Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
L26 — Death of initiates.
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
OverviewDuring the (first) initiation, supernatural beings teach boys rituals and kill them for violating rules related to the consumption and distribution of food.
Berezkin category: Adventures: Monsters and evil spirits
This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part of group 5, Origin of human beings, ethnic groups, etiology of human anatomy, strange body configuration, ways of behavior, marriages before the establishment of the present norms.
L26 has 1 other sub-motifs
RelatedL26. During the (first) initiation, supernatural beings teach boys rituals and kill them for violating rules related to the consumption and distribution of food.
L26a. During the (first) initiation, men kill supernatural characters (reproducing their appearance and/or voices during rituals from that moment on).
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| M121 | 100.00% | A louse or other similar creature (flea, tick, firefly) is sent to follow a certain character. |
| B67 | 99.39% | A fallen tree and/or its stump turns into a mountain (mountain range) or rocks. (Usually, the branches of this tree bear the fruits and shoots of various cultivated plants, see motif G5). |
| B62 | 99.22% | Man believes that vultures live better than humans, changes his appearance to that of a vulture. The former vulture lives with the man's wife, and the man usually does not like his new life. |
| L83 | 98.98% | A character who has only a head left (motif L5) or who has burned his leg (motif L82) turns into lightning/thunder (or emits lightning/thunderclaps). |
| I27B | 98.77% | A dog carries a person across a river to another world. See motif I27. |
| A22A | 98.69% | Two characters burn; one turns into the present sun, and the other into a less significant celestial object. See motif A22. |
| J24 | 98.52% | The hero, ground into powder, is reborn. |
| A22 | 97.65% | One or two people fall into fire or boiling water and ascend to the sky, turning into the sun and/or the moon. |
| A13B | 97.18% | During an eclipse or at the first appearance of night, ants eclipse the sun. |
| A9 | 97.18% | The moon-woman does not allow her son or husband, the Sun, to destroy people. |
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
5 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 5 traditions: Western Keres (Acoma, Laguna), Eastern Keres (Cochiti, Sia, San Felipe, Santo Domingo, Santa Ana, Paguate, Seama), Desana, Siriano; Tatuyo, Bara, Tuyuca, Tariana, Chamacoco (Ishir)
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How to cite: Fielder-White, J. (2026). The Folklore Database. https://folkloredatabase.com
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