Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
L4B — Blood cannot be washed away.
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
OverviewThe character learns about the violation of the prohibition to enter a certain room, as evidence of this has been preserved on the body of the heroine (hero) or on an object in her (his) hands (often blood on a key or an apple).
Berezkin category: Adventures: Monsters and evil spirits
This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part of group 10, Adventures.
L4 has 2 other sub-motifs
RelatedL4. The character consistently (almost) kills girls (rarely: his nephews or his wife's younger brothers) whom he brings to his home (usually a male character kills wives). The heroine or hero (the youngest of all) avoids the common fate, usually after discovering the captives or their remains.
L4a. To test the loyalty of the heroine (hero), the demon demands that she eat food that humans should not eat. Usually, when the heroine reports that the food has been eaten, the demon asks where the food is, and the food answers him.
L4b. The character learns about the violation of the prohibition to enter a certain room, as evidence of this has been preserved on the body of the heroine (hero) or on an object in her (his) hands (often blood on a key or an apple).
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| H7G | 99.89% | A person sees many burning candles or lamps. When one of them burns out, someone dies. |
| J51A | 99.89% | To climb a rock or tower, one must stick bones into it and climb them like a ladder. |
| K107A2 | 99.85% | A nobleman (king) is forced to promise his daughter or son to a demon (monster, predatory beast). He tries to replace her or him with other girls or boys, but this does not work. |
| L72E1 | 99.85% | In order to destroy the obstacles created by the hero, the pursuer uses tools. Before continuing the chase, he is forced to spend time taking them home or hiding them, otherwise animals and birds will steal them. |
| N38 | 99.85% | The character asks others which key is better - lost and found or new. This refers to a forgotten and newfound marriage partner (less often a direct question is asked about this). |
| K131A | 99.81% | Several animals (often a lion, a falcon, an ant) argue (usually over prey or habitat). The hero resolves their dispute, and they grant him the ability to take on their form (to possess their qualities). |
| I20C1 | 99.73% | Dwarves do not live deep underground, but inside hills, in rocks, in mines, etc., and usually come out from there onto the ground. |
| A32DD | 99.72% | The lunar disc shows the figure or imprint of an anthropomorphic character carrying a bundle of wood or brushwood. |
| K101B | 99.67% | A girl or young man is freed from a spell after the hero endures three nights of torment or fear inflicted by demons. The girl or young man themselves are not dangerous to the hero; they help him. |
| I138 | 99.65% | The glass mountain (tower, bridge) is mentioned as an unusual (inaccessible) locus. |
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
28 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 28 traditions: England, British, Bretons, Scotland, Scots, Picts, Scotti, Scottish, Portuguese, Portugal, Catalan, Aragon, Sardinia, Corsica, Sardinians, Corsicans, France, Germans: North (Low- and Central German dialects): Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg, Pommern, Niedersachsen (Lower Saxony, incl East Frisia and Oldenburg), Nordrhein-Westfalen, Hessen, Rheinland-Pfalz, Thüringen, Saxony-Anhalt, Sachsen, Brandenburg, Rügen, Poles, Slovakians, Slovaks, Greeks (modern), Balkarians, Serbs, Monte Negro, Balkarians, Slovenians, Slovenes, Romanians, Moldavians, Aromanians, Moldovans, Lithuanians, Latvians, Estonians, Karelians, Swedes, Western Ukrainians, Anatolia Turks, Mordvins, Eastern Khanty (Ostyaks), Lima dep: Costa and adjacent Sierra (Spanish, Kechua, and Jacaru-speaking communities, mostly in Pachacamac, Cajatambo, Canta, Huarochirí; Spanish sources of XVI-XVII centuries), Eastern Ukrainians, Northern Ukrainians, Italians: Central (Toscana, Umbria, Marche, Lazio), Spain
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