Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
L85B — A woman who has offended a god gives birth to a freak.
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 pregnant woman curses the Sun, Rain or another powerful character. Because of this, the child is born physically disabled. He possesses magical powers and usually acquires a normal body.
Berezkin category: Adventures: Monsters and evil spirits
This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part of group 10, Adventures.
L85 has 7 other sub-motifs
RelatedL85. The character has only half a body (vertically). See also L85C, "Half-chicken".
L85a. The character is born as half a person or becomes one as a result of an accident. He or she does not belong to a special category of mythical half-beings and usually regains physical completeness. See motif L85, cf. motif L112.
L85b. A pregnant woman curses the Sun, Rain or another powerful character. Because of this, the child is born physically disabled. He possesses magical powers and usually acquires a normal body.
L85b1. After ascending to the sky (meeting God, returning from the sky to earth), a physically disabled young man (usually with only half a body) becomes whole.
L85c. A character with half a body â a hen, a chick. Sometimes it is only a name, and the character's appearance is more anthropomorphic.
L85d. The hero encounters a giant and a strongman (usually a ploughman) with one arm, one leg, or one eye. He was crippled by a character who turned out to be much bigger and stronger than him.
L85e. The character is temporarily split vertically into two halves and then rejoined.
L85F. The character has only one leg (and one arm), which does not prevent him from moving. Unlike motif L85 (half-creatures), the character has a complete body, not divided in half vertically.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| B1D | 99.39% | Two characters are building the world, one works poorly, the other well, so different parts of the universe (or a specific island) have different appearances. |
| F54D | 99.39% | A woman gives birth to a boy after accidentally drinking animal urine, or a female animal gives birth to a boy after drinking a man's urine. |
| M144 | 99.39% | One character manages to convince another that dangerous and inedible objects are attractive and delicious (a wasp's nest is a drum, a snake is a flute, dung is a delicacy, etc.). |
| I81A | 98.88% | The giant crab causes earthquakes or floods, closes or can close the water outlet. |
| F54A | 98.80% | In her husband's appearance, the woman discovers signs that are not immediately noticeable, indicating that he has hidden his true nature from her and is not the right marriage partner (he is an animal, or her son, brother or father); or the husband discovers in the same way that his wife is his sister. |
| K47D | 98.79% | A girl gives herself to a dog because it fulfils the condition of marriage set by her or her father for her future husband. See motif K47A. |
| I81A1 | 97.78% | The struggle between the crab and the snake (eel) determines the features of the relief of a particular area or has cosmic proportions. |
| B77A | 97.44% | One or more anthropomorphic characters push the sky away from the earth. See motif B77. |
| C8C | 97.19% | After a global catastrophe, at the beginning of time or when settling a new land, a woman and her son give birth to humans. |
| I81B | 96.54% | During high tide, a certain creature spews seawater or displaces it with its body, and during low tide, it swallows the water or makes room for it (or it is simply reported that the water is either spewed or recedes). |
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
10 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 10 traditions: Kosa (Xosa, Xhosa), Tiv, Bamum (Bamun), Mungaka (Mgaka, Bali), Beba, Anaguta, Bete (Mbete, Karang), Ekoi, Nyang, Vute (Wute), Jukun, Chamba, Bamileke, Kwotto, Kirri; Denya (Nyang), Northern Halmahera Papuans: Galela, Loda, Pagu, Modole, Tabaru (Tobaru), Tobelo, Tidore, Ternate, Ceram: Alune and Wemale (West Ceram), Patasiwa (Ceram), Honitetu (West Ceram Highlands); Nusawele, Hatuolu, Huaolu, Patasiwa; Ambon; Buru, Bali, Lombok, Burmese, Intha, Karen, Pa-O, Padaung, Kayah, Negidal, Arakan, Chakma, Khyang, Japan
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