Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
L5F — The good skull.
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
OverviewHead, face or skull – a woman's husband, fiancé or son; not dangerous to her, brings wealth, saves from hunger, etc.
Berezkin category: Adventures: Monsters and evil spirits
This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part of group 10, Adventures.
L5 has 11 other sub-motifs
RelatedL5. Describes or depicts a creature in the form of a skull or head without a body.
L5A. A rolling head turns into a celestial object that emits or eclipses light (sun, moon, stars, fireball; it is the cause of eclipses). See motif L5.
L5B. A rolling head turns into lightning/thunder. See motif L83.
L5c. The monster head pursues celestial bodies, people, or attaches itself to someone else's body. See motif L5.
L5d. The rolling head suffers from thirst. See motif L5.
L5e. The decapitated body of a woman pursues her husband, while her head pursues their children.
L5e1. A woman who has become a monster pursues her own children.
L5f. Head, face or skull – a woman's husband, fiancé or son; not dangerous to her, brings wealth, saves from hunger, etc.
L5g. Only the head remains of one of the sisters. It rolls after the other sister or sisters, or they take it with them; in the end, the head finds a place where it wants to settle.
L5h. Two sisters or two brothers find themselves in the demon's house or in front of an obstacle. One of them crawls through a narrow hole. The other gets stuck. The brother or sister pulls him or her by the head, and the head is torn off.
L5i. A multitude of rolling heads or skulls try to take a woman away.
L5j. The rolling head laughs for no reason. See motif L5.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| L73B | 90.79% | The fugitive draws a line on the ground (ice), creating an obstacle in the path of the pursuer. |
| L102A | 88.25% | A seagull kidnaps a girl or woman, but she manages to return to people. |
| E9A | 88.07% | Before meeting the hero, his beloved (wife, helper) has the image of a fox. |
| L42A | 87.87% | The cannibal steals fresh corpses from graves. |
| M30C | 87.18% | A character flying through the air falls, violating the ban on talking, looking down, flying over villages, etc. (The character is not dropped by the person carrying it and flies above the ground, not descends from the sky or rises to the sky). |
| M29A | 85.52% | See the motives in square brackets. |
| B38 | 84.88% | The character decorates birds or animals, or they decorate each other. Some are dissatisfied with the result. |
| M46D | 84.40% | A small child cries and calms down only after being given a valuable item hidden in the house to play with. After receiving an item, a child or an associated character takes it away. |
| I36 | 84.36% | Thunder and lightning (two thunders, two lightnings) – characters related by kinship, marriage or property. |
| B38D | 83.55% | The Raven and the Owl paint each other. |
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
34 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 34 traditions: Nyamwesi, Sumbwa, Mbundu (Umbundu, Kimbundu, Chimbundu, Ovimbundu), Kwanyama, Owambo (=Ambo), Other West Chadic: Ngas, Bolanchi, Tangale, Kanaka (New Caledonia), Burmese, Intha, Shan, Ahom, Khampti, Northern Munda of Kharwar branch: Birhor, Ho, Mundari, Kol, Asur (including Agaria, Kol, Birjhia), Bhumij, Gondi (mostly Northern Gondi), Greeks (modern), Balkarians, Albanians, Balkarians, Finns, Karelians, Tungus (Evenki): Baikal region, Evenks, Tungus (Evenki) of China (Solon, Birar, Oroqen, Manegir), Evenks, Tungus (Evenki): Russian Far East, Evenks, Udeghe, Nanai, Negidal, Chukchi, Central Yupik, Koyukon, Bering Strait Inupiat (incl. King Island), North Alaskan Inupiat, Mackenzie Delta, Copper, Eyak, Haida, Malecite, Passamaquoddy, Eastern Swamy Cree, Coeur D'Alene, Kalispel (Pend d'Oreille; incl Spokane), Zuni, Pima, Ofaie, Greenland
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