Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
K85E — Sea horses.
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
OverviewMagical horses live in water.
Berezkin category: Adventures: Acts of heroes
This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part of group 8, Queer and monstrous beings, creatures, objects and loci, folk beliefs related to particular phenomena and objects.
K85 has 5 other sub-motifs
RelatedK85. The antagonist owns the fastest horse. The hero obtains an even faster horse (usually the brother or sister of this horse), which is the only one that surpasses the antagonist's horse and usually orders the antagonist to throw off his rider.
K85a. When assessing the speed of a horse, the speed of thought (lightning, or something else) and wind are compared.
K85b. The three-legged horse is distinguished by its strength and speed, and is ridden by a rider of non-human nature.
K85c. A three-legged horse is strong and fast, but its four-legged brother is faster.
K85d. Covered with skins (coated with resin and sprinkled with sand, etc.), the mighty horse becomes invulnerable to the bites of other horses.
K85e. Magical horses live in water.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| K35C | 99.64% | The dev (ajdaha, sea king) did not kill the man who descended to him, as people assumed, but rewarded him because he greeted him and/or answered his question correctly. |
| K90B | 99.54% | The antlers of a deer or the tusks of an elephant, which a snake or dragon is trying to swallow, get stuck in its mouth. |
| K121 | 99.41% | At the crossroads, it is indicated that one road is safe, another is neutral, and the third is deadly dangerous. There can only be two roads – dangerous and safe. The hero travels along the dangerous road. |
| K35C1 | 99.41% | The young man is not killed, but rewarded, because he answered correctly (evasively) the question of a powerful character – which of the two women he should marry, which is more beautiful, which object or material is more valuable, etc. |
| K29D | 99.34% | To catch an animal or supernatural character, the water in a reservoir is replaced with wine, honey, etc., or containers with alcohol are left in plain sight. The creature, having lost control of itself, is captured. |
| I87AD | 99.21% | A giant hides a persecuted person in his mouth – usually (perhaps always) in a tooth cavity; or the person remains alive in the giant's mouth, hiding in a tooth cavity. Cf. motif M21a. |
| I35A1 | 99.13% | The character claims the role of the thunder god and imitates him. |
| K119E | 98.82% | The poor young man who was helped by an animal assistant, who presented him to the king as a rich man, is a miller or a miller's son. |
| M198B2 | 98.75% | An authoritative character asks a person whose name (or his wife's name) is the name of an insect (most often Grasshopper) to guess what is in his fist (in a box, etc.). The corresponding insect is there. The person says that now he, so-and-so, has been caught, while others think that he has guessed correctly. |
| K83A | 98.55% | To fulfil the task, the character's sons must travel to a place where he has never been (or once was). |
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
32 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 32 traditions: Croatians, Croats; Italians of Dalmatia (if the motif is absent among other Italians), Romanians, Moldavians, Aromanians, Moldovans, Ancient Greece, Livonians, Norwegians, Western Ukrainians, Cherkassians, Adyghe, Kabardin, Karachays, Balkar, Ossetians, Ingush, Dargin (Dargwa), incl. Müregin, Khürkilin, Kubachi, Avar, Andi, Akhvakh, Tats, Georgians, Armenians, Kalmyk, Gagauz, Anatolia Turks, Azeris (Azerbaijanis), Kurds, Kazan (Middle Volga) Tatars, Bashkirs, Udmurt, Komi (Zyrians and Permyaks), Buryats: Western (cis Baikal), Mongols (Khalkha), Chechens, Eastern Ukrainians, Northern Ukrainians, Buryats: Eastern (trans Baikal), i.e. Khori, Transylvanian Saksons, Russian Federation
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