Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
L18 — Multi-headed 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
OverviewA bird with two or more heads in descriptions or images.
Berezkin category: Adventures: Monsters and evil spirits
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.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| H28 | 95.21% | A creature that has been killed and destroyed (often burned) (usually a cannibal, a ferocious animal, or a powerful shaman) turns into stinging insects or other harmful, unpleasant, or dangerous creatures. |
| B12 | 94.50% | The riverbed follows the path of a snake, fish, dragon, or crab; the river arises from parts of the snake's body; the river is a snake. |
| C2 | 92.16% | The inhabitants of the middle world (in part) are destroyed (or will be destroyed) once by fire or drought, another time by a flood, or the world is flooded with a stream of fire and boiling water. |
| I78 | 91.99% | The earth is thought of as rectangular (usually square). |
| G6 | 91.55% | One of the trees is the main, original tree, which is very different from the others (it was the first to appear; the progenitor of trees; the progenitor of wild or cultivated plants; the sea and rivers within it; the world axis; higher than the others; obscuring the sky). |
| I3 | 90.87% | Lightning (and thunder) is produced by an object (sword, arrow, whip, mirror, etc.) in the hands of a character; lightning is an object. |
| I14 | 90.72% | Creatures without an anal opening are described. |
| I20C | 90.06% | Dwarves live in an underground world that partly resembles the earthly world. If dwarves and humans meet, it happens underground. |
| C5A | 90.03% | A bird, various birds, or people who then turn into birds are sent to explore the earth (whether it exists, whether it has dried up, whether there are any survivors, why smoke is rising from the earth, etc.) or with the task of bringing back a piece of solid substance to create dry land. |
| E1A | 89.87% | The first humans are made of fragile materials (clay, wax, fire, honey, etc.) and prove to be unviable. |
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
66 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 66 traditions: Kikuyu, Chuka, Embu, Emberre, Mwimbe, Samoa, Southern Taiwan: Rukai, Paiwan, Puyuma, Saaroa, Ketangalan, Viet, Muong, Miao (Hmong) and Yao of Southern China, Early Chinese written sources, Bulgarians, Balkarians, Ancient Greece, Estonians, Russians: Central part of ethnic territory as in A.D. 1500 (Tver, Yaroslavl, Moscow, Kostroma, Vladimir, Ivanovo, Nizhny Novgorod, Ryazan, Tula, Kaluga, Smolensk provinces; in case of absence in other areas also Russians in Vyatka, Perm, Kazan provinces), Ingush, Avar, Andi, Akhvakh, Georgians, Kazakh, Kirghiz, Turkmen, Oirats (incl Torgouts, Derbets, Oilots), Tuvinians of Tuva, Tuvans, Khakas, Nganasans, Southern Selkups, Northern Selkups, Kets, Central Yakuts (Sakha), Dolgans, Tungus (Evenki): Baikal region, Evenks, Tungus (Evenki) of China (Solon, Birar, Oroqen, Manegir), Evenks, Tungus (Evenki): Russian Far East, Evenks, Western Tungus (Evenki), Western Siberia Tungus (Evenki): Sym River, Ket River, Uilta (Orok), Nanai, Forest (Upper Kolyma) Yukaghir, Inland Tlingit, Tlingit, Lower Chinook (Chinook proper), Huichol, Pame, Jonaz (Chichimeca-Jonaz), Mazahua, Otomi, Quiche, Achí, Cakchiquel, Pocomchi, Pocomam, Tzutujil, Chinantec, Mazatec, Mixtec, Trique, Cuicatec; Amuzgo, Muisca, Muzo, Makiritare (Yecuana), Wapishana (incl Ataroi); Mapidian; Taruma, Waiwai, Pemon: Arekuna (incl. Kamarakoto), Taulipang (Taurepan), Locono, Wayapi, Emerillon, Urubu (Urubu-Kaapor), Kechua-speaking communities of Apurimac, Cuzco, Arequipa, Puno departments; Spanish sources of XVI-XVII centuries; Callawaya (Kechua with Pukina substratum), Mehinaku, Waura, Yaulapiti, Kuikuro, Kalapalo, Calapalo, Kamayura, Trumai, Terena (Tereno) , Mapuche, Kono (=Kone), Wai, Central Tibetans (Yu Tsang, incl. Sikkim Tibetans, Tichurong of NW Nepal), Upper Chinook: Wasco, Wishram, Clackamas, Kathlamet, Maldives, Ilimpii Tungus/Evenki, Yerbogachen Tungus/Evenki, Tungus/Evenki of Nercha - Chita area, Costa Rica, China
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