as much earth as is necessary to prop up a staff, stake. |
| N10A | 96.79% | A woman or (rarely) a man with a transparent body is described - bones are visible through the skin, bone marrow is visible through the bones. This transparency is a sign of beauty. |
| H40 | 96.08% | The dog guards and protects (successfully or unsuccessfully) a human figure that has not been completely finished by the creator, or the entrance to paradise. |
| C28 | 95.54% | A demonic character takes possession of a valuable item without which another character (and people) will perish. The demon is tricked into returning the valuable item. |
| J26A | 95.35% | Among children of a woman or two women living together, there is a boy and a puppy, or a puppy was placed with a woman, and her son was thrown out. The puppy lives with the woman and helps her. |
| A29 | 95.15% | A character associated with the upper world and a character associated with the earth or the lower world each strive to possess a human being and pull him towards themselves. One or both rivals are women. The character of the upper world and/or the one for whom the struggle is being waged is associated with the luminaries â the sun, the moon, Venus. |
| M108A | 95.15% | A lonely elderly couple adopts a trickster. He steals from them (and runs away). |
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
22 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 22 traditions: England, British, Bretons, France, Lithuanians, Tats, Kazakh, Turkmen, Kazan (Middle Volga) Tatars, Mari (Cheremis), Chuvash, Komi (Zyrians and Permyaks), Buryats: Western (cis Baikal), Mongols (Khalkha), Nganasans, Dolgans, Reindeer Koryak, Maritime Koryak (Alyutor), Forest (Upper Kolyma) Yukaghir, Chukchi, Asiatic Eskimo (Sirenek, Naukan, Chaplino), Comox, Pentlatch, Buryats: Eastern (trans Baikal), i.e. Khori, Russian Federation
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